Cate Watson is Professor of Educational Leadership and Professional Learning?within the Faculty of Social Sciences. As well as publishing extensively in these areas she is also interested in humour as a methodology for the social sciences and is the author of 'Comedy and Social Science: towards a methodology of funny' (Routledge).
? Cate Watson's research interests lie mainly in organisation and professional practice.
She is currently PI on an ESRC funded project: 'Processes and practices of governing in further education colleges in the UK: How do governing boards realise the strategic aims of the organisation?'
She also has an interest in the development of innovative methodologies especially in relation to narrative and humour as a methodology for the social sciences.
Waste Stories
PI:
Funded by: The Leverhulme Trust
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Processes and practices of governing in further education colleges in the UK:How do governing boards realise the strategic aims of the organisation?
PI: Professor Cate Watson
Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council
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100 years of radical Adult Education in Scotland: building hope for the future
PI: Dr Sarah Galloway
Funded by: Lipman Miliband Trust
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Article
How is the role of student governor understood in further education colleges in the UK?
Ireland A, Pennacchia J, Watson C & Bathmaker A (2022) How is the role of student governor understood in further education colleges in the UK?. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46 (4), pp. 561-573. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1986474
Project Report
Watson C, Husband G, Hill R, Ireland A, Gilbert E, Bathmaker A, Pennacchia J, James D & Gardner S (2021) Processes and practices of governing in colleges of further education in the UK: Uncovering the complexities of governing. ESRC. Stirling: 我要吃瓜.
Article
Boards in action: processes and practices of 'strategising' in the Boardroom
Watson C & Ireland A (2021) Boards in action: processes and practices of 'strategising' in the Boardroom. Journal of Management and Governance, 25 (3), pp. 933-966. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-020-09545-7
Article
Watson C, Husband G & Ireland A (2021) Opening the 'black box': what does observational research reveal about processes and practices of governing?. Journal of Management and Governance, 25 (1), pp. 189-221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-020-09503-3
Article
Further education in the UK: lessons from the governance of colleges in Scotland
Watson C, Husband G & Young H (2020) Further education in the UK: lessons from the governance of colleges in Scotland. Journal of Education and Work, 33 (2), pp. 129-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2020.1722989
Book Review
Book Review: Jessica Milner Davis and Sharyn Roach Anleu (eds), Judges, Judging and Humour
Watson C (2020) Book Review: Jessica Milner Davis and Sharyn Roach Anleu (eds), Judges, Judging and Humour. Review of: Judges, Judging and Humour, Jessica Milner Davis & Sharyn Roach Anleu, (eds) Judges, Judging and Humour, London: Palgrave, 2018, 335 pp. ISBN: 9783319767376. Sociology, 54 (2), pp. 415-417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038519872150
Article
Perspective by incongruity in the performance of dialectical ironic analysis: a disciplined approach
Watson C (2020) Perspective by incongruity in the performance of dialectical ironic analysis: a disciplined approach. Qualitative Research, 20 (1), pp. 91-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794119830073
Research Report
Governance and the centrality of failure: a comedy of errors
Watson C Governance and the centrality of failure: a comedy of errors. 我要吃瓜. Comedy and social science: New directions in sociology, 1. Stirling: 我要吃瓜.
Article
From accountability to digital data: the rise and rise of educational governance
Watson C (2019) From accountability to digital data: the rise and rise of educational governance. Review of Education, 7 (2), pp. 390-427. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3125
Article
Learning analytics: challenges and limitations
Wilson A, Watson C, Thompson TL, Drew V & Doyle S (2017) Learning analytics: challenges and limitations. Teaching in Higher Education, 22 (8), pp. 991-1007. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1332026
Article
Watson C & Drew V (2017) Enacting educational partnership: collective identity, decision-making (and the importance of muffin chat). School Leadership and Management, 37 (1-2), pp. 3-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2016.1209181
Article
Small data, online learning and assessment practices in higher education: a case study of failure?
Watson C, Wilson A, Drew V & Thompson TL (2017) Small data, online learning and assessment practices in higher education: a case study of failure?. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 42 (7), pp. 1030-1045. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1223834
Article
Humour and laughter in meetings: influence, decision-making and the emergence of leadership
Watson C & Drew V (2017) Humour and laughter in meetings: influence, decision-making and the emergence of leadership. Discourse and Communication, 11 (3), pp. 314-329. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481317699432
Article
Big data and learning analytics: Singular or plural?
Wilson A, Thompson TL, Watson C, Drew V & Doyle S (2017) Big data and learning analytics: Singular or plural?. First Monday, 22 (4). http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/6872/6089#author
Article
Watson C & Michael MK (2016) Translations of policy and shifting demands of teacher professionalism: from CPD to professional learning. Journal of Education Policy, 31 (3), pp. 259-274. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2015.1092053
Article
Criticality and the exercise of politeness in online spaces for professional learning
Watson C, Wilson A, Drew V & Thompson TL (2016) Criticality and the exercise of politeness in online spaces for professional learning. Internet and Higher Education, 31, pp. 43-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2016.06.002
Newspaper / Magazine
?ducation et ironie : les?universitaires se?doivent d’avoir de?l’humour
Watson C & Batlle I (2016) ?ducation et ironie : les?universitaires se?doivent d’avoir de?l’humour. The Conversation. 21.04.2016.
Newspaper / Magazine
An education in irony: why academics need to be funny
Watson C & Batlle I (2016) An education in irony: why academics need to be funny. The Conversation. 04.04.2016.
Article
Watson C & Fox A (2015) Professional re-accreditation: constructing educational policy for career-long teacher professional learning. Journal of Education Policy, 30 (1), pp. 132-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2014.907446
Authored Book
Comedy and social science: Towards a methodology of funny
Watson C (2015) Comedy and social science: Towards a methodology of funny. Routledge Advances in sociology, 153. New York/London: Routledge. http://www.tandf.net/books/details/9781315731407/
Article
A Sociologist Walks into a Bar (and Other Academic Challenges): Towards a Methodology of Humour
Watson C (2015) A Sociologist Walks into a Bar (and Other Academic Challenges): Towards a Methodology of Humour. Sociology, 49 (3), pp. 407-421. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038513516694
Article
Teachers’ desire for career-long learning: becoming 'accomplished' -- and masterly. . .
Watson C & Drew V (2015) Teachers’ desire for career-long learning: becoming 'accomplished' -- and masterly. . .. British Educational Research Journal, 41 (3), pp. 448-461. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3149
Conference Paper (unpublished)
Opening critical spaces for professional learning: Online pedagogy and assessment
Thompson T, Watson C, Drew V, Doyle S, Smith S & Wilson A (2015) Opening critical spaces for professional learning: Online pedagogy and assessment. 我要吃瓜 Learning and Teaching Conference, 04.2015-04.2015.
Article
Watson C (2014) Effective professional learning communities? The possibilities for teachers as agents of change in schools. British Educational Research Journal, 40 (1), pp. 18-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3025
Article
How (and why) to avoid making rational decisions: embracing paradox in school leadership
Watson C (2013) How (and why) to avoid making rational decisions: embracing paradox in school leadership. School Leadership and Management, 33 (3), pp. 256-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2012.723614
Article
Identification and desire: Lacan and Althusser versus Deleuze and Guattari. A short note
Watson C (2013) Identification and desire: Lacan and Althusser versus Deleuze and Guattari. A short note. International Journal of Zizek Studies, 7 (2). http://zizekstudies.org/index.php/ijzs/article/view/411
Article
Watson C (2013) The ironies of leadership: insights from a narrative analysis of the TV Western drama series, Rawhide. Organization, 20 (6), pp. 924-935. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508412464896
Book Chapter
Between diary and memoir: documenting a life in wartime Britain
Watson C (2013) Between diary and memoir: documenting a life in wartime Britain. In: Stanley L (ed.) Documents of Life Revisited: Narrative and Biographical Methodology for a 21st Century Critical Humanism. London: Ashgate, pp. 107-120. http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409442899
Edited Book
Watson C (ed.) (2012) The transformation of children's services: Examining and debating the complexities of inter/professional working. London: Routledge. http://www.routledgementalhealth.com/books/details/9780203818411/
Article
'Today, how can we not speak of the university?' Towards the next generation...
Watson C (2012) 'Today, how can we not speak of the university?' Towards the next generation.... Power and Education, 4 (3), pp. 342-354. https://doi.org/10.2304/power.2012.4.3.342
Book Chapter
The pretty story of 'joined-up working': questioning interagency partnership
Watson C (2012) The pretty story of 'joined-up working': questioning interagency partnership. In: Forbes J & Watson C (eds.) The transformation of children’s services. Examining and debating the complexities of inter/professional working. London: Routledge, pp. 154-168. http://www.guilfordpress.co.uk/books/details/9780415618472/
Book Chapter
Picturing validity: autoethnography and the representation of self
Watson C (2012) Picturing validity: autoethnography and the representation of self. In: Hughes J (ed.) Sage Visual Methods. SAGE Library of Research Methods. London: Sage. http://www.uk.sagepub.com/books/Book237792#tabview=toc
Book Chapter
Analysing narratives: the narrative construction of identity
Watson C (2012) Analysing narratives: the narrative construction of identity. In: Delamont S S (ed.) Handbook of qualitative research in education. Elgar original reference. London: Edward Elgar, pp. 460-473. http://www.e-elgar.com/bookentry_main.lasso?id=14185
Article
The natural unnaturalness of real-time narrative: the complex case of the sporting radio broadcast
Watson C (2012) The natural unnaturalness of real-time narrative: the complex case of the sporting radio broadcast. Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast and Audio Media, 10 (1), pp. 53-64. https://doi.org/10.1386/rjao.10.1.53_1
Article
Test Match Special, Twenty20 and the future of cricket
Watson C (2011) Test Match Special, Twenty20 and the future of cricket. Sport in Society, 14 (10), pp. 1383-1394. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2011.620379
Article
Watson C (2011) Notes on the variety and uses of satire, sarcasm and irony in social research, with some observations on vices and follies in the academy. Power and Education, 3 (2), pp. 139-149. https://doi.org/10.2304/power.2011.3.2.139
Article
Accountability, transparency, redundancy: academic identities in an era of 'excellence'
Watson C (2011) Accountability, transparency, redundancy: academic identities in an era of 'excellence'. British Educational Research Journal, 37 (6), pp. 955-971. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2010.508514
Article
Staking a small claim for fictional narratives in social and educational research
Watson C (2011) Staking a small claim for fictional narratives in social and educational research. Qualitative Research, 11 (4), pp. 395-408. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794111404317
Article
Home–school partnership and the construction of deviance: being and becoming the Goldfish family
Watson C (2011) Home–school partnership and the construction of deviance: being and becoming the Goldfish family. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 11 (1), pp. 20-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-3802.2010.01183.x
Book Chapter
Watson C, Shucksmith J, Spratt J & Philip K (2010) 'Part of who we are as a school should include responsibility for well-being’: Links between the school environment, mental health and behaviour. In: Rix J, Nind M, Sheehy K, Simmons K, Parry J & Kumrai R (eds.) Equality, participation and inclusion 2: Diverse contexts. 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge/Open University Press, pp. 284-296. http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415584241/
Article
Spratt J, Shucksmith J, Philip K & Watson C (2010) 'The Bad People Go and Speak to Her': Young People's Choice and Agency when Accessing Mental Health Support in School. Children and Society, 24 (6), pp. 483-494. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-0860.2009.00246.x
Article
Test Match Special and the discourse of cricket: The sporting radio broadcast as narrative
Watson C (2010) Test Match Special and the discourse of cricket: The sporting radio broadcast as narrative. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45 (2), pp. 225-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690210362430
Article
Educational policy in Scotland: inclusion and the control society
Watson C (2010) Educational policy in Scotland: inclusion and the control society. Discourse, 31 (1), pp. 93-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596300903465443
Edited Book
Service integration in schools: Research and policy discourses, practices and future prospects
Watson C (ed.) (2009) Service integration in schools: Research and policy discourses, practices and future prospects. Rotterdam: Sense. https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/service-integration-in-schools/
Book Chapter
Shucksmith J, Spratt J, Philip K & Watson C (2009) Learning how to collaborate? Promoting young people’s health through professional partnership in schools. In: Forbes J & Watson C (eds.) Service integration in schools: Resaerch and policy discourses, practices and future prospects. Rotterdam: Sense, pp. 5-22. https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/service-integration-in-schools/
Book Chapter
Watson C (2009) Mythical spaces and social imaginaries: looking for the global in the local in narratives of (inter)professional identification. In: Forbes J & Watson C (eds.) Service integration in schools: Research and policy discourses, practices and future prospects. Rotterdam: Sense, pp. 157-166. https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/other-books/service-integration-in-schools/
Article
Watson C (2009) Micropolitics of desire: participant self observation, critical autoethnography and the (re)turn to the baroque. Education In The North, 17 (1), Art. No.: 8. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/eitn/display.php?article_id=8
Article
Futures Narratives, Possible Worlds, Big Stories: Causal Layered Analysis and the Problems of Youth
Watson C (2009) Futures Narratives, Possible Worlds, Big Stories: Causal Layered Analysis and the Problems of Youth. Sociological Research Online, 14 (5), Art. No.: 20. https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.1969
Article
Watson C (2009) ‘Teachers are meant to be orthodox’: narrative and counter narrative in the discursive construction of ‘identity’ in teaching. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22 (4), pp. 469-483. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390902736520
Article
Picturing Validity: autoethnography and the representation of self?
Watson C (2009) Picturing Validity: autoethnography and the representation of self?. Qualitative Inquiry, 15 (3), pp. 526-544. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800408318426
Article
The 'impossible vanity': uses and abuses of empathy in qualitative inquiry
Watson C (2009) The 'impossible vanity': uses and abuses of empathy in qualitative inquiry. Qualitative Research, 9 (1), pp. 105-117. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794108098033
Authored Book
Watson C (2008) Reflexive research and the (re)turn to the baroque. (Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the university). First ed. Rotterdam: Sense.
Article
Tensions and aporias in the narrative construction of lives
Watson C (2008) Tensions and aporias in the narrative construction of lives. Qualitative Research, 8 (3), pp. 333-337. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106093629
Article
Thomas Pynchon: Realism in an Age of Ontological Uncertainty?
Watson C (2008) Thomas Pynchon: Realism in an Age of Ontological Uncertainty?. Literature Compass, 5 (1), pp. 11-19. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119424968/abstract; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-4113.2007.00512.x
Book Chapter
Watson C (2007) 'Teachers are meant to be orthodox’: counter-narratives in the development of a professional identity in teaching. In: Robinson D, Kelly N & Milnes K (eds.) Narrative and Memory: Selected papers from the sixth annual conference. Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield, pp. 1-12. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/4577/
Article
Small stories, positioning analysis, and the doing of professional identities in learning to teach
Watson C (2007) Small stories, positioning analysis, and the doing of professional identities in learning to teach. Narrative Inquiry, 17 (2), pp. 371-389. https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.17.2.11wat
Article
Spratt J, Shucksmith J, Philip K & Watson C (2007) Embedded yet separate: tensions in voluntary sector working to support mental health in state‐run schools. Journal of Education Policy, 22 (4), pp. 411-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930701390545
Article
Narratives of practice and the construction of identity in teaching
Watson C (2006) Narratives of practice and the construction of identity in teaching. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12 (5), pp. 509-526. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600600832213
Article
Encounters and directions in research: Pages from a simulacrum journal
Watson C (2006) Encounters and directions in research: Pages from a simulacrum journal. Qualitative Inquiry, 12 (5), pp. 865-885. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800406288627
Article
Spratt J, Shucksmith J, Philip K & Watson C (2006) ‘Part of Who we are as a School Should Include Responsibility for Well-Being’: Links between the School Environment, Mental Health and Behaviour. Pastoral Care in Education, 24 (3), pp. 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0122.2006.00374.x
Article
Interprofessional support of mental well-being in schools: a Bourdieuan perspective
Spratt J, Philip K, Shucksmith J & Watson C (2006) Interprofessional support of mental well-being in schools: a Bourdieuan perspective. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 20 (4), pp. 391-402. https://doi.org/10.1080/13561820600845643
Article
Unreliable narrators? ‘Inconsistency’ (and some inconstancy) in interviews
Watson C (2006) Unreliable narrators? ‘Inconsistency’ (and some inconstancy) in interviews. Qualitative Research, 6 (3), pp. 367-384. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106065008
Article
Discourses of ‘indiscipline’: a Foucauldian response
Watson C (2005) Discourses of ‘indiscipline’: a Foucauldian response. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 10 (1), pp. 55-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/1363275205052530
Article
Living the life of the social inquirer: Beginning educational research
Watson C (2005) Living the life of the social inquirer: Beginning educational research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 6 (2), Art. No.: 28. http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/471
Article
A breakfast club for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties
Watson C & Marr C (2003) A breakfast club for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Education 3-13, 31 (3), pp. 15-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004270385200291