Dr Callum McGregor

Programme Director: MSc Social Justice and Community Action / Lecturer in Education

Background

Callum's research and teaching interests are located at the intersection of education and social movement studies. In particular, Callum's research has examined the public pedagogies produced by different cultures of climate change activism, in the wider context of neoliberal public pedagogy, as well as the affective dimensions of informal learning in this context. He is currently carrying out action research into the possibilities for, and obstacles to, addressing climate change from a social justice perspective in Scottish education, with Beth Christie and Mary Collacott and has a forthcoming chapter (with co-authors Eurig Scandrett, Beth Christie and Jim Crowther) on climate justice education in The Routledge Handbook of Climate Justice, to be published in 2018. In addition, Callum has published on topics as diverse as new materialism in the context of social movement learning, and radical digital citizenship in education (with professor Akwugo Emejulu). In 2018, he will also begin work on a research project on populism and education with colleagues Margaret Petrie and Jim Crowther, also of the Institute for Education, Community and Society. Callum enjoys researching and writing collaboratively and welcomes expressions of interest to work together with others (both within and outwith academia) on these topics. He also welcomes the possibility of PhD supervision related to these themes.

Callum is currently the Programme Director of the fully online, part time, MSc Social Justice and Community Action, which will be accepting applications for the academic year 2019/20. For more information click the following link: https://www.ed.ac.uk/education/graduate-school/taught-degrees/social-justice-community

 

 

Qualifications

Relevant Education

2014   Doctor of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh (ESRC Scholarship)

Title:              “The cultural politics of climate change activism as public pedagogy: direct action, relocalisation, and professional activism”

 2010   MSc with Distinction, Educational Research, University of Edinburgh

 2008      MSc with Distinction, Community Education, University of Edinburgh

Responsibilities & affiliations

 

  • Editorial board member of Journal of Contemporary Community Education Theory and Practice (CONCEPT)
  • Advisor to the Board of the Edinburgh Old Town Development Trust
  • Member of the International Environmental Communication Assocaition
  • Steering Committee Member of the Global Justice Academy
  • Member of the Scottish Youth Work Research Steering Group 

Undergraduate teaching

Current course organising

  • BA Community Education
    • Politics, Policy and Professional Identity in Community Education (EDUA10117) (3rd Year Undergraduate)
    • Community Education: Theory, Policy, Politics  (EDUA 08063) (1st Year Undergraduate)

 

Postgraduate teaching

Current course organising

  • MSc Social Justice and Community Action
    • Dissertation(REDU 11075)/Applied Research Project (REDU 11076)
    • Theories and Politics of Social Justice (EDUA 11324)
    • Policy Analysis for Social Justice (EDUA 11326)
    • Community Action and Social Justice (EDUA 11325)
    • Activist Social Research (EDUA 11074)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Ethan Lewis: "The Impacts of Community Gardening" (https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/ethan-lewis-student)

John Pierce: "Outdoor Learning in Ireland" (https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/john-pierce-student)

 

Project activity

A curriculum for climate justice: a collaborative investigation of the challenges and opportunities for climate change education through a social justice lens.  (Principal Investigator. Co-Investogators: Beth Christie, Pete Higgins. Research Assistant, Mary Collacott). 

The University of Edinburgh’s 2016-2026 Climate Strategy outlines a whole institute approach to climate action, including learning and teaching. However, if climate change-related teaching in Higher Education (HE) is to translate into meaningful action, then two things must be considered: firstly, teachers and learners need to reframe ‘climate action’ by moving beyond individual behavior change models and considering implications for social justice. We call this climate justice education (CJE). Secondly, CJE in HE must be recognised as existing in an inter-related ecology of educational spaces, including schools, the wider community and social movements. 

This two-year participatory action research project (involving academics, teacher-learners and school students) will investigate the challenges and opportunities for bringing social justice and sustainability together through CJE, thereby more meaningfully integrating HE teaching and learning with the challenges and opportunities faced by professional practitioners working within the Scottish policy context of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). We will aim to answer the question ‘what are the challenges and opportunities for developing a curriculum for climate justice education in Moray House School of Education, which is both informed by, and accountable to, the challenges faced by professional practitioners?’ 

Outcomes from the project will inform a collaborative programme of dissemination, knowledge exchange and curriculum development with diverse stakeholders. A knowledge exchnge event will be held in collaboration with the Galsgow Centre for Climate Justice, to coincide with the beginning of COP 2018. Please contact me if you are interested in participating. 

 

Community engagement workshops: Applying Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in community settings

In this project, I co-organised a series of three workshops (April 6th, April 20th, May 11th) bringing together academics, students and community practitioners, activists and learners to collectively explore how CDA can be applied across a range of contexts in community settings in order to challenge inequality. Each workshop had between 40-60 participants and, through evaluation with community partners, we are currently exploring next steps. The workshops were funded by the Global Justice Academy (see below). Please get in touch if you are interested in collaborating or simply would like more information. 

Populism and education

In the forthcoming academic year I will begin work, with colleagues Margaret Petrie and Jim Crowther, on a project critically exploring the relationship between populism and edcuation. Currently, we have a paper on this theme under review, which will serve as a platform for further scholarship and empirical research. Please get in touch if you are interested about finding out more. 

 

Current project grants

£12,928 (Principal’s Teaching Award Scheme) Project Title: A curriculum for climate justice: a collaborative investigation of the challenges and opportunities for climate change education through a social justice lens.

£6,000 (Global Justice Academy) Global Justice Academy sponsored community engagement series on applying Critical Discourse Analysis in community contexts.

View all 26 publications on Research Explorer

Conference details

Selected conference presentations

McGregor, C. and Knox, J. (2016) New materialism and social justice: a space for productive entanglement, or a political cul-de-sac? 7th Annual Conference on the New Materialisms: “Performing situated knowledges: Space, time and vulnerability”, 21-23 September 2016, Warsaw.

Ackland, A. and McGregor, C. (2015) Adult learning and wellbeing: Between body politics and the body politic. Perspectives on community practices: Living and learning in community, Proceedings of the 9th Seminar of the ERSEA research network “Between global and local: Adult learning and development” held at University of Ljubljana between 18th-20th June 2015. Slovenia, University of Ljubljana.

McGregor, C. (2014) Social movement learning and materialism(s) in educational research: Towards socio-material movement learning? In: Blencowe, C & rua Wall, I. (Eds.) “Authority & Political Technologies 2014: Power in a world of becoming, entanglement and attachment” Held at the University of Warwick between 2nd and 3rd June 2014. Warwick: University of Warwick.

McGregor, C. (2013) Meta-learning in the U.K. environmental movement: Cultural change theories and their pedagogical implications. In: Bergeå, H. et al. (Eds.) "Conference on Communication and Environment: Participation Revisited: Openings and Closures for Deliberations on the Commons" Held at Uppsala University between 6-10th June 2013. Uppsala: Uppsala University. 

Invited speaker

2018

McGregor, C. (2018) Data citizenship and fetish thinking: Between smart cities and folk politics. Data Citizenship Seminar 3: Communities, ‘Big Data’ and Social Justice, organised by the Centre for Research into Digital Education and the Edinburgh Futures Institute, 11th May 2018. Available from: https://www.de.ed.ac.uk/event/communities-%E2%80%9Cbig-data%E2%80%9D-and-social-justice-data-citizenship-seminar-3

 

McGregor, C. (2018) Subverting the digital fetish: Reflections on the possibilities for critical digital citizenship in Higher Education. The Digital University, Social Justice and the ‘public good’: A one-day seminar hosted by Queen’s University Belfast, and supported by the Society for Research into Higher Education, 16 Feb 2018. Available from: https://www.srhe.ac.uk/downloads/events/332_CallumMcGregor.pdf

Organiser

2018

  • Community engagement workshops: Applying Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in community settings

In this project, I co-organised a series of three workshops (April 6th, April 20th, May 11th) bringing together academics, students and community practitioners, activists and learners to collectively explore how CDA can be applied across a range of contexts in community settings in order to challenge inequality. Each workshop had between 40-60 participants and, through evaluation with community partners, we are currently exploring next steps. The workshops were funded by the Global Justice Academy (see below).

 

2017

  • Public lecture: Towards a radical digital citizenship in digital education

Speakers: Professor Skwugo Emejulu and Dr Callum MCGregor; Dr Emma Dowling; Dr Huw Davies. See Global Justice Academy Blog for further information: http://www.globaljusticeblog.ed.ac.uk/2017/06/26/towards-a-radical-digital-citizenship-in-digital-education/