We are a team of researchers working at the Open University who have a range of different interests in writing. By writing we mean everything from a brief handwritten note or text message to long formal reports, from documents that are tightly scripted (or templated) to documents that are open.
We are concerned to understand the role and nature of writing in everyday practice as part of communication more generally and to understand how the use of different technologies- paper, pen, screen, phone- are used and are impacting, in particular, on professional practice. We have come together to work on the WiSP project, to pool our specific interests and expertise to generate a detailed analysis of writing in social work and to ensure that findings have an impact on education, training and policy. Following the original research project, we are continuing to use the learning and resources as part of our Impact Phase from 2022.
Original Research Team Members
Prof. Theresa Lillis
Principal Investigator
Theresa is Emerita Professor at The Open University and has been researching writing in a range of contexts for some twenty years. She became involved in writing in social work practice after being consulted by one local authority about issues arising in social work writing. With Lucy Rai she previously carried out several small scale studies on social work writing in academic and professional domains (Lillis & Rai 2011, Rai & Lillis 2013).
Dr. Maria Leedham
Co-Investigator
Maria is a Senior Lecturer at The Open University. Her research has focused on academic writing, in particular the use of visuals in writing by Chinese and British university students (e.g., Leedham, 2015) and more recently on writing by and about social workers. Maria has used corpus-assisted discourse analysis to explore texts in the WiSP corpus. Current work focuses on how social workers are portrayed in news and entertainment media.
Dr. Alison Twiner
Research Associate
Alison has worked on many research projects at The Open University since 2006, exploring the educational use of technologies, importance of talk and other modes of communication in teaching and learning, and teaching and learning in terms of meaning-making trajectories. Her interests in WiSP are how people write for different audiences, and how people make and record meanings out of related events.
Dr. Lucy Rai
Chair of advisory panel
Dr Lucy Rai is a senior lecturer in social work at The Open University. Prior to entering higher education in 1995 she worked as a qualified social worker. Lucy has been researching social work writing since 2001 and is author of Writing for Social Work (2021) and Effective Writing for Social Work: Making a Difference (2014). Lucy was the chair of the Impact Advisory Panel.
Impact Phase Team Members
Dr Lucy Rai leads the impact phase of the research with the Impact Phase team members below
Dr. Gillian Ferguson
Impact team member
Dr Gillian Ferguson is a lecturer in social work at The Open University and has worked across practice, regualtory and academic roles. She is a qualified practice educator and active in this role. Gillian is interested in career-long and career-wide professional learning and in particular how social workers learn in direct practice. Gillian is leading the impact phase of work with Dr Lucy Rai.
Lindsay Giddings
Impact team member
Lindsay Giddings is the Programme Lead for social work at the Open University and is co-lead for the Social Work Research Group. She is an experienced practitioner and interested in the resilience and retention of social workers in the workforce. Prior to working in Higher Education, she worked as a social worker and senior practitioner specialising in work with children with disabilities and transitions. Lindsay is an active member of the impact phase of work.
Ann Flynn
Impact team member
Ann Flynn has worked for the Open University since 2004 and currently is both as staff tutor and nation manager to London and the south east. Ann’s background is in social work, mainly working in childcare and child protection, although for many years worked as an approved social worker in mental health. She had previously qualified as a nurse and this has led to a research interest in inter-professional working. Ann has been involved in the previous advisory group for WiSP and is now active in the new imapct phase.