PhD Studentship: The Development and Evaluation of a New Communities of Practice Model for Autism Educators

ESRC DTP Collaborative Studentship

University of Birmingham and Ambitious about Autism

The Midlands Graduate School is an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). One of 15 such partnerships in the UK, the Midlands Graduate School is a collaboration between the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham, Aston Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort and Nottingham Trent.

The University of Birmingham, as part of Midlands Graduate School, is now inviting applications for an ESRC Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner Ambitious about Autism to commence in October 2025.

About the project

This PhD opportunity involves working with the charity and education provider Ambitious about Autism, under the academic supervision of Professor Laura Crane and Professor Karen Guldberg of the University of Birmingham’s Autism Centre for Education and Research (ACER). The goal of this work is to develop and evaluate a new Communities of Practice model to further support the development of good practice in autism education.

While many models of continuing professional development (CPD) in education settings involve top-down approaches, evidence suggests that these fail to sustain meaningful educational change. An alternative (or complementary) approach is Communities of Practice, which involves “groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly” (Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner, 2020). Communities of Practice can be evaluated through the value creation framework developed by Wenger-Trayner and Wenger-Trayner (2020), which involves collecting data in several discrete areas: immediate value (e.g., measuring engagement and participation from team members), potential value (e.g., documenting any suggested new ways of working), applied value (e.g., measuring changes to the knowledge, skills and understanding of those involved), and realised value (e.g., documenting observed changes to practice). The aim of the proposed PhD is to co-create, and then evaluate the impact (at several levels) of, shifting Ambitious about Autism’s CPD from a model of knowledge transfer towards a model of collaborative learning.

Required skills and aptitudes

We welcome applications from students who have a passion for evidence-based practice, alongside experience working in education settings and/or with the development of education-related CPD. We encourage students with expertise in autism research and/or practice to apply, and we are particularly keen to support a neurodivergent student to lead this work.

Application Process

To be considered for this PhD, please complete the Collaborative Studentship application form available online via the above ‘Apply’ button. Please upload an anonymised CV as part of the online application process. Shortlisted applicants will also be required to provide transcripts and two references.

Application deadline: Tuesday 25^th February 2025

Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP

Our ESRC studentships cover fees at the home rate, a maintenance stipend, and extensive support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Support is available to both home and international applicants. For further details, visit: www.mgsdtp.ac.uk/studentships/eligibility/.

Informal enquiries about the research or the Autism Centre for Education and Research (ACER) prior to application can be directed to Professor Laura Crane, L.Crane@bham.ac.uk.

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