Elizabeth A C Rushton
Biographic Data
| ID | 4350903 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elizabeth A C Rushton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elizabeth A C |
| FAMILY NAME | Rushton |
| SIGNATURE | RUSHTON E A C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Stirling |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6981-8797 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 48 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Ancient Maya settlement abandonment and climate instability in Belize (700–1600 CE)
We evaluated the “drought-collapse” narrative in Maya archaeology by mapping settlement abandonment across 294 sites in Belize against high-resolution paleoclimate data. Although severe droughts occurred in Belize between 700 and 1600 CE, their impact on Maya settlement dynamics was uneven. Despite receiving more annual rainfall, spatial analyses (relative-risk surfaces and cluster analysis) show that western and southern regions were abandoned e…
Exploring interactions of the dimensions of agency through the experiences of aspiring school leaders in Scotland, UK
Agency has increasingly become a central concept in educational leadership research, yet its application to those preparing to enter school leadership roles remains underexplored. Drawing on the conceptual framework of the ecological approach to teacher agency, we explored how and in what ways aspiring school leaders in Scotland ( n = 21) experience agency as they undertake a national programme of professional learning designed to support their e…
Teacher agency in universities
University lecturers face challenges aligning their teaching beliefs with evolving institutional and societal demands. This study explores how teacher agency – briefly defined as lecturers’ capacity to act purposefully to influence their teaching practices – could support this alignment. Semi-structured and scenario-based interviews with 12 participants at a Scottish university revealed three shared agentic orientations related to navigating teac…
Understanding spaces of teacher agency
Is climate literacy an effective proxy for climate change education? Evidence from young people’s conceptualisations of climate change in England
Education, including school education, is integral to just responses to global climate change and sustainability crises. Increasingly, national and international surveys seek to assess the ‘climate literacy' of young people, including as a mechanism to measure the effectiveness of national education systems for preparing young people. However, these surveys generally ask young people to identify accurate knowledge from a series of definitions, ra…
Relational dimensions of teacher agency
Understanding why academics exercise teacher agency is essential because university teaching takes place within complex, dynamic, and often constraining contexts that require purposeful decision-making. Teacher agency can be understood as the capacity to act purposefully and make informed choices within particular teaching practices. Using an ecological lens, we distinguish between what agency is and what agency is for . Scenario-based interviews…
Youth Climate Questions
Anthropogenic climate change and environmental crises are pressing challenges of our time, with changes to the climate system observed in every global region. Disastrous impacts on nature, including people, have already been observed in the form of drought, floods and extreme heat events across the planet. This study examines the role of an interdisciplinary approach to exploring different responses to climate-related disasters and potential disa…
Exploring teacher agency in universities
Understanding how university lecturers exercise teacher agency (i.e. the capacity to intentionally and constructively shape their teaching practices and professional development) is crucial for improving teaching quality and fostering professional growth. Agency encompasses lecturers’ intentional, proactive efforts to navigate challenges, implement effective teaching strategies, and adapt to diverse institutional constraints and opportunities. Th…
Responding to the moral complexities of climate change education through intergenerational dialogue in teacher education
Persistent youth advocacy for climate action worldwide, and recent policy activity in England, UK focused on climate change and sustainability education (CCSE), provide the context for this study.Drawing on reflections and insights predominantly gathered whilst working as a geography teacher and geography teacher educator in both England and Scotland, I explore the ways in which intergenerational dialogue can support teacher educators in the cont…
Where is risk education? Exploring risk education in secondary schools in England
Risk researchers have asserted that risk education in secondary schools is minimal, if it exists at all. This study shows that some aspects of risk are taught as part of the National Curriculum in England. As risk science has developed, many of its proponents have recognised the importance of ensuring that all students in secondary schools are exposed to risk concepts and thinking. In the education field, risk education is seen as important but i…
Curriculum making and climate change and sustainability education
School-based climate change and sustainability education are widely understood as a vital response to the triple environmental crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. This current research analyses over 700 responses from a national survey of teachers working in England to explore teachers’ curriculum making activities and the sites in which these occur, in the context of climate change and sustainability education (CCSE). Micr…
Teaching high school chemistry through education for sustainability
Understanding teacher agency in the context of school‐based climate change and sustainability education
Drawing on teacher agency as a conceptual framework, we explored the extent to which school teachers in secondary schools in England achieve agency in relation to teaching climate change and sustainability. This research provides a novel approach to understanding the relational and emergent qualities of teacher agency by bringing together insights from both teachers and school students (aged 11–14 years). Data were gathered through two separate o…
The “problem” of teacher quality
Teachers and teacher education are often presented as “problems” to be solved, with policy solutions that focus on ways to make teachers “better” and improve teacher “quality” by introducing prescriptive strategies. We investigate the ways Covid-19-related changes to university and school-based facets of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in England influence teacher quality in relation to both student teachers and early career teachers, working in …
Reflections on enabling intergenerational dialogue about climate interventions through deliberative methods
Equipping society for everyday lives
Risk experts and government agencies have long advocated for the inclusion of risk education as part of formal schooling; however, questions remain as to what risk education is and how it should be taught. Drawing on interviews with eleven risk experts based in scientific institutions and universities, we explored their views and priorities regarding secondary school-based risk education. Analysis of these expert interviews highlighted varied con…
What role can ‘public switching’ play in researching public perceptions of controversial issues
This short article reflects on 'public switching' as a methodology for research on public perspectives on potential responses to the climate crisis. There have been recent calls for early public engagement with potentially controversial science and technology. Such 'upstream' engagement is often conducted by those close to the science, presenting challenges associated with informing without advocating and deferral to scientists on non-scientific …
Exploring strategies to sustain teacher agency in the context of ‘hyper-accountability’
We explored teacher agency in a policy context of hyper-accountability drawing on interviews with ten experienced secondary school chemistry teachers in Chile. Constraints included successive reforms of the national curriculum, a resource-poor and high-surveillance education culture, and a low-priority culture of professional learning. Strategies enacted to sustain teacher agency included identifying 'pockets of possibility' to realise authentic …
Understanding teacher identity in teachers' professional lives
This article presents a systematic review of a substantial body of literature that considers the ways in which the concept of teacher identity has been used to understand and explore teachers' professional lives. The aim of the review was to go beyond the limitations of specific areas of teachers' practice to explore the broad and rich field of teachers' professional lives. Drawing on 412 articles from 2000–2021, the review demonstrates the growt…
The role of teacher educator virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) in mobilising policy engagement
Attempts to solve perceived policy problems in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) have seen national and international jurisdictions increasingly centralising ITE curricula, coupled with monitoring and auditing of outcomes against defined sets of professional standards. This paper reports the findings of a documentary analysis of 75 items of publicly available literature generated by stakeholders between 2 July and 30 September 2021, in response to …
Collaborative identity development during a global pandemic
Since early 2020, COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on teacher education. We consider novel aspects of how pre-service teachers have collaboratively developed their professional identities during the pandemic. Drawing on findings from forty-five interviews with pre-service high school teachers working in England during September 2020 – June 2021, we share how collaborative identity development was central and occurred in a variety of spaces, …
Reflecting on ’classroom readiness’ in initial teacher education in a time of global pandemic from the perspectives of eight university providers from across England, UK
In the context of a decade of change and reform in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) policy making, we assess the impact of the substantial changes caused by Covid-19 affecting ITE from the perspectives of eight university providers in England. Whilst previous research has documented the impact of the first period of lockdown in the UK, initiated in March 2020, we draw on the conceptual framework of classroom readiness to consider the continued and…
Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability
What would it mean to put environmental sustainability at the heart of education? This article describes a process of inclusive, participatory manifesto‐making to identify young people's (aged 16–18 years) and teachers' priorities for education for environmental sustainability across the UK. Drawing on analysis of qualitative data from over 200 teachers and young people who participated in futures and visualisation workshops, we identify key educ…
Putting climate change at the heart of education
In this paper we present an analysis of the sustainability and climate change strategy for education and children's services systems in England, produced by the Department for Education. Using critical discourse analysis, we juxtapose qualitative data collected from >200 youth teachers and teacher educators in the context of co‐creating a manifesto for education and environmental sustainability. Through analysis of these two datasets, we evaluate…
The challenges and affordances of online participatory workshops in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism
Participatory workshops can provide an equitable way of working with diverse communities to co-produce new knowledge and understanding in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism. Drawing on data from interviews with seven facilitators, we consider the specific affordances and challenges provided by participatory workshops that are held online with groups including young people and teachers. We highlight that the online form…
Putting climate change at the heart of education
In this paper we present an analysis of the sustainability and climate change strategy for education and children's services systems in England, produced by the Department for Education. Using critical discourse analysis, we juxtapose qualitative data collected from >200 youth teachers and teacher educators in the context of co‐creating a manifesto for education and environmental sustainability. Through analysis of these two datasets, we evaluate…
An improved methodology for the recovery of Zea mays and other large crop pollen, with implications for environmental archaeology in the Neotropics
We present a simple sieving methodology to aid the recovery of large cultigen pollen grains, such as maize ( Zea mays L.), manioc ( Manihot esculenta Crantz), and sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas L.), among others, for the detection of food production using fossil pollen analysis of lake sediments in the tropical Americas. The new methodology was tested on three large study lakes located next to known and/or excavated pre-Columbian archaeological s…
Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability
What would it mean to put environmental sustainability at the heart of education? This article describes a process of inclusive, participatory manifesto‐making to identify young people's (aged 16–18 years) and teachers' priorities for education for environmental sustainability across the UK. Drawing on analysis of qualitative data from over 200 teachers and young people who participated in futures and visualisation workshops, we identify key educ…
A late-Holocene vegetation history from the Maya lowlands, Lamanai, Northern Belize
A 3 m core from the New River Lagoon, adjacent to the Maya city of Lamanai, Northern Belize, contains a continuous record of vegetation change between c. 1500 bc and ad 1500. Inferred changes in forest abundance and plant community assemblage build on previous palaeolimnological analysis of the same core reported by Metcalfe et al. (2009). A near-complete, abundant record of Zea mays grains provides a detailed account of field-based agriculture l…
Exploring strategies to sustain teacher agency in the context of ‘hyper-accountability’
We explored teacher agency in a policy context of hyper-accountability drawing on interviews with ten experienced secondary school chemistry teachers in Chile. Constraints included successive reforms of the national curriculum, a resource-poor and high-surveillance education culture, and a low-priority culture of professional learning. Strategies enacted to sustain teacher agency included identifying 'pockets of possibility' to realise authentic …
Curriculum making and climate change and sustainability education
School-based climate change and sustainability education are widely understood as a vital response to the triple environmental crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. This current research analyses over 700 responses from a national survey of teachers working in England to explore teachers’ curriculum making activities and the sites in which these occur, in the context of climate change and sustainability education (CCSE). Micr…
What role can ‘public switching’ play in researching public perceptions of controversial issues
This short article reflects on 'public switching' as a methodology for research on public perspectives on potential responses to the climate crisis. There have been recent calls for early public engagement with potentially controversial science and technology. Such 'upstream' engagement is often conducted by those close to the science, presenting challenges associated with informing without advocating and deferral to scientists on non-scientific …
The challenges and affordances of online participatory workshops in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism
Participatory workshops can provide an equitable way of working with diverse communities to co-produce new knowledge and understanding in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism. Drawing on data from interviews with seven facilitators, we consider the specific affordances and challenges provided by participatory workshops that are held online with groups including young people and teachers. We highlight that the online form…
The “problem” of teacher quality
Teachers and teacher education are often presented as “problems” to be solved, with policy solutions that focus on ways to make teachers “better” and improve teacher “quality” by introducing prescriptive strategies. We investigate the ways Covid-19-related changes to university and school-based facets of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in England influence teacher quality in relation to both student teachers and early career teachers, working in …
Reflections on enabling intergenerational dialogue about climate interventions through deliberative methods
Equipping society for everyday lives
Risk experts and government agencies have long advocated for the inclusion of risk education as part of formal schooling; however, questions remain as to what risk education is and how it should be taught. Drawing on interviews with eleven risk experts based in scientific institutions and universities, we explored their views and priorities regarding secondary school-based risk education. Analysis of these expert interviews highlighted varied con…
A late-Holocene vegetation history from the Maya lowlands, Lamanai, Northern Belize
A 3 m core from the New River Lagoon, adjacent to the Maya city of Lamanai, Northern Belize, contains a continuous record of vegetation change between c. 1500 bc and ad 1500. Inferred changes in forest abundance and plant community assemblage build on previous palaeolimnological analysis of the same core reported by Metcalfe et al. (2009). A near-complete, abundant record of Zea mays grains provides a detailed account of field-based agriculture l…
An improved methodology for the recovery of Zea mays and other large crop pollen, with implications for environmental archaeology in the Neotropics
We present a simple sieving methodology to aid the recovery of large cultigen pollen grains, such as maize ( Zea mays L.), manioc ( Manihot esculenta Crantz), and sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas L.), among others, for the detection of food production using fossil pollen analysis of lake sediments in the tropical Americas. The new methodology was tested on three large study lakes located next to known and/or excavated pre-Columbian archaeological s…
A Tale of Maize, Palm, and Pine
The environmental impact of the ancient Maya, and subsequent ecological recovery following the Terminal Classic decline, have been the key foci of research into socio-ecological interactions in the Yucatán peninsula. These foci, however, belie the complex pattern of resource exploitation and agriculture associated with post-Classic Maya societies and European colonisation. We present a high-resolution, 1200-year record of pollen and charcoal data…
The challenges and affordances of online participatory workshops in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism
Participatory workshops can provide an equitable way of working with diverse communities to co-produce new knowledge and understanding in the context of young people’s everyday climate crisis activism. Drawing on data from interviews with seven facilitators, we consider the specific affordances and challenges provided by participatory workshops that are held online with groups including young people and teachers. We highlight that the online form…
What enables student geography teachers to thrive during their PGCE year and beyond
Drawing on the perspectives of six student teachers (including five geography specialists) and two teacher educators, four key components are identified as being crucial to enable those undertaking a geography-focused programme of Initial Teacher Education to thrive rather than simply survive. These include, (1) nurturing an enjoyment of geography, (2) engaging with education research to underpin classroom practice, (3) developing communities of …
An introduction to the co-creation of policy briefs with youth and academic teams
Drawing on insights from a four-day online workshop, which explored geo-engineering and policy making with 13 youth participants, an academic and youth authorial team provide a guide to the co-creation of policy briefs. Drawing on excerpts from the policy brief at different stages of development and commentary provided by the authors during the workshops, we set out four stages including (1) Identifying the key message and audience, (2) Reading a…
Teacher and youth priorities for education for environmental sustainability
What would it mean to put environmental sustainability at the heart of education? This article describes a process of inclusive, participatory manifesto‐making to identify young people's (aged 16–18 years) and teachers' priorities for education for environmental sustainability across the UK. Drawing on analysis of qualitative data from over 200 teachers and young people who participated in futures and visualisation workshops, we identify key educ…
Putting climate change at the heart of education
In this paper we present an analysis of the sustainability and climate change strategy for education and children's services systems in England, produced by the Department for Education. Using critical discourse analysis, we juxtapose qualitative data collected from >200 youth teachers and teacher educators in the context of co‐creating a manifesto for education and environmental sustainability. Through analysis of these two datasets, we evaluate…
Understanding teacher identity in teachers' professional lives
This article presents a systematic review of a substantial body of literature that considers the ways in which the concept of teacher identity has been used to understand and explore teachers' professional lives. The aim of the review was to go beyond the limitations of specific areas of teachers' practice to explore the broad and rich field of teachers' professional lives. Drawing on 412 articles from 2000–2021, the review demonstrates the growt…
The role of teacher educator virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) in mobilising policy engagement
Attempts to solve perceived policy problems in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) have seen national and international jurisdictions increasingly centralising ITE curricula, coupled with monitoring and auditing of outcomes against defined sets of professional standards. This paper reports the findings of a documentary analysis of 75 items of publicly available literature generated by stakeholders between 2 July and 30 September 2021, in response to …
Collaborative identity development during a global pandemic
Since early 2020, COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on teacher education. We consider novel aspects of how pre-service teachers have collaboratively developed their professional identities during the pandemic. Drawing on findings from forty-five interviews with pre-service high school teachers working in England during September 2020 – June 2021, we share how collaborative identity development was central and occurred in a variety of spaces, …
Reflecting on ’classroom readiness’ in initial teacher education in a time of global pandemic from the perspectives of eight university providers from across England, UK
In the context of a decade of change and reform in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) policy making, we assess the impact of the substantial changes caused by Covid-19 affecting ITE from the perspectives of eight university providers in England. Whilst previous research has documented the impact of the first period of lockdown in the UK, initiated in March 2020, we draw on the conceptual framework of classroom readiness to consider the continued and…
Reflections on enabling intergenerational dialogue about climate interventions through deliberative methods
Equipping society for everyday lives
Risk experts and government agencies have long advocated for the inclusion of risk education as part of formal schooling; however, questions remain as to what risk education is and how it should be taught. Drawing on interviews with eleven risk experts based in scientific institutions and universities, we explored their views and priorities regarding secondary school-based risk education. Analysis of these expert interviews highlighted varied con…
What role can ‘public switching’ play in researching public perceptions of controversial issues
This short article reflects on 'public switching' as a methodology for research on public perspectives on potential responses to the climate crisis. There have been recent calls for early public engagement with potentially controversial science and technology. Such 'upstream' engagement is often conducted by those close to the science, presenting challenges associated with informing without advocating and deferral to scientists on non-scientific …
Exploring strategies to sustain teacher agency in the context of ‘hyper-accountability’
We explored teacher agency in a policy context of hyper-accountability drawing on interviews with ten experienced secondary school chemistry teachers in Chile. Constraints included successive reforms of the national curriculum, a resource-poor and high-surveillance education culture, and a low-priority culture of professional learning. Strategies enacted to sustain teacher agency included identifying 'pockets of possibility' to realise authentic …
Youth Climate Questions
Anthropogenic climate change and environmental crises are pressing challenges of our time, with changes to the climate system observed in every global region. Disastrous impacts on nature, including people, have already been observed in the form of drought, floods and extreme heat events across the planet. This study examines the role of an interdisciplinary approach to exploring different responses to climate-related disasters and potential disa…
Exploring teacher agency in universities
Understanding how university lecturers exercise teacher agency (i.e. the capacity to intentionally and constructively shape their teaching practices and professional development) is crucial for improving teaching quality and fostering professional growth. Agency encompasses lecturers’ intentional, proactive efforts to navigate challenges, implement effective teaching strategies, and adapt to diverse institutional constraints and opportunities. Th…
Responding to the moral complexities of climate change education through intergenerational dialogue in teacher education
Persistent youth advocacy for climate action worldwide, and recent policy activity in England, UK focused on climate change and sustainability education (CCSE), provide the context for this study.Drawing on reflections and insights predominantly gathered whilst working as a geography teacher and geography teacher educator in both England and Scotland, I explore the ways in which intergenerational dialogue can support teacher educators in the cont…
Where is risk education? Exploring risk education in secondary schools in England
Risk researchers have asserted that risk education in secondary schools is minimal, if it exists at all. This study shows that some aspects of risk are taught as part of the National Curriculum in England. As risk science has developed, many of its proponents have recognised the importance of ensuring that all students in secondary schools are exposed to risk concepts and thinking. In the education field, risk education is seen as important but i…
Curriculum making and climate change and sustainability education
School-based climate change and sustainability education are widely understood as a vital response to the triple environmental crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. This current research analyses over 700 responses from a national survey of teachers working in England to explore teachers’ curriculum making activities and the sites in which these occur, in the context of climate change and sustainability education (CCSE). Micr…
Teaching high school chemistry through education for sustainability
Understanding teacher agency in the context of school‐based climate change and sustainability education
Drawing on teacher agency as a conceptual framework, we explored the extent to which school teachers in secondary schools in England achieve agency in relation to teaching climate change and sustainability. This research provides a novel approach to understanding the relational and emergent qualities of teacher agency by bringing together insights from both teachers and school students (aged 11–14 years). Data were gathered through two separate o…
The “problem” of teacher quality
Teachers and teacher education are often presented as “problems” to be solved, with policy solutions that focus on ways to make teachers “better” and improve teacher “quality” by introducing prescriptive strategies. We investigate the ways Covid-19-related changes to university and school-based facets of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in England influence teacher quality in relation to both student teachers and early career teachers, working in …
Ancient Maya settlement abandonment and climate instability in Belize (700–1600 CE)
We evaluated the “drought-collapse” narrative in Maya archaeology by mapping settlement abandonment across 294 sites in Belize against high-resolution paleoclimate data. Although severe droughts occurred in Belize between 700 and 1600 CE, their impact on Maya settlement dynamics was uneven. Despite receiving more annual rainfall, spatial analyses (relative-risk surfaces and cluster analysis) show that western and southern regions were abandoned e…
Sociology (16 works) · Political science (14 works) · Pedagogy (11 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Public relations (9 works) · Teacher education (9 works) · Environmental Education and Sustainability (8 works) · Qualitative research (8 works) · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies (8 works) · Environmental education (6 works)