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The research conducted through the C.Ind.Le project, between 2002 and 2006, was the first to reveal and catalogue the metacognitive and self-regulatory abilities of children in the 3-5 age range. The project outcomes included an observation instrument, now widely used by teachers in early years educational settings, and a training course on pedagogies supporting development of these abilities in young children. This research has had direct regional impact on practice at the Foundation Stage in Cambridgeshire, national impact through its influence on the 2012 revision of the DfE framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and international impact through consultancy to the LEGO Foundation and other collaborations.
Pedagogical practices, actions and interactions in early years educational settings are of considerable significance for children's subsequent lives. Stephen's research has influenced provision and practice in Ireland, Australia and the USA, as well as in the countries of the UK. Her work on early years Gaelic provision has shaped national policy in Scotland.
Road traffic collisions are a major cause of mortality and morbidity in children and young people globally (World Health Organisation report on child injury prevention, 2008). Research into child and adolescent road crossing behaviour, led by Dr Karen Pfeffer of the Evolution and Development Research Group at the University of Lincoln, has influenced road safety intervention practice via its inclusion in a series of safety initiatives, programmes and guides for parents, health-care providers, educators and road safety officers, produced by independent organisations internationally since 2008. Dr Pfeffer's research has also had international impact and influence via her appointment as a mentor for the World Health Organization (WHO) Mentors for Violence and Injury Prevention programme.
Self Organised Learning Environments (SOLEs), characterised by our innovative pedagogies and models of enquiry-based learning, are changing the culture of classrooms and inspiring many thousands of educationalists in schools and other organisations. This impact culminated in the 2013 award to Mitra of the annual TED prize ($1million). Teachers have been inspired to find new enquiry-based ways to encourage students to work together, solve problems and become more engaged in learning with minimal intervention from the teachers themselves. SOLEs have been implemented in schools and other educational institutions resulting in change in the attitudes and practices of teachers, head teachers, education policy makers, education experts and private companies. Impact has extended to 27 countries across 5 continents including India, UK, Argentina, USA, Australia, China, Finland and Qatar. This research has become a global phenomenon, influencing all phases of education (primary, secondary and tertiary) and also the training and development of teachers. The research also inspired the film `Slumdog Millionnaire'.
The University of Aberdeen's £1.4M Inclusive Practice Project has developed innovative approaches to teacher education to create classrooms where all children can learn through full participation in the school community, without the stigmatisation that comes from ability labelling. The Project has driven major changes in teacher education, in primary and secondary school classroom environments in Scotland and beyond. The Project is responsible for major changes to initial teacher education and ongoing professional teacher education programmes and is influencing education policy in Scotland and abroad.
Research by members of the Centre for Language, Culture and Learning (CLCL) has drawn public attention to the home and community learning of children of migrant origin; highlighting the role of siblings, grandparents, complementary schools and faith settings. We have influenced practice in this important yet neglected area by engaging with policymakers, teachers and community leaders through seminars, workshops, print and online media including the BBC, and creating learning resources for families and schools. The research has informed Tower Hamlets' language policy, and received recognition by an influential audience at the Council of Europe's Language Policy Division.
Research led by Professor Bob Burden at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Exeter has demonstrated the value of infusing thinking skills into the curriculum of schools across the age range. A criterion-referenced approach to the evaluation of this `whole thinking school' approach has been developed and applied. Particular attention has been devoted to the standardisation and use of the Myself-As-a-Learner-Scale (MALS) which has been used in schools across the UK and abroad to increase achievement and improve the formative evaluation of students and teaching. An additional benefit of the MALS has been its wider use in examining the learning self-concepts of dyslexic students, thereby contributing to informed education policy change through the influential Rose Report on early identification and teaching of dyslexic children, which led the Labour government to invest £10 million embarking on a national programme to provide 4000 specialist dyslexia teachers. Specifically, Burden's research has had impact through:
Policymakers in the government departments responsible for health and education, Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) and many thousands of professionals with child-protection roles have benefited from Bristol's research into inter-agency training. The research provided crucial information on efficient organisational partnerships for training and strong evidence of the effectiveness of inter-agency training in promoting mutual understanding, changing attitudes and developing confidence. Bristol's findings underpinned statutory guidance in the Government's Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010) [b], which required LSCBs to provide such training. The research ended a 30-year period during which inquiries into the deaths of children at the hands of their parents consistently criticised the failure of professionals to communicate and work together effectively and advocated inter-agency training as a solution, but had little or no supporting evidence.
Specific impacts are evidenced in: the citation of the research findings in support of LSCBs' training strategies; the increased provision of training programmes in the three years since publication, in spite of budget restrictions; the successful targeting of previously disengaged groups, particularly GPs; and the use of an NSPCC-sponsored bespoke evaluation toolkit developed by the research team.
We have carried out research into children's perception and behaviour around dogs, which has led to the development of an effective safety training programme, as well as improving public understanding of child-dog interactions and risk contexts for dog bite injury in children. The `Blue Dog' (BD — www.thebluedog.org) project has led to changed educational and veterinary practice, public policy change and animal welfare benefits internationally. A key part of the project was the development and validation of an interactive DVD, with training tools that teach children how to be safe around dogs. The results of the research were integrated into the injury prevention messages disseminated by the BD project. The research programme has received publicity worldwide, and over 80,000 copies of the BD DVD have been distributed to 21 different countries, with the accompanying BD booklet translated into 17 different languages. The research was carried out from 2005 onwards, with the impact of the research accruing from 2008 to date.
The University of Southampton's research into the teaching of modern foreign languages (MFLs) in UK schools has helped shape government education policy and contributed to an improvement in the way children acquire knowledge of other languages and cultures. By studying teaching methods in the classroom and devising tests to measure how effective they are in giving children the ability to communicate in another language, the researchers contributed to the current widespread acceptance of the importance of introducing language learning at primary level. They have also built a comprehensive set of resources which are being used by teachers and other education practitioners to improve the teaching of foreign languages.