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Research by the University of Edinburgh (1997 to 2006, but part of a continuing programme of work) on socio-economic inequalities in education and the impact of educational reform has had an impact on public policy debates, mainly in Scotland. The significance of the impact is seen in the raised profile of socio-economic inequalities in policy agendas and the extent to which it has informed the design of policy responses and influenced policy debates. It has played an important role in holding the public policy process to account, by providing the main independent evidence base on the actual and potential contribution of policy. Its reach has extended to include policy-makers and participants in public debates about education and, indirectly, pupils and students.
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.
The global pledge of achieving Education For All by 2015 is compromised by providers' reliance on education services that are designed for sedentary users and exclude nomadic pastoralists. Dr Caroline Dyer (University of Leeds; Senior Lecturer in Development Practice, 2004-2011; Reader in Education in Development, 2011- present) has re-visioned approaches to education for nomadic groups through her analysis of how public policy perpetuates pastoralists' educational marginalisation and design of research-based models of service provision that can deliver pastoralists' right to education inclusion without compromising their mobile livelihoods. Her research led to changes in national policy strategy and re-designed service delivery in Kenya in 2010, shaped policy debate in Afghanistan from 2012, and has supported community and NGO advocacy in India since 2008.
Research conducted between 1997 and 2013 at the University of Edinburgh has examined qualifications reforms designed to make education and training systems more coherent, unified and flexible. This research has influenced policy developments in Scotland and internationally, and especially the development of National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs). It has achieved three types of impact: i) analytical tools and conceptual frameworks developed in the research have informed and guided policy development; ii) it has encouraged greater realism in the aims and objectives of qualifications-led reforms; and iii) it has encouraged policy designs and implementation strategies based on a better understanding of the processes of qualifications-led change. The reach of the impact has extended to policy-makers, education providers, learners and other stakeholders in Scotland, the UK and elsewhere, especially in countries introducing or considering NQFs.
Over a decade of innovative comparative research has made a significant contribution to international debates on the future of education, employment and the labour market in the global `knowledge' economy. Prior to this research it was commonly assumed that the demand for high skilled workers would increase in the developed economies as emerging economies including China and India, entered the global economy. Research led by Cardiff University is the first to (a) show how this underestimated the way emerging economies were rapidly entering the competition for high skilled work and (b) outline its far-reaching implication for education, skills and economic policies in the West. The impact of this research is demonstrated in the way policy-makers in transnational organisations including the International Labour Office (ILO) and national governments are rethinking their policy agendas in this crucial area of public policy
UEL's International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare (ICMEC) researches service costs and equity risks associated with the marketisation and privatisation of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Its interdisciplinary research, which is frequently cited in national and international policy documents, has contributed to policy debate within the European Union, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and other supra-national bodies, and informed the UK Government's development of ECEC and child poverty policies.
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.
Work undertaken at UEL on public pedagogy has supported the application of pedagogical research across public and political spheres, in particular in terms of `disaster education'. This has delivered public education and social inclusion benefits to policy-makers and practitioners working in the fields of UK and international disaster education. Other key beneficiaries include local authorities, further education students, and transport operators and attendees of the 2012 Olympic Games. In addition to the benefits of its Disaster Education research, the Centre's more recent `RadioActive' community radio projects (started April 2012) have engaged disenfranchised young people and increased social inclusion.
A twelve-year programme of research (2001-12) led by Professor Gareth Parry on higher education in further education colleges has produced impacts on policy development, institutional strategy and professional practice in England. The beneficiaries are the central authorities for higher and further education, the colleges of further education and their university partners, college managers and tutors, and thereby students and employers. The types of impact are changes to national funding and reporting arrangements; enhancements to policy and organisational learning; and contributions to institutional capacity-building. The vehicles for achieving impact are collaborations with policy, professional and practitioner communities through expert programmes, consultancies, databases, directories and guides to good practice. The reach of the impact is national, cross-sector and institutional, with a wider influence on debates across the UK and international developments including in Australia.
The Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP) examined the effects of education on the lives and livelihoods of people in four developing countries - India, Pakistan, Kenya and Ghana. It also investigated how best to improve education and poverty-reduction strategies in and for developing countries. Its research outcomes influenced the volume of UK aid to education between 2008-13. It helped to improve the allocation of UK aid, resulting in greater emphasis being placed on the most needy countries. It brought particular benefits for the aid process in the case of India. It also helped refine international approaches to the education of the disabled.