John Barker
Lecturer / Social Work Representative on HSSC Ethics Committee - Social Work
Brunel University
Uxbridge
UB8 3PH
United Kingdom
About John
Academic qualifications
PhD (Brunel)
Profile
John is a geographer, whose teaching and research interests focus on the lives of children and young people. In particular, John has expertise in relation to mobility, play and care. He also specialises in methodological issues. John works with a variety of organisations and has successfully been awarded grants from government departments, local authorities and voluntary organisations. John has published widely amongst a variety of internationally renowned journals. He is also the secretary of the Royal Geographical Society’s Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group. John teaches on a number of programmes, including BA/MA Social Work and MA Children, Youth and International Development.
Responsibilities
Committee responsibilities
John is a member of the Research Ethics Committee of the School of Health Sciences and Social Care.Teaching responsibilities
- BA Social Work- contribution to modules: Social Policy, Human Development, Research Methods
- MA Social Work- contribution to modules: Lifespan Development, Dissertation Workshops
- MA Children, Youth and International Development- contribution to modules: Global Agendas on Young People’s Participation, International Development
PhD supervision
- Annaliza Gaber - Streetlife among Young people in South Africa
- Alison Sherwin - Portfolios as an educational tool in Physiotherapy
Teaching / Supervision
Other responsibilities
Module leader
- Researching children, childhood and youth (MA Children, Youth and International Development)
- Supporting Learning for Key Skills (BA Social Work)
- Practice Seminar leader (BA Social Work)
Research
Research interests
Children and Young People’s Services, Early Years and Childcare, Children’s Geographies, Transport and Mobility, Research Methods.
Research centres
Research projects and grants
Young people and bus travel: exploring innovative solutions
(National Youth Agency, 2007-8)
Children and risk
(Royal Society of Arts, 2007) with Nicola Madge
Scoping report on young people and buses
(National Youth Agency, 2007)
Evaluation of the Childcare Affordability Programme
(Department for Education and Skills, 2006-2008) with Fiona Smith with SQW limited
Research Framework Agreement
(Department of Work and Pensions, 2004-2008) with Fiona Smith, Susan Buckingham, Emma Wainwright, Elodie Marandet, Valerie Hey, Judith Harwin
Evaluation of Third Round Childcare Programme
(New Opportunities Fund: 2003) with Fiona Smith and SQW limited
Evaluation of Childcare Partnership Managers
(Department for Work and Pensions, 2003) with Fiona Smith
The impact of out of school childcare on children and parents
(DFES, 2002) Fiona Smith and members of the Child-Focused Research Centre
Feasibility of Yellow School Buses
(London Borough of Enfield, 2002)
Evaluating the Out of School Hours Childcare Initiative
(New Opportunities Fund, 2001) with Fiona Smith and SQW limited
Community attitudes towards after-school care
(4 Children 1999) with Fiona Smith
External
Membership and affiliation
Friend of the Royal Geographical Society
Professional activities or recognition
Royal Geographical Society’s Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group.Conferences
“What’s in focus? A critical discussion of visual methods, mobility and children and young people”, at Researching Mobilities: Realities Methods in Dialogue ESRC workshop, University of Manchester, 9th March 2011
“From theories into practice: Photography, mobilities and children and young people”, at Understanding Transitions Through Methodological Innovations Workshop, University of Leicester, 25th February, 2011
“Good punishment for bad behaviour: Exploring Seclusion Units as new spaces of punishment in UK secondary schools” John Barker and Pam Alldred, at RGS-IBG Annual Conference Sept 2010,’ Geographies of Education’ session
“Negotiating identities: Reflections on professional helping, inter-disciplinarity and emotional resilience as potent skill mixes in participatory research”, Susan Buckingham, Sweta Rajan-Rankin, John Barker and Monica Degen, at RGS-IBG Annual Conference Sept 2010, ‘Geographers helping’ – Undertaking fieldwork through a participatory role in the ‘helping’ professions’ session
“Going back to the source of the problem: A critical discussion of photography, children and young people”, Researching Children conference, South Bank University, February 2009
“A free for all? Young people, transport planning and public transport” Youth Matters? at IBG/ RGS Annual Conference, August 2008, ‘Critical geographies of youth policy and practice’ session
Publications
Publications
Journal Papers
(2011) Barker, J., ‘Manic mums’ and ‘distant dads’? Gendered carescapes and the journey to school, Health and Place 17 (2) : 413- 421
(2010) Barker, J., Alldred, P., Watts, M. and Dodman, H., Pupils or prisoners? Institutional geographies and internal exclusion in UK secondary schools, Area 42 (3) : 378- 386
(2009) Barker, J., "Driven to distraction?" Children's experiences of car travel, Mobilities 4 (1) : 59- 76
(2009) Barker, JA., Kraftl, P., Horton, J. and Tucker, F., The road less travelled? New directions in Children's Mobility, Mobilities 4 (1) : 1- 10
(2008) Barker, JA., Methodologies for change? A critique of applied research in children's geographies, Children's Geographies 6 (2) : 183- 194
(2008) Van Blerk, L. and Barker, J., The wider relevance of undertaking research with children, Children's Geographies 6 (2) : 117- 120
(2008) Smith, F., Barker, J., Wainwright, E., Marandet, E. and Buckingham, S., A new deal for lone parents? Training lone parents for work in West London, Area 40 (2) : 237- 244
(2008) Barker, J., Men and motors: fathers' involvement in children's travel, Early Child Development and Care 178 (7-8) : 853- 866
(2007) Ansell, N., Barker, J. and Smith, F., UNICEF child poverty in perspective report: a view from the UK, Children's Geographies 5 (3) : 325- 330 Download publication
(2004) Barker, JA. and Smith, F., Inclusive environments? The expansion of out-of-school childcare in the United Kingdom, Children, Youth and Environments 14 (2)
(2003) Barker, J. and Weller, S., “Is it fun?”: Developing children centred research methods, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 23 (1/2) : 33- 58
(2003) Barker, J. and Weller, S., Geography of methodological issues in research with children, Qualitative Research 3 (2) : 207- 227
(2003) Barker, J., Passengers or political actors? Children's participation in transport policy and the micro political geographies of the family, Space and Polity 7 (2) : 135- 151
(2001) Barker, J. and Smith, F., Power, positionality and practicality: carrying out fieldwork with children, Ethics, Place and Environment 4 (2) : 142- 147
Book Chapters
(Forthcoming) Barker, J. and Smith, F., Photography, school spaces and school lives: using visual methods in schools to map the geographies of children and youth. In: Multidisciplinary Approaches in Educational Research: Case Studies from Pakistan and the UK. Pakistan : Institute for Education Development, Aga Khan University (Forthcoming)
(2012) Barker, JA., A free for all? Scale and young people’s participation in transport planning. In: Kraftl, P., Horton, J. and Tucker, F. eds. Critical geographies of childhood and youth: Contemporary policy and practice.
(2011) Barker, J. and Aldred, P., Documentary research and secondary data. In: Bradford, S. and Cullen, F. eds. Research and Research Methods for Youth Practitioners. London : Routledge
(2008) van Blerk, L., Barker, J., Kesby, M., Ansell, N. and Smith, F., Researching children's geographies. In: van Blerk, L. and Kesby, M. eds. Doing Children's Geographies. London : Routledge
