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The University of Huddersfield's School of Education and Professional Development has produced an extensive body of research addressing the experiences and needs of educationally marginalised young people. This work has developed understanding of the experiences of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), learners in alternative education and those on low-level vocational programmes. Responding to stakeholder demands for a more nuanced insight into these problems and their possible solutions, research has been disseminated to practitioners, policymakers, voluntary organisations, local authorities and the wider public through conference presentations, keynote addresses and the media, benefiting user communities at local, regional and national levels.
National and international research findings were utilised to raise professional, political and faith-based awareness of the impact of abuse and exploitation on the educational, social and emotional development of children and young people considered to be `at risk'. The impact of the case study lies in its ability to portray, through the use of participatory research methodologies, the experiences of young people who have been the victims of abuse, neglect and human trafficking. Evidence collated indicates that the work has significantly increased national and local awareness and understanding, and led to specific organisational changes in policy and practice.
Alan Grattan's research has had a number of impacts informing policy and practice around the inter-connected theme of `young people, radicalisation, and alienation'. His conference contributions and publications have led directly to his working with government agencies and NGOs particularly in Northern Ireland. His work has informed and continues to inform the approach of these agencies in working with young people in the community who may be at risk of entering into radicalised and violent activities.
This case study refers to the research/publications of Tonge on youth civic engagement since 2007, which dovetailed with his government appointment as Chair of the Youth Citizenship Commission (YCC) in 2008-9. The research agenda examined what citizenship means to young people; considered how to increase young people's participation in politics; assessed how citizenship can be promoted through community and political engagement and led a consultation with young people on whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. Of 17 policy recommendations arising from the research, 16 were approved by the government, improving opportunities for young people to volunteer, become politically engaged and receive better citizenship education.
This case study demonstrates the impact generated through research studies at Plymouth University into `sexting', the self-generation and distribution of explicit images, by children and young people. The findings have informed briefing material for Ofsted inspectors, been used to develop material for schools, and led to schools developing new curriculum based support and peer mentoring. The research has also extended the understanding of the emerging issues and helped inform national debate and public discourse.
At a time when youth gangs were high on the UK and Scottish governments' agendas and a focus of media concern, this research was instrumental in changing understandings of the origins of youth gangs, and why they engage in violent conflict. A key insight was that significant gang behaviour had its origins in extreme forms of place attachment. The impact encompassed changes in policy direction and programmes aimed at tackling youth violence, including policies in Scotland such as `No Knives Better Lives'. Through very substantial publicity, including coverage on 2 primetime TV documentaries, the research informed public understandings, and challenged conventional wisdom on the nature, organisation and behaviour of youth gangs.
Research at Queen Margaret University (QMU) by Professor Ian Rivers identified issues facing LGBT young people and same-sex raised children in UK education. Rivers was the only academic member of a group formed by the Scottish Government to recommend ways of tackling negative and discriminatory attitudes towards LGBT people in Scotland. The Scottish Government implemented many of the group's recommendations. Rivers' research had an impact on (1) public policy and services in education, (2) schools and teachers as educational practitioners, (3) health and welfare of LGBT young people and same-sex raised children, and (4) society, culture, and creativity, and public policy and services, beyond Scotland.
Established in 2002 in London Metropolitan University's Faculty of Computing, Gamelab UK is a research and innovation centre in interactive educational media. By `pushing the envelope' in production and development Gamelab has become the pre-eminent centre for the development of TV, and interactive media and games, for audiences and end-users with special education needs. Gamelab's impact includes over seven hours of television output for the BBC, eight BAFTA nominations since 2008 and a range of published, and highly innovative, games and interactive software for children, teenagers and young adults with sensory impairments, learning difficulties and other disabilities.
University of Reading research has raised awareness of a group that is often overlooked in policy and practice: young carers and families affected by HIV. It has revealed the factors that influence involvement and outcomes in young care-giving and identified the support needs for young people and those that they look after.
The research has led to newly funded support services in East Africa and the UK, international and national practice guidelines, and capacity-building among professionals. The impact has predominantly been the enhancement of wellbeing, health and social care, education, children's and families' rights and welfare provision.
The research addressed the lack of insight from research, policy and practice in relation to adolescents who are neglected within families. Findings have informed policy development at a national level, and were the basis of a guide to good practice, published and circulated widely by the (then) Department for Children Schools and Families ((DCSF), now the Department for Education (DfE)), and a guide for young people to increase their awareness of neglect, published and circulated by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). At a local level, researchers worked intensively over 18 months with the whole senior management tier from Children's Services in one local authority to enable understanding and refocusing so that adolescent neglect becomes a legitimate part of practice. Managers went on to enable the shift in practice with their teams, and adolescent neglect has been included in revised safeguarding screening tools approved by the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB).