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The research impacted on the Coalition Government's decisions to (a) discontinue the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) national strategy (2011), and (b) roll out the Achievement for All (AfA) pilot programme at a national level (2011). Both of these major decisions on public policy and professional practice were underpinned by the findings of large-scale national evaluation projects.
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':
This case study is based on research into the Dissolving Boundaries (DB) Programme which uses ICT and face to face contact to address post-conflict mistrust between young people in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI). With funding from the Departments of Education in Belfast and Dublin, the programme has been operating in 300 schools since 1999. Research led by Austin (2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013) has had an impact in four broad ways; first, on teacher professional development by refining practice of collaborative learning using ICT; second, on the quality of pupil learning, including perceptions of cultural difference; third, on government policy in the way ICT is assessed by requiring schools to use "exchange" as a new requirement and, fourth, internationally, through supporting the `north-south' strand of the Belfast Agreement 1998, and shaping similar work in England and the Middle East.
This case study refers to a coherent and interlinked body of research, focusing on the development of inclusive and equitable schools and wider communities. The research has had impact of significance and reach, both in the UK and internationally, and this has taken two main forms. Firstly, through raising awareness and changing attitudes, the research has helped to change professional practice and improve inclusive provision in schools and communities in a range of countries. Secondly, the research has had impact on policy debates and development, nationally and internationally.
The research impacted on public policy, practitioners and professional services both nationally and regionally. Specifically, it influenced the setting up and design of the Greater Manchester Challenge (GMC) in 2008, with unfolding educational and professional impacts: (a) measurable improvements in the performance of Greater Manchester schools; (b) participants have continued to collaborate and build on GMC interventions and findings; and (c) the GMC led to a set of recommendations about school-to-school collaboration.
From 2000 to 2003 Professor Jean Rudduck led a largely Cambridge-based research team that investigated the potential of `student voice' to engage learners. The `Consulting Pupils about Teaching and Learning' research Network, funded by the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme, trialled and evaluated strategies with teachers in a wide range of schools. Take-up in the UK and abroad was extensive. This case study focuses on the impact in Ontario, Canada; where the Ministry of Education explicitly used the findings of Rudduck's research to mount an ambitious Student Voice initiative (2008-); the success of this has led to date to the Ministry providing some 6,000 grants to 800 schools to help build stronger approaches to `student voice' into the infra-structure of its school system.
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'.
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.
Successive research studies carried out by Professor Brahm Norwich in the Graduate School of Education have addressed the development of policy for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), shaped professional understanding of how best to teach pupils with SEN, and generated a resource to support teacher-educators and teacher trainees in meeting the needs of pupils with SEN. The research has driven a fundamental re-appraisal of how children with SEN should be taught, showing that many children with SEN do not require specialist teaching, but rather an intensification of the same general teaching methods used for non-SEN pupils. The research has resulted in the creation of a practical training tool for SEN teaching and a teacher-training tool designed on this basis has been disseminated nationally to teacher training providers. Testimonials indicate that the tool has contributed directly to improving the quality of teaching for pupils with SEN.
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.