Summary of the impact

This case study describes the impact of research into early childhood education and care (ECEC), highlighting significant findings, outputs, pathways to change and impacts for early education and care services for children under three. Impacts have been substantial, including increased awareness of this `phase'; improved access to professional development; democratic practitioner participation and improved practitioner knowledge. Additionally, influence on policy debate about childcare, changes to organisational policies and practices in the public sector, and commercial development in the private sector, are described. The reach of the impact ranges from individual to organisational levels and local to international contexts.

Summary of the impact

Between 2009 and 2012 Clemens Sedmak was lead coordinator of a research project in collaboration with the international development NGO `SOS Children's Villages International'. Founded in 1949, this organisation is a service provider in the areas of care, education and health for children, as well as a child rights actor advocating for vulnerable children's rights. It runs 2,407 programmes in 133 countries and territories, providing over 80,000 children and youth with family-based care worldwide. It has been nominated 16 times for the Nobel Peace Prize and is recipient of numerous highly esteemed international awards (see 5.2.4 below). In 2011, total income was €886.8 million (see 5.2.1). Sedmak's research underpinned the design and implementation initially of a pilot project to improve quality of foster care in SOS Children's Villages in Namibia and Nicaragua. Specifically, the research applied Sedmak's own reworkings of the `capability approach' (discussed below) to children aged 8-13 and youths aged 14-18 who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it. The beneficiaries of Sedmak's research are the NGO and also foster children and their families. The final report, published in February 2012, identified major challenges and opportunities for programme planning and evaluation. It also developed a theoretical framework based on primary data for subsequent application across the SOS Children's Villages globally.

Summary of the impact

Four staff align with impact in the interdisciplinary field of Childhood Studies; Broadhead, Brock, Moss and Potter. Their research examines different, related aspects of early to late childhood. The impact is evident in several domains. Research has contributed to policy and professional development in relation to the early years and autistic spectrum disorders. It has enhanced pedagogies in schools concerning play and children's social participation. It has improved communication with children through the development of play approaches and approaches for those children diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. It has contributed to childhood workforce skill enhancement in relation to the early years and men's professional and familial involvement with children. This research has also informed public awareness of children's perspectives and experiences through the use of media and other forms of public engagement.

Summary of the impact

Identifying and promoting best practice in the education of young children, this case study focuses on local, national and international policy and practice in two linked areas: children's learning and staff professional development. It underpins national strategy for England, Northern Ireland and Wales and informs international curriculum developments. We have made a significant impact on children's lives through:

• shaping and dissemination of playful pedagogies and outdoor learning initiatives which have been adopted by early years practitioners in schools nationally and recognised internationally
• evaluation of workplace practice leading to improvements in early years settings which have led to changes in employers' policy and practice
• strategic alliances with Cambridgeshire, Essex and Northamptonshire Local Authorities, impacting on early years practice.

Summary of the impact

LSE research has helped shape children's internet literacy and safety policy. In the UK, the research informed the establishment of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) and the creation by the Council of the UK's first Child Internet Safety Strategy. Based on the research, the Council tasked industry to improve safety tools, and raised awareness among parents and teachers. This has enhanced children's online opportunities, digital literacy and ability to cope with online risks, thereby reducing the probability of harm. In Europe, the research informed the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme's work on industry guidance, safety tools and awareness campaigns, shifting the emphasis from protecting children to empowering them to use the internet safely and with confidence. Policy and practical initiatives around the world draw on the methodology and findings of the research.

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the impact of a sustained programme of research conducted over more than 10 years, which has changed conceptualisations of young children's abilities and needs, and shaped national and local provision from birth to five. The research has influenced early years policy, secondary legislation, professional standards and training, curriculum, and the daily experiences of babies, children and practitioners in every childcare setting in England. It has produced innovative resources to enhance multi-professional practice, and significantly contributed to the deployment of high-quality, interdisciplinary research findings to improve provision, stimulate debate and challenge conventional wisdom about children and childhood.

Summary of the impact

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.

Summary of the impact

As a direct result of methodological research led by Professor Ray Pawson at Leeds, `realist evaluation' has provided a new lens through which to assess and develop social programmes. It has critically changed the apparatus of evidenced-based policy and the way in which policy research is commissioned and utilised. Through advisory work, training package provision, partnership-research and professional exchange, this `realist' perspective has formed a new standard in social programme evaluation, and is used by commissioners in the UK and internationally to frame their interventions across policy domains, including education, environment, criminal justice, and health and social care.

Summary of the impact

Inter-professional collaboration to prevent social exclusion of children and young people is an emergent work practice, reflecting major changes in welfare policy in the UK and beyond. Research conducted at Oxford since 2005 on these systemic changes, and the new demands they have made on practitioners and services, has contributed to the reconfiguration of children's services locally and nationally, and to the analysis and planning of services beyond the UK. Knowledge exchange is built into the studies to produce immediate and long-term impact on practices and policies, and findings have been integrated into commissioned reports, teaching materials for service leaders, and practitioner and policy summaries.

Summary of the impact

This case study reports impact on the publishing industry achieved through:

• International sales of authored and co-authored books, regarded as the key texts on the subject.
• Keynote contributions to the major industry-based children's publishing conferences (Bologna, Seoul, London, Paris, Valladolid).
• Invited membership of international awards juries for picturebook illustration (Bologna, Seoul), influencing/shaping trends in picturebook design.

Impact on the wider community/public awareness of picturebook-making is achieved through:

• Invited media appearances including three-part BBC TV series, Picture Book, 30-minute interview on NPL Radio USA (15m listeners), BBC Radio 4, and Newstalk Radio Ireland.
• Book sales.

Impact on subject within HE worldwide:

• Authorship of key-texts: Salisbury's texts have been in Amazon top twenty bestseller lists for Illustration for over ten years.