Understanding Literacy and Disadvantage

Debra Myhill is Professor of Education at the University of Exeter, UK, and Director of the Centre for Research in Writing, which promotes inter-disciplinary research, drawing on psychological, socio-cultural and linguistic perspectives on writing. Her research interests focus principally on writing and the teaching of writing, particularly linguistic and metalinguistic development, the composing processes involved in writing, the talk-writing relationship, and creative writing. Underpinning this research is the principle that literacy, especially writing, is a pathway to empowerment. Over the past twenty years, she has led a series of research projects in these areas, in both primary and secondary schools.

Key Publications

Chen, H. Myhill, D. A and Lewis, H. (2020) Developing writers across primary and secondary years: Growing into Writing. London: Routledge


Annabel Watson is Programme Director for Exeter School Direct initial teacher training courses and lead the Exeter Secondary English PGCE. Her research interests focus primarily on the teaching of writing. She is a member of the Graduate School of Education's Centre for Research in Writing. Annabel is interested in the relationship between traditional and digital literacy and the development of students' writing ability in relation to digital texts and technologies. Her PhD examined Teacher's Beliefs and Practices in Grammar Teaching. Ruth Newman is Senior Lecturer in Language Education at the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter. Her research interests focus on the role of talk in the teaching of language and literacy, including the role of dialogic metatalk in the development of metalinguistic understanding and writing. Ruth is a member of the Centre for Research in Writing and teach primarily on the Secondary English PGCE programme and MA Language and Literacy. Before joining Exeter, I worked as a secondary English teacher. Clare Dowdall is a Lecturer in Education (Language and Literacy) at Exeter's Graduate School of Education. Prior to this, Clare was Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education at University of Plymouth. Clare has a range of experiences in teaching and researching literacy education. She graduated from Exeter University with a BA(Ed) in English and Drama in 1997, worked in Devon as a teacher and literacy subject leader, and then completed an MA(Ed) in Language and Literacy with University of Plymouth. Clare completed her PhD in children's text production in online social networking sites, also with University of Plymouth.