Laura Quick
Biographic Data
| ID | 3701277 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura Quick |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura |
| FAMILY NAME | Quick |
| SIGNATURE | QUICK L |
| AFFILIATIONS | Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK |
| ORCID | 0009-0004-3774-4588 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Ellie's story
This article demonstrates how Foucault’s often overlooked concept of counter-conduct can helpfully illuminate children’s sense-making about school. Through exploring the understandings of Ellie, a disengaged low-attaining primary school pupil, we show how counter-conduct allows us to see pupils’ disengagement as part of a struggle over their subjectivity. Engaging in a project to avoid internalising the model of pupilhood available to her within …
Poetry and Textual Criticism in 4Q184
Various text critical issues problematize our interpretation of the portion of 4Q184 which describes the woman's body. In the interpretation and analysis of ancient literary products, textual criticism is often employed as the first stage of literary criticism. But in this paper, I argue that literary criticism and textual criticism should go hand-in-hand. If we understand the poetics of a particular literary product, the various conventions or r…
Gender Studies and Kings
The name of the books of Kings suggests a focus entirely upon masculine rulers. In fact, the books of Kings present a cross section of the professional, political, and religious roles held by women in ancient Israel and Judah. Beyond highlighting female-specific roles from the text, the text reflects and constructs a specific orientation toward gender. The books of Kings describe and normalize various qualities and roles that were considered appr…
The threat of three-fold failure
Recent education research raises concerns about the damage low attainment designation can do to pupils' self-worth but there has been little detailed exploration of the dynamics of this. Using in-depth interview data, this article explores how four pupils experience and respond to their low attainment, and their struggles to maintain their self-worth. It identifies three pressures they experience: the pressure to perform academically, to assume f…
Children who experience misrecognition in primary education
Our research constructed school life histories with 23 ‘lower‐attaining’ primary school children in England. Previous research has often failed to focus on the social justice aspects of this group, and no attempt has been made to contextualise children's misrecognition experiences within their full school life history, nor to hear primarily from children. Our results reveal for the first time the feelings, thinking and actions of lower attainers …
Introducing a Hermeneutics of Cispicion
A hermeneutics of cispicion challenges cisnormative presuppositions that shape and, at times, occlude the variations in gender and sex exhibited by key characters in the ancestral narrative of Genesis 12–50. It charts the progression from Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics of suspicion, through liberation, feminist and queer approaches. Focusing on Deryn Guest's queer and trans hermeneutics, Henderson-Merrygold then offers a new strategy for reading aga…
Threats to creative learning in the primary-school
This article tracks the life-histories of 23 British schoolchildren aged from seven to 12 who were designated as ‘lower-attaining’ at age seven. Drawing on Self Determination Theory’s mini-theory of Causality Orientations, the authors explored whether/how children with a Controlled or Impersonal Orientation approached creative learning differently from those with an Autonomy Orientation. Six detailed life-histories presented illuminate that child…
National Curriculum and Assessment in England and the continuing narrowed experiences of lower-attainers in primary schools
A considerable body of global educational literature has examined how schooling policy based on measuring and managing performance has narrowed children’s access both to curriculum breadth and to diversity in pedagogy. This article approaches these curriculum dilemmas within the global concern for children’s wellbeing and social justice. In particular, it focuses on the experiences of children designated by this system as lower-attaining, which i…
Detextualizing and Retextualizing the Torah
The book of Deuteronomy develops a remarkable interplay between the oral and the written, the ritual and the textual. Already in the earliest reception of the book, the inner-biblical reference to the discovery of the »book of the law« by Josiah in 2 Kgs 22, we find a similar interplay between a written text and the public performance of reading. In the Exagoge of Ezekiel Tragicus, this idea is taken to its fullest articulation, and the story of …
“Look at them! They all have friends and not me”
This paper explores the peer relationship experiences of 23 primary-school children who had been designated as “lower-attaining”. It is written against the backdrop of the mental health crisis among young people in Britain. Using John Macmurray’s principles of equality and freedom as underpinning positive personal relationships, it investigates how “lower-attaining” children experience their peer relationships in a climate where attainment in mat…
Persevering for a Cruel and Cynical Fiction? The Experiences of the ‘Low Achievers’ in Primary Schooling
This paper is significant in its exploration of the experiences of children designated as ‘lower-attaining’ in British primary schooling. It is underpinned by Nancy Fraser’s conceptualisation of a global shift from government via nation-state welfare structures to governance through supra-national financialised neoliberalism. Within this context, we take the innovative path of investigating how ‘lower-attaining’ children explain perseverance with…
Bitenosh’s Orgasm, Galen’s Two Seeds and Conception Theory in the Hebrew Bible
In the Genesis Apocryphon, Lamech worries that his son is illegitimate and accordingly confronts his wife about her fidelity. Bitenosh answers these accusations with a surprising response: she asks her husband to recall the sexual pleasure that she experienced during their intercourse. Scholars have clarified this rhetorical strategy by connecting the episode to Greco-Roman theories of embryogenesis, in which a woman’s pleasure during intercourse…
Systemic threats to the growth mindset
In this paper, the authors consider how Carol Dweck’s concept of growth mindset has been misconceptualised. They explore the proposition that agency is an important aspect of growth mindset and that the effects of hard work by children is reduced when agency is limited. They draw on qualitative data from 84 interviews with 23 participant children who had been designated at the end of their Year 3 as ‘lower-attainers’ in mathematics, English or bo…
Parity of participation? Primary-school children reflect critically on being successful during schooling
Nancy Fraser describes parity-of-participation in social interaction as an important component of social justice. In this paper, we explore the participatory experiences of primary-school-children who have been labelled ‘lower-attainers’ in mathematics and/or writing. The paper explores justice drawing on the perspective of these pupils, in relation to how they perceive success in their school learning. We link the concept of participation to the…
Intervention culture, grouping and triage
This paper explores the practices of division in operation in primary schools in England in response to the pressures of high stakes tests at age 10/11, known as SATs. Using data from interviews with 20 primary headteachers and information from a survey of nearly 300 primary heads, we argue that the organisation of pupils in preparation for SATs involves 1) the use of grouping by ‘ability’ in sets, despite the increasing evidence of the disadvant…
Blessings and Curses in Deuteronomy
The law code of the book of Deuteronomy is capped with a series of blessings and curses that either promise reward or threaten harm upon the individuals subject to the Deuteronomic laws. While this method of divine encouragement to keep the commandments of God might seem surprising from a theological point of view, blessings and curses were an integral part of the legal, political, and religious life of the ancient Near East, found in a variety o…
The Hidden Body as Literary Strategy in 4QWiles of the Wicked Woman (4Q184)
The short sapiential poem known as 4QWiles of the Wicked Woman (4Q184) describes the body of an unnamed female who ensnares the righteous into sin and ultimately death. This poetic description of a body has sometimes been compared to the Waṣf , a type of poem which provides a thick description of the body, listing and describing body parts in a movement descending from head to toe. In this essay, I explore the description of the woman’s body in 4…
“Like a Garment Eaten by Moths” (Job 13
The book of Job provides the most complex and detailed descriptions of illness in biblical literature. Less explored are the frequent references made in the text to dressing and undressing. These references demonstrate the various dimensions, contexts and functional roles of clothing in the world of the Hebrew Bible. But as well as references to actual textile items, the book of Job also refers to clothing in a much more symbolic sense. Drawing o…
Averting Curses in the Law of War (Deuteronomy 20)
This essay explores the military exemption of Deut 20:5–7 in light of the futility curse in Deut 28:30. By uncovering the social and ritual contexts of the futility curse, I argue that Deut 20:5–7 can be productively understood as a warfare ritual against the curse. I explore the ritual dimensions of Deut 20:5–7 in light of rituals for avoiding curses and maledictions from the ancient Near East, arguing that the original Sitz im Leben of these ve…
My Lord the Queen
Gender discord describes a phenomenon in Biblical Hebrew in which there is a disjuncture between the gender of a pronoun or verb with its antecedent or subject. Typically, scholarship has approached instances of this on the basis of historical Hebrew grammar, arguing that there was a weakening in the distinction of gender in the Second Temple period and hence the feminine plural suffix became subsumed under its masculine counterpart. On the other…
Gender and Philology's Uncommon Sense
Gender and Philologys Uncommon Sense
Intervention culture, grouping and triage
This paper explores the practices of division in operation in primary schools in England in response to the pressures of high stakes tests at age 10/11, known as SATs. Using data from interviews with 20 primary headteachers and information from a survey of nearly 300 primary heads, we argue that the organisation of pupils in preparation for SATs involves 1) the use of grouping by ‘ability’ in sets, despite the increasing evidence of the disadvant…
Persevering for a Cruel and Cynical Fiction? The Experiences of the ‘Low Achievers’ in Primary Schooling
This paper is significant in its exploration of the experiences of children designated as ‘lower-attaining’ in British primary schooling. It is underpinned by Nancy Fraser’s conceptualisation of a global shift from government via nation-state welfare structures to governance through supra-national financialised neoliberalism. Within this context, we take the innovative path of investigating how ‘lower-attaining’ children explain perseverance with…
Ellie's story
This article demonstrates how Foucault’s often overlooked concept of counter-conduct can helpfully illuminate children’s sense-making about school. Through exploring the understandings of Ellie, a disengaged low-attaining primary school pupil, we show how counter-conduct allows us to see pupils’ disengagement as part of a struggle over their subjectivity. Engaging in a project to avoid internalising the model of pupilhood available to her within …
My Lord the Queen
Gender discord describes a phenomenon in Biblical Hebrew in which there is a disjuncture between the gender of a pronoun or verb with its antecedent or subject. Typically, scholarship has approached instances of this on the basis of historical Hebrew grammar, arguing that there was a weakening in the distinction of gender in the Second Temple period and hence the feminine plural suffix became subsumed under its masculine counterpart. On the other…
Gender and Philology's Uncommon Sense
Gender and Philologys Uncommon Sense
Blessings and Curses in Deuteronomy
The law code of the book of Deuteronomy is capped with a series of blessings and curses that either promise reward or threaten harm upon the individuals subject to the Deuteronomic laws. While this method of divine encouragement to keep the commandments of God might seem surprising from a theological point of view, blessings and curses were an integral part of the legal, political, and religious life of the ancient Near East, found in a variety o…
The Hidden Body as Literary Strategy in 4QWiles of the Wicked Woman (4Q184)
The short sapiential poem known as 4QWiles of the Wicked Woman (4Q184) describes the body of an unnamed female who ensnares the righteous into sin and ultimately death. This poetic description of a body has sometimes been compared to the Waṣf , a type of poem which provides a thick description of the body, listing and describing body parts in a movement descending from head to toe. In this essay, I explore the description of the woman’s body in 4…
“Like a Garment Eaten by Moths” (Job 13
The book of Job provides the most complex and detailed descriptions of illness in biblical literature. Less explored are the frequent references made in the text to dressing and undressing. These references demonstrate the various dimensions, contexts and functional roles of clothing in the world of the Hebrew Bible. But as well as references to actual textile items, the book of Job also refers to clothing in a much more symbolic sense. Drawing o…
Averting Curses in the Law of War (Deuteronomy 20)
This essay explores the military exemption of Deut 20:5–7 in light of the futility curse in Deut 28:30. By uncovering the social and ritual contexts of the futility curse, I argue that Deut 20:5–7 can be productively understood as a warfare ritual against the curse. I explore the ritual dimensions of Deut 20:5–7 in light of rituals for avoiding curses and maledictions from the ancient Near East, arguing that the original Sitz im Leben of these ve…
Bitenosh’s Orgasm, Galen’s Two Seeds and Conception Theory in the Hebrew Bible
In the Genesis Apocryphon, Lamech worries that his son is illegitimate and accordingly confronts his wife about her fidelity. Bitenosh answers these accusations with a surprising response: she asks her husband to recall the sexual pleasure that she experienced during their intercourse. Scholars have clarified this rhetorical strategy by connecting the episode to Greco-Roman theories of embryogenesis, in which a woman’s pleasure during intercourse…
Systemic threats to the growth mindset
In this paper, the authors consider how Carol Dweck’s concept of growth mindset has been misconceptualised. They explore the proposition that agency is an important aspect of growth mindset and that the effects of hard work by children is reduced when agency is limited. They draw on qualitative data from 84 interviews with 23 participant children who had been designated at the end of their Year 3 as ‘lower-attainers’ in mathematics, English or bo…
Parity of participation? Primary-school children reflect critically on being successful during schooling
Nancy Fraser describes parity-of-participation in social interaction as an important component of social justice. In this paper, we explore the participatory experiences of primary-school-children who have been labelled ‘lower-attainers’ in mathematics and/or writing. The paper explores justice drawing on the perspective of these pupils, in relation to how they perceive success in their school learning. We link the concept of participation to the…
Intervention culture, grouping and triage
This paper explores the practices of division in operation in primary schools in England in response to the pressures of high stakes tests at age 10/11, known as SATs. Using data from interviews with 20 primary headteachers and information from a survey of nearly 300 primary heads, we argue that the organisation of pupils in preparation for SATs involves 1) the use of grouping by ‘ability’ in sets, despite the increasing evidence of the disadvant…
Detextualizing and Retextualizing the Torah
The book of Deuteronomy develops a remarkable interplay between the oral and the written, the ritual and the textual. Already in the earliest reception of the book, the inner-biblical reference to the discovery of the »book of the law« by Josiah in 2 Kgs 22, we find a similar interplay between a written text and the public performance of reading. In the Exagoge of Ezekiel Tragicus, this idea is taken to its fullest articulation, and the story of …
“Look at them! They all have friends and not me”
This paper explores the peer relationship experiences of 23 primary-school children who had been designated as “lower-attaining”. It is written against the backdrop of the mental health crisis among young people in Britain. Using John Macmurray’s principles of equality and freedom as underpinning positive personal relationships, it investigates how “lower-attaining” children experience their peer relationships in a climate where attainment in mat…
Persevering for a Cruel and Cynical Fiction? The Experiences of the ‘Low Achievers’ in Primary Schooling
This paper is significant in its exploration of the experiences of children designated as ‘lower-attaining’ in British primary schooling. It is underpinned by Nancy Fraser’s conceptualisation of a global shift from government via nation-state welfare structures to governance through supra-national financialised neoliberalism. Within this context, we take the innovative path of investigating how ‘lower-attaining’ children explain perseverance with…
Threats to creative learning in the primary-school
This article tracks the life-histories of 23 British schoolchildren aged from seven to 12 who were designated as ‘lower-attaining’ at age seven. Drawing on Self Determination Theory’s mini-theory of Causality Orientations, the authors explored whether/how children with a Controlled or Impersonal Orientation approached creative learning differently from those with an Autonomy Orientation. Six detailed life-histories presented illuminate that child…
National Curriculum and Assessment in England and the continuing narrowed experiences of lower-attainers in primary schools
A considerable body of global educational literature has examined how schooling policy based on measuring and managing performance has narrowed children’s access both to curriculum breadth and to diversity in pedagogy. This article approaches these curriculum dilemmas within the global concern for children’s wellbeing and social justice. In particular, it focuses on the experiences of children designated by this system as lower-attaining, which i…
Poetry and Textual Criticism in 4Q184
Various text critical issues problematize our interpretation of the portion of 4Q184 which describes the woman's body. In the interpretation and analysis of ancient literary products, textual criticism is often employed as the first stage of literary criticism. But in this paper, I argue that literary criticism and textual criticism should go hand-in-hand. If we understand the poetics of a particular literary product, the various conventions or r…
Gender Studies and Kings
The name of the books of Kings suggests a focus entirely upon masculine rulers. In fact, the books of Kings present a cross section of the professional, political, and religious roles held by women in ancient Israel and Judah. Beyond highlighting female-specific roles from the text, the text reflects and constructs a specific orientation toward gender. The books of Kings describe and normalize various qualities and roles that were considered appr…
The threat of three-fold failure
Recent education research raises concerns about the damage low attainment designation can do to pupils' self-worth but there has been little detailed exploration of the dynamics of this. Using in-depth interview data, this article explores how four pupils experience and respond to their low attainment, and their struggles to maintain their self-worth. It identifies three pressures they experience: the pressure to perform academically, to assume f…
Children who experience misrecognition in primary education
Our research constructed school life histories with 23 ‘lower‐attaining’ primary school children in England. Previous research has often failed to focus on the social justice aspects of this group, and no attempt has been made to contextualise children's misrecognition experiences within their full school life history, nor to hear primarily from children. Our results reveal for the first time the feelings, thinking and actions of lower attainers …
Introducing a Hermeneutics of Cispicion
A hermeneutics of cispicion challenges cisnormative presuppositions that shape and, at times, occlude the variations in gender and sex exhibited by key characters in the ancestral narrative of Genesis 12–50. It charts the progression from Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics of suspicion, through liberation, feminist and queer approaches. Focusing on Deryn Guest's queer and trans hermeneutics, Henderson-Merrygold then offers a new strategy for reading aga…
Ellie's story
This article demonstrates how Foucault’s often overlooked concept of counter-conduct can helpfully illuminate children’s sense-making about school. Through exploring the understandings of Ellie, a disengaged low-attaining primary school pupil, we show how counter-conduct allows us to see pupils’ disengagement as part of a struggle over their subjectivity. Engaging in a project to avoid internalising the model of pupilhood available to her within …
Sociology (16 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Art (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Pedagogy (8 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (7 works) · History (7 works) · Literature (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works)