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University of Glasgow research into Religious Education (RE) in the UK significantly informed public and political debate on the place of RE in UK Schools. The findings received widespread coverage in radio, print and digital media outlets. The research provided an evidence base for the Religious Education Council's Review of RE in 2012 and was used in the development of a myriad of national CPD events for teachers and education policy-makers and professionals.
Enshrining 24 moral and spiritual dispositions, the 2007 Birmingham Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, the outcome of years of Marius Felderhof's research into educational principles, marks a dramatic departure from previous RE syllabuses. It has been officially adopted by Birmingham City Council, welcomed by civic leaders, endorsed by Birmingham faith leaders, and implemented in nearly 400 Birmingham schools. In addition, it has stimulated debate on RE provision nationally and internationally, and has been the subject of studies and conference debates in the UK and elsewhere. Shifting the focus of RE teaching from imparting information to moral and spiritual formation, it is acknowledged as introducing the most radical changes to RE in decades.
Professor Julian Stern was one of the lead organisers of, and contributors to, a series of eleven research-oriented seminars (between 2004 and 2010), bringing together teachers, advisors, and higher education professionals working on, and interested in, religious education research in UK schools and internationally. This impact case study identifies the influence of those seminars on the 161 participating professionals, on pupils, and on schools. Evidence is provided of the widespread and long-term impact of the research, particularly on the participants and on pupils, both directly through the seminars and through the various seminar-related publications.
The National Centre for Christian Education (NCfCE) is one of only two research centres in the United Kingdom engaged in empirical work which directly impacts policy development in the maintained Christian school sector and informs national debate around Christian educational provision. The NCfCE has partnered the Catholic Education Service, The National Society (Church of England) and Academy sponsors Oasis Learning Community in projects which have focused on three specialist areas: 1) The spiritual formation of Christian teachers and school leaders, 2) The impact of Catholic schools, with a particular emphasis on social cohesion and 3) The development of distinctive ethos in Christian schools and academies.
The IOE researchers featured in this case study have had a major and sustained impact on education in the Indian sub-continent. Geeta Kingdon has shaped UK government policy on educational aid to India. She has also helped to ensure that millions of poor children in Uttar Pradesh — India's most populous state — qualify for free places in private schools. Angela Little's work in Sri Lanka has raised the profile of primary education, which has been hampered by low status and inadequate funding. She has also done much to improve the life chances of the country's disadvantaged children — particularly those growing up on tea plantations.
IOE researcher Marie Lall has set up the first joint discussions between representatives of Myanmar's ethnic armed group education departments and a Ministry of Education team that is leading the country's education reform process. This breakthrough is believed to have assisted not only the rebuilding of the Myanmar (formerly Burma) education system but also the national peace process. Lall's research has played a key role in persuading UNICEF, AusAID1 and other international organisations, such as the European Union, to make further investments in the reconstruction of the country's education services. She has also helped to highlight the importance of mother-tongue teaching — an issue that must be resolved if Myanmar's Burmese-speaking majority are to reach a lasting settlement with other ethnic communities.
The mode and structure of initial teacher education (ITE) is an instrumental factor in the quality of pupil learning and educational attainment. University of Glasgow research had a direct role in re-shaping ITE by substantially influencing Teaching Scotland's Future: Report of a review of teacher education in Scotland, the government's most comprehensive and radical review of teacher education and professional learning for the last 20 years. The final government report specifically called for a `hub model' of teaching schools, similar to a model being piloted at Glasgow, to be introduced across Scotland, effecting a transformation in the way that Scotland's 49,000 teachers are initially taught and trained.
A unique insight in The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education (2008), and developed through an ESRC Seminar Series, is that a therapeutic ethos in education is creating a diminished human subject through a `dual attack' on the human subject as a knowing subject and the subject-based curriculum.
A conscious public defence of the subject-based curriculum was then undertaken through seminars, debates and conferences involving think tanks, charities and union organisations. The appointment of Professor Dennis Hayes to the London Mayoral Education Inquiry (2012) was one consequence. The Inquiry resulted in funding of £24.5 million for the London Schools Excellence Fund.
Researchers from Oxford Brookes University have significantly contributed towards driving improvements to teaching and learning through an evidence-based approach. They have influenced practice and policies, whilst challenging public perceptions about the impact of education. Through their partnership with the University of Westminster, the Westminster Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training has improved teaching and learning in the Learning and Skills Sector, engaged with the design and delivery of enterprise education programmes for Further Education leaders and championed the status of vocational education. They have actively contributed to public debates and their research continues to be disseminated and used in training throughout the UK.
CRL works on dispositional teaching (DT) in schools and colleges: that is, teaching methods that impact on the development of learners' dispositions towards, and beliefs about, learning itself. Generic dispositions such as perseverance in the face of difficulty, reflective checking of assumptions, or willingness to seek and act on feedback, are crucial mediators of students' success as learners. CRL contributes to research on DT, and derives tools that enable teachers in a range of settings to correct dysfunctional beliefs, inculcate effective learning habits, and cultivate a positive mind-set towards the challenges of learning. Our research is of two kinds: literature- based theory-development; and empirical assessment of the efficacy of derived tools and pedagogical processes.
It focuses on the development of positive learning dispositions (PLDs) in three main `contexts':