Professor Mary Wild

PGCE, PGCTHE, MA, PhD

Professor of Child Development & Education

School of Education, Humanities and Languages

Mary Wild

Role

Mary was Head of the School of Education having previously been Principal Lecturer (Student Experience), Senior Lecturer in Child Development and Education, and Subject Coordinator for Early Childhood Studies. Prior to joining Oxford Brookes University she completed her DPhil at Oxford University, researching the impact of ICT on children's early literacy.  She has taught across a range of courses for practitioners and professionals in early years, including the BA Hons degree in Early Childhood Studies, the PGCE , the Advanced Early Years Specialism, MA Childhood Studies and  doctoral level supervision. Mary is a qualified teacher with experience in both the primary and early years sectors and a member of the British Psychological Society,  the British Educational Research Association and UCET. She is a member of the National Strategy group for the Early Childhood Studies Degree Network and a patron of the Reading Quest Charity.

Consultancy includes a review of children's attitudes to reading for the Beanstalk reading charity (2013),  a review of developmental literature (ages 0-5) for the DCSF (Evangelou et al, 2009), researching the establishment of a new PEEP initiative in the Republic of Ireland, (Wild & Mitchell, 2009),the design & evaluation of a Survey on Parenting Skills for UNICEF Turkey (2008) in association with The Centre for Learning Behaviour, and an Evaluation of the National Bookstart Programme (2007)

Research

Research interests

Research interests include children’s thinking; early childhood literacy including the use of ICT in early years classrooms in relation to literacy, parenting and the professional development of practitioners in Early Years.

Research and consultancy projects

  • Wild, M. (2013) Beanstalk:  Evaluation of Children’s Attitudinal Outcomes
  • Rayner, S., Arthur, L.  & Wild, M.  (2012) Oxford City: Leadership for Learning. (2012) Joint successful bid with O.U.D. E.
  • Wild, M. and Glenny, G. (2011) Evaluation of the Ten to Two project in Oxfordshire.   Project sponsored by Oxfordshire County Council to evaluate the provision  of ten hours of free childcare/ education to disadvantaged two-year olds within the county.
  • Evangelou, M., Sylva, K., Wild, M., Glenny, G. and Kyriacou, M.  (2009) Early Years Learning and Development Literature Review. DCSF RR 176.
  • Wild, M (2008) Research in Support of Phonics. Oxfordshire LA/British Association Early Childhood Education.
  • Mitchell, H, & Wild, M . (2008) Design & Evaluation of Midline Survey on Parenting Skills for UNICEF – Turkey in association with The Centre for Learning Behaviour, Reading.
  • Aug 2007 Evaluation of the National Bookstart Programme for Booktrust.

Publications

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Professional information

Conferences

Recent conference papers

  • Calder, P. Leeson, C. Nightingale, B., Silberfeld C. &  Wild, M. , (Aug 2013) More? Great? Childcare?: A discourse analysis of recent social policy documents relating to the care of young children in Englandand Wales. Symposium at EECERA Annual Conference: Values, Culture and Contexts Tallinn University (Tallinn, Estonia) August 28 to 31, 2013.
  • Wild, M. (2013) Plenary Speaker : Picturing Change Conference Oxford Brookes University (27/04/13) 
  • Wild, M. (2012) Expert Panel member : The Changing Face of Early Childhood Policy and Practice in England over the Past Twenty Years: an expert seminar Warwick Institute of Education/The Open University(23/11/12)
  • Wild, M. and Evangelou. M. (2012) Getting the balance right: the role of the adult in supporting children’s early learning. European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Annual Conference. Porto. Portugal
  •  Wild, M. and Mitchell, H. (2010) Listening to and Learning From the Voices of Practitioners and Professionals in the Early Years European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Annual ConferenceBirmingham, UK
  •  Evangelou, M. and Wild, M. (2010) Quality Of Early Childhood Settings: Giving Parents A Voice.. European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Annual ConferenceBirmingham, UK
  • Mitchell, H. and Wild, M. (2009) Supporting Parents in Supporting Children’s Literacy: Practitioner Perspectives on Implementing a Parenting Programme in a New Societal Context. European Early Childhood Educational Research Association, Annual Conference, Strasbourg, France.
  • Barron, I, Calder, P. Hughes, A., Majoribanks, B., McMillan, D., Nurse, A Selleck, D. Silberfeld, C. & Wild, M. (2009) Reconciling Diverse Agendas in Early Childhood Policy, Systems and Practice in the UK. Strasbourg, France. European Early Childhood Education Research Association (EECERA) Annual Conference 2009