Sonja RewhornTitle: Learning developer & rural geography researcherUniversity of Chester
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Summary of my research:
Research summary
Rural proofing / rural fairness
Rural proofing emerged in 2000 within Our Country our Future: fair deal for rural England, the first rural White Paper not be focused on agriculture. Think rural was a response to the disaffection in the British countryside, the shift in rural policy to be place based rather than agriculture, forestry and food focused, the political ideologies of social justice and some recognition of rural social exclusion. Despite the significance of rural proofing there has been a lack of research into its effectiveness in securing a fair sense of place. This is in part due to the omission of a conceptualisation of rural proofing in theory and clarity of the outcomes in practice. Inconsistent and unsubstantiated understanding and expectations of rural proofing has the potential to undermine the effectiveness of rural proofing outputs and outcomes. Rural proofing as a construct first emerged for England, equivalent approaches have been developed and being developed in other nations, most recently Australia (Shortall & Alston, 2016).
Academic Publications:
Fletcher, S., Kawabe, M., & Rewhorn, S. (2011). Wetland conservation and sustainable coastal governance in Japan and England. Marine pollution bulletin, 62(5), 956-962.
Fletcher, S., Kawabe, M., Rewhorn, S., Tan, C. K., Emery, A., Wakita, K., ... & Flanagan Dufton, F. E. (2009). International learning pathways for coastal professionals: a Japan–UK example. Coastal Management, 37(2), 154-169.
France, D., Powell, V., Mauchline, A. L., Welsh, K., Park, J., Whalley, W. B., & Rewhorn, S. (2016). Ability of students to recognize the relationship between using mobile apps for learning during fieldwork and the development of graduate attributes. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 40(2), 182-192.
Rewhorn, S. (2017). Writing your successful literature review. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 1-5.
Rural proofing / rural fairness
Rural proofing emerged in 2000 within Our Country our Future: fair deal for rural England, the first rural White Paper not be focused on agriculture. Think rural was a response to the disaffection in the British countryside, the shift in rural policy to be place based rather than agriculture, forestry and food focused, the political ideologies of social justice and some recognition of rural social exclusion. Despite the significance of rural proofing there has been a lack of research into its effectiveness in securing a fair sense of place. This is in part due to the omission of a conceptualisation of rural proofing in theory and clarity of the outcomes in practice. Inconsistent and unsubstantiated understanding and expectations of rural proofing has the potential to undermine the effectiveness of rural proofing outputs and outcomes. Rural proofing as a construct first emerged for England, equivalent approaches have been developed and being developed in other nations, most recently Australia (Shortall & Alston, 2016).
Academic Publications:
Fletcher, S., Kawabe, M., & Rewhorn, S. (2011). Wetland conservation and sustainable coastal governance in Japan and England. Marine pollution bulletin, 62(5), 956-962.
Fletcher, S., Kawabe, M., Rewhorn, S., Tan, C. K., Emery, A., Wakita, K., ... & Flanagan Dufton, F. E. (2009). International learning pathways for coastal professionals: a Japan–UK example. Coastal Management, 37(2), 154-169.
France, D., Powell, V., Mauchline, A. L., Welsh, K., Park, J., Whalley, W. B., & Rewhorn, S. (2016). Ability of students to recognize the relationship between using mobile apps for learning during fieldwork and the development of graduate attributes. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 40(2), 182-192.
Rewhorn, S. (2017). Writing your successful literature review. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 1-5.
Motivation for this workshop
This project brings together my research interests of fair access to services in rural areas and social justice for rural communities and my work with Enhancing Fieldwork Learning and the use of BOYD and mobile technologies in remote/rural/non-conventional setting.
This project will enable me to see the topic of the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers conference session (2015) co-convened and co-chaired by myself and Prof Derek France “Social Media & Mobile Technology – the new era for Learning, Teaching and Communication” through an international lens
This Learning without borders: exploiting the affordances of mobile technologies for learning in marginalised, remote and non-formal settings workshop will build on my participation in and supporting two of the Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Showcase events, taking the UK experience and applying this to an international setting. The Thai workshop will also enable me to develop the skills and experiences from the learning exchange programs on coastal governance between Japan and the UK (2006 – 2009). The Thai experience will act as a catalyst in both process and confidence to develop my international research links beyond just Japan, Australia and the UK nations.
In terms of my teaching and learning practice, this workshop will give me new ideas and approaches when working within a classroom with no borders and broaden and deepen my experience and exposure to working with a range of mobile technologies.
This project will enable me to see the topic of the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers conference session (2015) co-convened and co-chaired by myself and Prof Derek France “Social Media & Mobile Technology – the new era for Learning, Teaching and Communication” through an international lens
This Learning without borders: exploiting the affordances of mobile technologies for learning in marginalised, remote and non-formal settings workshop will build on my participation in and supporting two of the Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Showcase events, taking the UK experience and applying this to an international setting. The Thai workshop will also enable me to develop the skills and experiences from the learning exchange programs on coastal governance between Japan and the UK (2006 – 2009). The Thai experience will act as a catalyst in both process and confidence to develop my international research links beyond just Japan, Australia and the UK nations.
In terms of my teaching and learning practice, this workshop will give me new ideas and approaches when working within a classroom with no borders and broaden and deepen my experience and exposure to working with a range of mobile technologies.
Future research intentions:
As a result of this workshop I am particularly interested in:
- Developing understanding and networking on access to services in remote rural Thailand, with an intention to compare and contrast English approaches and outcomes with those of the Thai government and in parts of Thailand
- Network to gain more insight in the use of mobile technologies in learning and teaching
- Build on or incorporate Fletcher et al. (2009) and the Learning Exchange Pathway as a way to develop professional capacity in an international exchange context