Issue Nine - 2025
Issue 9 of Hillary Place Papers, centred on the theme Global Research Journeys, drawing from a record number of submissions, explores the varied trajectories PGR and MA researchers undertake—personal, cultural, methodological, and professional. Contributors include MA and postgraduate research (PGR) students from multiple disciplines and international contexts. Featured articles address topics such as parental engagement in education during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, decolonising English Language Teaching in Mexico, ESL grammar instruction in Vietnam, and identity formation through migration and part-time doctoral study. Several papers examine institutional and pedagogical development, including a co-authored piece on designing a PGR-facing employment strategy and a critical review of Specialist Mathematics Schools in England. The issue also includes two conference reports, capturing reflections from presenters at the Leeds-Hull MA TESOL Conference and the 17th Research Students’ Education Conference. Together, these contributions highlight how research journeys are shaped by context, identity, and critical inquiry and, in line with the journal’s mission to offer a platform for emerging researchers, has enabled our authors to explore those issues in our supportive publishing space.
A record number of authors submitted abstracts on the theme of Global Research Journeys for this issue of the Hillary Place Papers. Defined as the process of moving from one place to another, the theme focuses on the different ‘journeys’ researchers experience during their academic careers. These may include journeys of personal development, methodological or knowledge advancement, as well as cultural, geographic, and career-related journeys. This issue saw papers authored by both MA and PGR students, co-authored papers as well as articles from different departments and countries. Papers included in this issue describe and explore a variety of journeys including the crafting of a PGR version of the post-graduate researcher opportunities and futures strategy, rethinking the teaching of grammar in ESL classrooms, and a journey of personal growth as a part-time PhD student.
The first paper, Parental involvement in children’s learning in India during the COVID-19 pandemic by Ankit Vyas (University of Leeds) uses secondary data analysis to identify four main areas of parental support during the COVID-19 pandemic: providing digital devices, enrolling children in private tuition, offering guided learning support, and liaising with teachers. Ankit’s study emphasises the need for targeted policies to address pre-existing inequalities of income, education, and geography and provides insight into how socio-economic disparities shaped educational access and support during the pandemic.
Our second paper, Migration, language learning and identity formation: Personal growth in the part-time PhD journey, by Ana Korzun, a PGR student in the School of Education at the University of Leeds, focuses on the profoundly personal motivation behind her PhD journey as a migrant and English as an additional language learner. Ana reflects upon some of the challenges she faced and how those challenges afforded her greater empathy and insight when working with participants. Focusing on three key areas, Ana’s article discusses the importance of belonging, connecting learning about her research participants with learning about herself and how her PhD journey allowed her to reflect upon, understand, and appreciate her cultural heritage.
A co-authored paper from the School of Education, Crafting an employment strategy: A case study of PGR interns in launching a PGR friendly version of the postgraduate researcher opportunities and futures strategy by Megan Stock and Durdona Karimova, articulates the authors’ experiences of participating in a PGR internship at the University of Leeds Careers Centre. Tasked with devising a PGR facing version of the Futures and Opportunities Strategy, Megan and Durdona also reflect upon their personal motivations for undertaking the internship.
Dr Kayden J Schumacher from the University of Coventry authors our fourth paper: Charting the Course: Enlightening Perspectives in Research and Teaching from Insider and Outside Standpoints. In his paper, Dr Schumacher provides a first-hand examination of the complexities involved in researching and teaching from diverse perspectives. He emphasises the importance of reflexivity, empathy, and centring participants and students in all educational settings and practices.
Rethinking the teaching of the Past Perfect tense in an ESL classroom in Vietnam: An observation by Ngo Dang Ngoc Anh (School of Education, University of Leeds) examines the challenges faced by many Vietnamese students when learning the past perfect tense. Drawing on personal experiences and classroom observations, the paper examines the limitations of more traditional instructional approaches as well as proposing a new, blended approach.
Two conference reports, the first by Aimi Nur Mohamad Ramzan and the second authored by the Hillary Place Papers’ editorial team summarise conferences attended in 2024. In the first piece, Aimi describes the impact the Leeds-Hull TESOL Conference had as a first-time presenter. In the second piece, the HPP editorial team outlines how their development work on the journal has informed a series of presentations at conferences across the UK.
Shiyao Wang’s (School of Education, University of Leeds) paper, The use of semiotic resources in a British and Chinese cross-cultural family within three generations uses an ethnographic approach to investigate the utilisation of semiotic resources and attitudes of families after transitioning from a single cultural family to a cross-cultural family. Through field notes and an interactional approach, the author demonstrates that people, regardless of where they are from, often use visual semiotic resources to express their attitudes towards understanding each other’s cultures.
The penultimate paper is from Mexico. Decolonizing English Language Teaching (ELT) in Mexico through the New Mexican School by José Joaquín Enrique Erguera-Guerrero (Department of Humanities and Sciences, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Quintana Roo), provides an interesting insight into the importance of teaching English in a globalized world, and the need for decolonizing approaches in English education. The author details the role the New Mexican School plays in promoting inclusive, equitable, and quality education alongside strengthening the cultural and linguistic identity of Mexican students.
Our final paper by Harry Richardson (University of Leeds) is a Review of Specialist Mathematics Schools in England. Written in response to a presentation given at RESC (2024), Harry discusses new approaches to mathematics pedagogy and curriculum situated within the mathematics schools whose aim is to take top-performing mathematicians and develop their academic capabilities beyond the A-level curriculum.
For the first time in the journal’s history, Issue 8 featured papers and posters submitted by postgraduate research (PGR) students who participated in the 16th Research Students’ Education Conference (RESC), organised by the School of Education at the University of Leeds. This edition continues to build on that previous success by featuring papers from presenters at the 17th Research Students’ Education Conference as well as the Leeds-Hull MA TESOL Conference (2024). As our vision for Hillary Place Papers is to “provide a flexible forum for new researchers to publish their work” we were delighted by the number of presenters who chose to become ‘first-time authors’ and publish their research with the journal.
Finally, the editorial team would sincerely like to thank the contributing authors, the staff reviewers, and those who helped by reviewing papers, advertising the call for papers, and contributing in numerous ways to ensure the successful publication of this issue of the Hillary Place Papers. Thank you.
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/334 | Editorial | Anna Harwood |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/335 | Parental involvement in children’s learning in India during the COVID-19 pandemic | Ankit Vyas |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/336 | Migration, language learning and identity formation: personal growth in the part-time PhD journey | Ana Korzun |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/337 | Crafting an Employment Strategy: Case Study of PGR interns in launching a PGR friendly version of the Postgraduate Researcher Opportunities and Futures Strategy. | Megan Stock and Durdona Karimova |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/338 | Charting the Course: Enlightening Perspectives in Research and Teaching from Insider and Outsider Standpoints | Kayden J Schumacher |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/339 | Rethinking the teaching of the Past Perfect tense in an ESL classroom in Vietnam: An observation | Ngo Dang Ngoc Anh |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/340 | Conference Reports | Aimi Nur Mohamad Ramzan and the HPP Editorial Team |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/341 | The use of semiotic resources in a British and Chinese cross-cultural family within three generations | Shiyao Wang |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/342 | Decolonizing English Language Teaching (ELT) in Mexico through the New Mexican School | José Joaquín Enrique Erguera-Guerrero |
| https://doi.org/10.48785/100/343 | A Review of Specialist Mathematics Schools in England | Harry Richardson |