Lecture to confront social inequality in schools

Professor Bob Lingard from the University of Queensland will speak atthe annual event, held in recognition of the City of Leeds TrainingCollege's first female Vice-Principal, and feminist, Winifred Mercier.

The lecture takes place on Wednesday 7 March at 6pm atLeeds Met's Headingley Campus, where Professor Lingard will outline theways to address the pressing issue of social inequalities in schooling,which must be overcome to ensure learning outcomes and pupil progressionare improved.

Professor Bob Lingard is currently a Research Fellow in theSchool of Education at the University of Queensland and has aninternational research reputation in the areas of sociology of educationand education policy as well as publishing widely in these fields.

Professor Lori Beckett, The Winifred Mercier Professor ofTeacher Education at Leeds Metropolitan University, added: "The annualWinifred Mercier public lecture is a significant event on LeedsMetropolitan's calendar as it not only celebrates the intellectual lifeof the university but it pays homage to the first Vice-Principal of theCity of Leeds Training College. Winifred Mercier left a legacy ofprofessional activity in teacher education at local and national levels,at a time when it was first introduced as a campus-based study. LeedsMet academics follow suit with their own engagement in teacher educationin all different forums, especially now given national debates on thefate of campus-based work. The public lecture provides an opportunity toinvite a prominent academic to share her or his perspectives on teachereducation, and to engage in a public debate about the best ways toprepare our teachers."

Instituted in 2007, the annual lecture commemorates the lifeand work of Winifred Mercier who from 1913 to 1915 was Vice-Principal atthe former City of Leeds Training College. Greatly respected for herintellect and passion, Winifred was not afraid to engage in publicpolicy debates and ask questions of the government of the day. Afirst-wave feminist, she encouraged her contemporaries to considersociety as it was and as it could be, and deliberate on the role andfunction of education in building the social world.