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King's research in the field of ESOL has had an impact on the education of the most marginalised communities in society by contributing to changes to the national strategy for improving adults' basic skills, the Skills for Life strategy. In particular, the research has informed (i) revisions to the Core Curriculum for Adult ESOL in England and Wales, (ii) guidelines to support the implementation of the national standards for teachers of English in FE, (iii) the development of materials for teaching English to adult migrants, which are widely used in the training of ESOL teachers and in ESOL classrooms, and (iv) the development of employment-related English language programmes and materials. The research also informed two successful campaigns to maintain ESOL provision in the face of threatened cuts.
1.1Through the development of national Research Development Fellowships (RDFs) and the national Exploratory Research programme, SUNCETT has worked in collaboration with policy professionals from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS), (now the Education and Training Foundation, ETF) to contribute to changes to public service practices and policy guidelines for the sector. Through the same work, SUNCETT has improved standards of teaching, learning and practitioner research across the sector using a model for educational improvement, originally applied in schools by Fielding et al (2005),described as `Joint Practice Development' (JPD). Through JDP, SUNCETT has enabled policy professionals and practitioners to incrementally improve practice across the FAVE sector in research-informed, realistic and sustainable ways. These applications of JPD have been led nationally by SUNCETT and the improvements in practice achieved as a result of this approach have been recognised externally in the form of the LSIS Legacy Report (2013) (Source 1), in various OFSTED inspection reports (Source 2) and by the British Education Research Association in, Why Educational Research Matters (BERA, 2013) (Source 3).
In a period of national questioning of social work quality, Sussex research has significantly influenced the curricula content of and entry standards for social work education (SWE). New guidelines set admissions standards for all English social work courses, resulting in better quality candidates. Law teaching has been shaped by a new curriculum guide based on our research, as well as the development of prize-winning educational resources. Social workers feel better equipped to communicate with children through contributions to new curricula requirements, textbooks to improve teaching, and direct influence — via Continuing Professional Development — on the quality of communications.
Research by Melanie Nind of the University of Southampton and her collaborator (Hewett) has had a national and international impact on the practice of professionals who teach people with severe learning disabilities. The Intensive Interaction approach is included in UK National Curriculum guidance, the Government's Strategy for people with learning disabilities, and it is used across education, psychology, social care and speech and occupational therapies. Nind's research has shaped the implementation of Intensive Interaction, and provided practitioners in Eastern Europe, New Zealand, and Australia with new data and concepts that help to inform practice to enrich the lives of a vulnerable population.
We have influenced the development and implementation of national higher education policies and educational practices in Scotland as well as international policies through the development of a distinctive approach to evaluation based on social practice theory. Using a novel way of conceptualising and conducting evaluative research, we have:
The Cambridge Primary Review (CPR) produced the most comprehensive and authoritative review of English primary education since the 1960s. Combining educational research with a commission of enquiry, this major initiative produced a series of reviews and reports which received extensive coverage in the UK media, generating sustained, informed public debate about primary education with considerable impact on the thinking and activities of practitioners and policy-makers. Subsequently a national network of regional CPR centres has become a standard source for serving and trainee teachers and CPR's website has been accessed in 75% of the world's countries.
A corpus of research developed over twenty years brings together experience and expertise of staff, students and researchers at Birmingham City University in the Early Years (EY) cluster. This has had effects on practice in contexts in which national and international EY policy, leadership and pedagogy are developed and produced, enacted and contested. It has affected specific areas of learning and development, e.g. mathematics, including thinking skills, creativity, information and communications technology.
Research that was policy, programme and issue-focused has stimulated discussion and action, locally, nationally and internationally, for instance in Europe, Central and South-east Asia and Australia.
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.
The impact of this work is in 2 key areas: using new technologies to raise literacy levels and engage disaffected students and using technology to increase language learning opportunities for primary and secondary students in socially deprived areas. Teachers, trainees, students and teaching assistants report increased confidence in using new technologies; students with low literacy and/or English as a second language report greater engagement, understanding and ability to access the curriculum. As a result of the research, improved literacy levels, greater engagement in lessons and a willingness to use new technologies in the modern foreign languages classroom are evidenced.
The most significant impact of the REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) programme of research has been the increased literacy engagement of over 150,000 young children in the UK and internationally, which has been achieved through direct influence upon practitioners, charities and families. The underpinning research demonstrated how young children's literacy development could be enhanced through work with families, particularly in disadvantaged communities. The impacts of the research during the assessment period have been recognised through the inaugural 2013 ESRC Outstanding Impact in Society Prize (awarded to Nutbrown May 2013) and the 2012 Children and Young People Early Years Award (awarded to NCB November 2012).