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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'.
During the past twenty years, mentoring and coaching has increasingly been employed as a key strategy in the initial training and continuing professional development of teachers in England and other European countries with the aim of improving teaching and learning. This research has resulted in regional and international impact on education practitioners' continuing professional development and practice. These include:
(1) Primary and secondary teachers from the Merseyside region, who participated in the LJMU Mentoring and Coaching programme to enhance the effectiveness of their professional practice as individuals and to facilitate professional learning and development within their schools.
(2) Education practitioners from teaching, nursing and social work across Europe, who participated in the TISSNTE Intensive Course and attended dissemination events and workshops in England (2012), Finland (2010), Hungary (2008, 2011) and Norway (2009).
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.
Impact in this case study focuses on developing an inclusive culture; changes in academic development programmes; and influencing national policy on inclusive learning and teaching in higher education. While student diversity has increased over the last twenty years or so, teaching methods have changed little in response. This has had a knock-on effect on student engagement and success. Research outlined here has influenced how university teachers reframe their understandings and practices of teaching and engaging diverse students. This work has reshaped continuing professional development in university teaching in the UK and internationally and has influenced national policy on inclusive learning and teaching.
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.
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.
Some research achieves apparent impact because it travels in the same direction as the prevailing political wind. The researchers featured here have often headed into that wind by arguing that England should close the academic-vocational divide and establish a unified and inclusive 14-19 education and training system that meets the needs of all learners. They have consequently made an important contribution to critical public debate on education policy and have helped to shape the thinking of teaching unions, government commissions, awarding bodies and local authorities. Their ideas have proved influential not only in England and Wales but also overseas.
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.
The research in this impact case study has affected discourses concerning professional development and pedagogy from early years classrooms to higher education. By challenging orthodoxies, researchers have delivered new and generative understandings of teacher knowledge that have influenced debate in educators' communities and professional associations. Consequently, these bodies have used our research to guide their approach to the advancement of policy, practice and professional development in all education sectors. The impacts of our research have reached out to a range of national contexts including the UK, Australia, Cyprus, and South Africa.
A design research programme in mathematics education by The University of Nottingham has been taken up by two powerful US change agents — the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics — as a key element in their strategies to improve the quality of teaching and learning in secondary mathematics classrooms across the US.
Beginning with small-scale design research on diagnostic teaching in mathematics, effective principles for the design of lessons were developed to enable teachers to adapt to students' learning needs. These principles were then engineered into robust products and processes through systematic, closely observed classroom trials.