Post:	Lecturer in Education
Location:	Essex House EH 122
Email:	L.E.Altendorff@sussex.ac.uk
Telephone numbers
Internal:	2661
UK:	(01273) 872661
International:	+44 1273 872661

Biography

I began my career in education in 1976 teaching maths and economics in a large London comprehensive school and quickly became interested in equal opportunities/diversity issues and the transition between the phases of education. I was a founder member of a community project in South London offering 'fresh start' education opportunities for adults, especially women. To satisfy my fascination with how children learn, I retrained to teach in primary schools and completed a post-graduate diploma in psychology through the Open University.

Since moving to East Sussex in 1992, alongside teaching 11-16 mathematics across the attainment range and  SENCO responsibilities, I have researched and implemented alternative learning programmes for 14-16 year old disaffected students and also contributed to the 'Raising Boy's Achievement' agenda (ESCC).

I joined the Sussex School of Education as a part-time tutor in 2001, teaching on the Diploma in Professional Education Studies designed specifically for Teaching Assistants, and became a member of the PGCE team in 2003. I was the programme convenor of the 7-14 PGCE 2003-7 and a mathematics curriculum tutor on both the 7-14 and 11-18 PGCE programme.

Continuing my interest in the transition between the primary and secondary phases of education, I made this the focus of my MA in Education Studies. My dissertation, 'Becoming a Teacher on the 7-14 (Key Stage2/3) PGCE initial teacher education programme: Still a crisis of identity or a golden opportunity?', looked at ways in which issues of curriculum continuity and progression in children's learning can be addressed within initial teacher education.

Currently, under the supervision of Professor Jo Boaler, I am a researcher, (and DPhil candidate) for a study commissioned by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), the aim of which is to investigate the impact upon students' learning of teaching mathematics with the accompanying Complex Instruction (CI) pedagogy. An improvement in the performance, the enjoyment and the progression of students of mathematics in England, has been clearly signposted in recent reports as an urgent need, (Smith, 2004; Ofsted, 2006; Ofsted 2008; Williams, 2008). Boaler has researched the CI approach in the US to show that significant gains can be made with its application. A sample of teachers who attended a workshop on CI and who are now applying this pedagogy with students in their schools, are being monitored against teachers in matched schools that are not.

Role

• Lecturer in Education
• Researcher: Mathematics Education

Qualifications

MA Education Studies (Sussex) - distinction

PG Diploma Psychology (Open University)

PGCE (Institute of Education, London)

BA Business Studies (Polytechnic of Central London)