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Research Impact

In Education Studies, academics across all levels are fostering the impact of their research. Our impact work is taking place in both national and international contexts, and putting knowledge into practice is one of our key priorities. Policy makers, schools, charities, theatre companies are just some of the non-academic groups engaging in our research. We are also using digital tools and innovative approaches to generate impact that has reach and significance.

If you are looking for research insight in a particular area, or want to engage with our research, consult our areas of expertise and get in touch.

Read our research impact headlines.

Back to secondary school for children with neurodevelopmental disorders: the effect on children's academic and psychosocial adjustmentLink opens in a new window

Dr Olympia Palikara

Olympia Palikara's recent research, funded by the Baily Thomas Charitable Trust, has established that transition to secondary school is a challenging time for children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families. Our evidence suggests that this is particularly true during times of crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. To support these young people, their families and professionals working with them, is essential to meet their elevated needs in times of crisis, through evidence-based practices and relevant guidelines.

The key impact project objectives are (i) to contribute to the development and use of evidence-base practices to support transition back to secondary school for young people with neurodevelopmental disorders (ii) to influence education policy on how these children’s needs are met during crisis.

The proposed impact project meets objective (i) through the development of an evidence-based online toolkit and the production of the Policy Briefs. Objective (ii) is met through working with project partners and policy makers on co-facilitating targeted events.

Follow Olympia Palikara on TwitterLink opens in a new window.

Acting on Climate: co-creating performance and digital ethnographies for youth eco-citizenship

Dr. Rachel Turner-King

Rachel Turner-King and Dr Bobby SmithLink opens in a new window, have received funding from the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account to investigate the ways digital arts and live performance can be used to enhance young people's understanding and engagement with issues relating to climate change and eco-citizenship.

This IAA project extends and secures the impact outcomes of our ongoing collaboration as part of a global, multi-sited ethnographic study led by Professor Kathleen Gallagher (University of Toronto) entitled ‘Global Youth (Digital) Citizen-Artists and their Publics: Performing for Socio-Ecological Justice’ (SSHRC). As part of this wider study, in 2019-2020, we received GRP City of Culture funding to work with multiple non-academic organisations and artists: Coventry’s Climate Action Network (CAN), locally-based FLUX, and digital artist Ashley Brown to create a pilot version of a digital educational platform.Link opens in a new window

CAN brings together students, citizens, politicians, and activists to discuss how to encourage others to make a positive impact on the local environment.

FLUX provide a platform to educate, communicate and discuss scientific ideas, research, and theories within local communities, in a way that is captivating and engaging, formative yet accessible.

Brown creates immersive digital experiences and works extensively on engagement projects with schools and universities.

They are also working with Lens Change, experts in applied theatre and videography, who provide high quality digital recordings of performance.

This IAA project enables us to deepen our understanding of the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). ESD favours empirical, learner-centred and non-didactic pedagogies (Corney & Reid, 2007). Our digital platform experiments with playful ways to engage non-academic publics in the often gloomy and overwhelming topic of climate change. We want to develop its educational potential and scale-up the resource by including youth in the co-production of creative content. By using innovative pedagogies from across drama and dance education and digital arts and by providing them with an interactive digital platform with space for their input, we aim to foster youth ‘eco-citizenship’ and agency.

Follow Rachel Turner-King on TwitterLink opens in a new window.

Enhancing Informed Choices for Higher Education: Building Outreach Culture in Haryana, India

Dr. Emily Henderson.

Emily Henderson and the project team are using the findings of their Fair Chance Foundation 5-year funded research project, to contribute to developing an outreach culture in Haryana, India. Funded by an award from the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, they are working closely with local and national actors to make a change that benefit state-funded HE colleges, family groups, and policy makers involved in equalising access to HE in Haryana, India, and beyond.

Listen to the podcastLink opens in a new window to find out more about this project, and follow Emily Henderson on Twitter.

Supporting the well-being of dads of disabled childrenLink opens in a new window

Dr. Emma Langley

Emma Langley's ESRC-funded research has raised awareness of the way parents of disabled children often experience greater stresses and challenges, and can be linked to lack of support. Working collaboratively with a group of father’s in Warwickshire, Emma has produced a set of online videos that contribute to better outcomes and benefits for the well-being of parents with disabled children.

Emma’s research has been featured on BBC Breakfast and Coventry and Warwickshire radio.

Hear Education Studies’ Emma Langley and Mark Pulsford discuss their shared research interests in fatherhoodLink opens in a new window, and follow Emma Langley on TwitterLink opens in a new window.

A guide to inclusive conferencing

Dr Emily Henderson

Based on the findings of an exploratory study into the impact of caring responsibilities on academics’ participation in conferences, Emily Henderson and her team have produced a resources to benefit policy makers and conference organisers. These include a policy briefing offering guidance on an inclusive conference policy, and a set of recommendations for Higher Education institutions.

Read more about the research that has informed these resources on our webpages.

Emily also hosts the Conference Inference blogLink opens in a new window, and her research on conferencing been featured in the TESLink opens in a new window and The GuardianLink opens in a new window.

Our PGT Students are featured on the Warwick Institute of Engagement website

Education Studies research represented in three events at the 2020 ESRC Festival of Social Sciences.