Alana James

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0118 3785390
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Associate Professor
- School Director of Academic Tutoring
- School Director of Teaching and Learning.
Areas of interest
Social-development and educational psychology, particularly:
- bullying
- peer mentoring systems in schools and universities
- student welfare and the transition into university
- outreach with schools and colleges
- parenting interventions.
Postgraduate supervision
Beatrice Hayes – Children's understanding of the risks associated with social networking site use: online self-disclosure and impact on children's social-emotional wellbeing.
Teaching
- Research methods
- Developmental psychology.
Research centres and groups
Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience
Academic qualifications
- MA (Edinburgh)
- MSc (York)
- PhD (London)
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Awards and honours
British Psychological Society Division of Academics, Researchers & Teachers in Psychology (BPS DARTP)/Oxford University Press (OUP) Higher Education Psychology Teacher of the Year 2019
Selected publications
Selected pedagogic and public engagement resources:
- Social Scientists in Training – resources for teachers and others to develop research skills in A level Psychology students, ESRC Festival of Social Science, 2017
- Reflections on university transition from a new staff member. Engage in Teaching and Learning Blog, University of Reading, 2017
- Supporting mental health during educational transitions – workshop slides available, Pupil Diversity, South East Research Network for Schools, 2017
- Running and evaluating peer support systems in schools – talk slides and workshop summary available, Literacy & Mental Health in Schools, South East Research Network for Schools, 2016
- How do children learn to form social bonds? The Conversation, 2016
- Using mentoring to support transition into and out of higher education. HEA Blog, 2015
Publications
- Lucas, R. , Cage, E. , James, A. (2022) Supporting effective transitions from university to post-graduation for autistic students. Frontiers in Psychology , 12 ISSN: 1664-1078 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.768429
- Hayes, B. , James, A. , Barn, R. , Watling, D. (2022) Children's risk and benefit behaviours on social networking sites. Computers in Human Behavior , 130 ISSN: 0747-5632 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107147
- Hayes, B. , James, A. , Barn, R. , Watling, D. (2022) “The world we live in now”: a qualitative investigation into parents’, teachers’ and children’s perceptions of social networking site use. British Journal of Educational Psychology , 92 (1). pp. 340-363. ISSN: 2044-8279 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12452
- Cage, E. , James, A. , Newell, V. , Lucas, R. (2022) Expectations and experiences of the transition out of university for students with mental health conditions. European Journal of Higher Education , 12 (2). pp. 171-193. ISSN: 2156-8235 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2021.1917440
- Bourne, V. , James, A. , Wilson-Smith, K. (2021) Understanding quantitative and qualitative research in psychology - a practical guide to methods, statistics, and analysis. Oxford University Press pp 704. ISBN: 9780198823049
- Cox, H. , James, A. , Day, C. , Reissland, N. (2021) Feasibility of a psychoeducational group intervention to improve parental reflective functioning and bonding in pregnancy: a randomised trial. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology , 39 (5). pp. 499-515. ISSN: 0264-6838 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2020.1786036
- James, A. (2019) University-school mentoring to support transition into and out of higher education. Psychology Teaching Review , 25 (2). ISSN: 0965-948X
- James, A. (2018) University-school mentoring: supporting students’ employability and pupils’ transition into Higher Education. In: Arnold, L. and Norton, L. , (eds.) HEA Action Research: Sector Case Studies. Higher Education Academy , York. pp. 31-37.
- Lucas, R. , Cage, E. , James, A. (2018) Expectations of the university to post-graduation transition of students with mental health conditions. Psychology Teaching Review , 24 (1). pp. 79-81. ISSN: 0965-948X
- Lucas, R. and James, A. (2018) An evaluation of specialist mentoring for university students with autism spectrum disorders and mental health conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , 48 (3). pp. 694-707. ISSN: 1573-3432 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3303-1
- Cowie, H. and James, A. (2016) Peer support in England, Japan and South Korea. In: Smith, P. , Kwak, K. , Toda, Y. , (eds.) School bullying in different cultures: Eastern and Western perspectives. Cambridge University Press , Cambridge. pp. 189-207. ISBN: 9781107031890 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139410878.013
- James, A. (2014) Cross-age mentoring to support A-level pupils’ transition into Higher Education and undergraduate students’ employability. Psychology Teaching Review , 20 (2). pp. 79-94. ISSN: 0965-948X (Special issue: Pedagogical action research)
- James, A. , Smith, P. , Radford, L. (2014) Becoming grown-ups: a qualitative study of the experiences of peer mentors. Pastoral Care in Education , 32 (2). pp. 104-115. ISSN: 1468-0122 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643944.2014.893008
- Michelson, D. , Ben-Zion, I. , James, A. , Draper, L. , Penney, C. , Day, C. (2014) ‘Living with Teenagers’: feasibility study of a peer-led parenting intervention for socially disadvantaged families with adolescent children. Archives of Disease in Childhood , 99 (8). pp. 731-737. ISSN: 0003-9888 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2013-304936
- James, A. and Cowie, H. (2013) Peer support. In: Yamasaki, K. , Toda, Y. , Watanabe, Y. , (eds.) Prevention education at schools in the world. Kaneko Shobo pp. 147-156. ISBN: 9784760888016
- James, A. (2010) School Bullying. NSPCC , London, UK.