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The impact generated by the project outlined in this case study — a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project between Aberystwyth University and Boomerang+ (now Boom Pictures) — relates specifically to issues of economic prosperity and cultural life in Wales, in the context of the media industries (especially television production) and the artefacts/texts they create for specific target audiences.
The project, which focused on 7- to 13-year-old (`tween') Welsh children's media preferences and practices, helped to inform and shape the company's outputs by adding `authority' to decision-making processes and enabling `smarter' ways to tender for future contracts with their main client, S4C, the nation's Welsh-language broadcaster. This proved crucial for the company in economic terms, in a climate of significant budget-cuts and intensifying competition across the sector. S4C also took an active interest in the research findings.
Research led by Professor Roger Mackett of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at UCL on children's physical activity has been used by central and local government, other public bodies and various advocacy groups to encourage children to be more active. It has been used to support policy documents and proposals aimed at improving children's health and wellbeing. It has led to improvements in the health, welfare and quality of life of many UK communities through, for example, their greater use of walking buses, which also contributes to reduced CO2 emissions.
Research conducted by Peter Elfer has shown the significance of attention to babies and under threes' emotional well-being in nursery if early learning is to be effective. Children who are continually anxious or distressed do not learn well. A sensitive, responsive and consistent relationship with mainly one or two members of nursery staff (now known as the child's `key-person') has been shown to promote in young children feelings of safety and security. The research has underpinned the development of the key-person role in nurseries, as the means for enabling individual attention to children. This research has had a significant impact in the following areas:
1) UK Government curriculum guidance and requirements
2) Training of the early years workforce and continuing professional development
3) The evolution of UK Coalition Government policy and public discourse
The reach of the research is extensive, providing the underpinning for attachment practice in English nurseries. The above developments have strengthened the expectation in national standards of greater attention to the emotions of babies and young children in nursery and have provided the detailed guidance on how this can be achieved in practice.
Since his initial publications on the work of Enid Blyton in 1995, David Rudd has been instrumental in changing the public's perception of one of the most popular children's writers of all time. He has appeared on TV and Radio, both in this country and abroad, been quoted extensively in the media and in newspaper articles, besides giving talks and publishing articles, both locally and internationally. He has also been sought out by publishers, newspapers and programme makers for consultancy work.
This case study reports the impact on awareness and understanding of children's rights by policy makers, practitioners and children. This was achieved through the development of a legally sound and research-based but user-friendly model for understanding and implementing Article 12 of the UNCRC. This model has been used by the Northern Ireland and Irish Children's Commissioner, Non-governmental organisations, other Higher Education Institutions, government departments and teachers to inform policy makers, practitioners and children and young people about the obligation to give children's views due weight in decision-making. The research model and the practical impact it has had has extended understanding beyond the traditionally used concept of the "voice of the child" or "pupil voice" by emphasizing the legal obligation to ensure that children's views have an influence on decision-making, with direct effects on policy and practice and also enabling government to fulfil its additional obligation under Article 42 of the UNCRC to ensure that the rights in the UNCRC are widely known among adults and children alike.
Cardiff University has established the world's largest single cohort of children and young adults with Down's syndrome in which visual deficits have been characterised. Cardiff research studies over 20 years have informed evidence-based guidelines published by the Department of Health and national practitioner bodies for the recognition and practical management of common visual problems in children with Down's syndrome. Consequently, eye care specialists now recommend bifocals for these children. The Cardiff research has also supported changes to teaching methods and resources for children with Down's syndrome. Collectively these children are now benefiting from better eye care and improved learning and educational opportunities.
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.
Seven Stories was opened in 2005 in Newcastle. It is the first UK museum and archive dedicated to children's books. For an audience of both children and adults it mounts original, nationally-touring exhibitions and runs a programme of events for regional and national audiences. It holds an expanding, internationally important archive relating to British children's literature (manuscripts, original artwork, books, correspondence and associated materials).
The Children's Literature Unit (CLU) in the School of English at Newcastle University was established in 2005 to work with Seven Stories. There is collaboration at many levels. In particular, CLU research has underlain the development of the Seven Stories archive; supported Seven Stories' exhibitions; contributed to the training of Seven Stories' staff; and provided international advocacy, raising awareness of this unique resource and helping to establish Seven Stories as one of the world's leading centres for the public understanding of children's literature. In 2012, partly on the basis of research conducted in the CLU, Seven Stories received Arts Council England (ACE) accreditation as the National Centre for Children's Books, becoming the only `nationally-styled' museum in the North-East.
Young Lives is identifying major influences on children's development, from infancy to adulthood, by carrying out a pioneering longitudinal study across four developing countries over 15 years. Young Lives gathers and analyses data on how childhood is changing in diverse communities, especially through the impact of economic, cultural and policy shifts, by studying two age cohorts in each country. UNICEF, the World Bank, Plan International, and Save the Children International, among others, are using Young Lives research to design childhood poverty-reduction policies in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The research also underpins the re-visioning of global child protection work by UNICEF, Save the Children Canada, and World Vision UK.
The case study addresses the impact of the project `Children Decide: power, participation and purpose in the primary classroom' (2004-6) regarding its two aims: developing collaborative approaches to decision-making in schools, and advancing methodological understanding of children as action researchers. The project made a subsequent methodological contribution (children as researchers) to educational evaluation and policy in two international organisations. Since 2008, the project has had a direct and significant impact on children's participation in decision-making in Norfolk schools, as reported by the teachers and those who attended dissemination conferences and professional development initiatives, and nationally by educators who used the published report.