Graduate Student, Politics and International Relations
PhD Student
Jesus
Thesis Title: "The Challenge of Reform: Explaining Policy Change in Secondary Education in Western Europe"
About
Hello, and welcome to what passes as a webpage... once I work out how to do websites (or have enough money to pay a pro), this page will improve!
Anyway, I'm Tom Speller, and I'm an ESRC funded DPhil Student in Politics at Jesus College, Oxford, having read for an MPhil in European Politics & Society at the same college between 2006 and 2008. As an undergraduate I read European Studies with French at King's College London, obtaining First Class Honours (as well as the Associateship of King's College, a quirky qualification unique to King's); I also spent a year abroad as an Erasmus Exchange Student at Institut d'Études Politiques, Paris between September 2004 and July 2005.
Academically, I am interested primarily in Western European Politics (specifically UK/France/Germany/Benelux), Social Policy (especially education), dynamics of policy change and centre-left political parties.
My focus though has shifted in recent years. At King's, my undergraduate thesis (under the supervision of Stathis Kouvélakis) was on explaining the attitudes of centre-left political parties to the regretfully aborted European Constitution, with a particular focus on the French Parti Socialiste. At Oxford, I decided education policy was more interesting (having spent a couple of months as a social policy researcher at New Policy Institute following graduation), and my last two years have been spent explaining the extent to which political parties can actually shape secondary education. My answer: "oui, mais...". Basically, they can, but policies do tend to be path dependent. My DPhil will focus more on determining the conditions that allow for rapid policy displacement in secondary education. It will be tough, but hopefully worth it! Katrin Auel was my supervisor for the MPhil; for the DPhil I now benefit from the guidance of Nigel Bowles.
Anyway, if anyone is working in the same broad areas as me, feel free to contact me: it would be great to hear from you!
Contact Information
Jesus College, Oxford
Oxford
UNITED KINGDOM
OX1 3DW