Margaret Valerie Branscombe
Dr Margaret Branscombe works as a Literacy Intervention Teacher at a secondary school in the south east of England. She applies her research in embodied teaching and learning to her work with students who need extra support with reading and writing.
Biography
Margaret Branscombe is an experienced literacy teacher who has taught primary, secondary and undergraduate students. In 2015 she graduated with a PhD in Literacy Studies and a research focus in drama as a tool that enhances literacy across the curriculum, including the reading and comprehension of informational texts. In her previous role as a drama practitioner she worked in schools and youth centres and even with a team of particle physicists to assist them with integrating drama into their workshops for students who are visually impaired.Education
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MA Drama in Education, Birmingham City University, UK, 2000
PhD Literacy Studies, University of South Florida, USA, 2015
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Using the body to learn. She uses drama as an embodied tool for engaging students with content across the curriculum and providing a purpose for reading and writing activities.
Personal Interests
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She is interested in using drama with students who are disengaged with the traditional academic curriculum and are motivated by an active, i.e. embodied approach, to learning. She is also interested in the use of drama with informational texts.
Websites
Books
News
Publication
By: Margaret Valerie Branscombe
Subjects: Education, Theater, Theatre & Performance Studies
I am pleased to announce the publication of my book Teaching Through Embodied Learning in paperback. Emerging out of lockdown calls for a rethink of how we do education. I believe we need more movement in learning and the use of our whole selves to learn. My book argues for an expnaded view of education beyond the seat bound learning that is currently the norm. Supported by theory and practice, this book presents an alternative approach to learning that requires students to get out from behind their desks and represent key concepts from informational texts in embodied form.