improving
the lives
of people across the
globe Institute of Education Research 2014
Contents
01
Research powerhouse
02
Research at the IOE in 2012–13
03
Michael Reiss Pro-Director: Research and Development
Case Studies
04
Navigating a way to independence
06
Talking ’bout their generation
08
Working towards a healthier England
10
Big questions for small scientists
12
Telling stories about family life
14
A changing landscape
16
Other work
Research powerhouse As Director of the IOE I am delighted to introduce the 2014 showcase of our research. The IOE is an exceptional university and the statistics stand out. This year we are ranked Number 1 for Education worldwide in the 2014 QS World University rankings.
We attract more education research funding than any other UK university, and we are consistently placed in the top three recipients of social science research funding in the UK. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise we had the highest proportion of world-leading research in the field of education, placing us in the top ten of all UK universities, whatever their specialisms. We undertake around 25 per cent of the funded education research carried out by UK universities. Our research encompasses all stages of learning and development from the early years through primary, secondary, further and higher education to work-based and lifelong learning. IOE research improves the lives of people across the globe and from all sections of society; our work contributes to enhanced educational outcomes and a greater understanding of child development, health, social mobility and countless other issues affecting individuals at all stages of their life. Research excellence will continue to drive our status as one of the world’s leading centres for education and social science. Outstanding research will underpin all we do. It will provide the insight that enables us to train the best teachers, develop the most innovative professionals and offer expert consultancies. Professor Chris Husbands Director
01
Research at the IOE in 2012–13 48%
UK central government departments £2,844,678
21%
UK based charities £1,459,791
11%
European government £1,522,384
12%
Other grants and contracts £1,116,741
Total
£13,316,100
8%
Research income as a proportion of total IOE income (£ and %) Teaching: funding council £6,594,000
9%
Teaching: teaching fees £23,597,000
33%
Research: funding council £8,538,000
12%
Research: research grants £13,316,000
19%
CKT: consultancy £1,848,000 CKT: knowledge transfer £5,061,000 Other £12,461,000
3% 7%
Total
£71,415,000
17%
Number of externally funded research projects active during the year
2012–13
2011–12
2010–11
2009–10
2008–09
2007–08
2006–07
200 217 244 251 241 276 277 249 224 246 2005–06
There were 246 research projects in progress during 2012–13, and 103 new research contracts started. 276 proposals for new research projects were submitted to funders, with 140 (51 per cent) awarded. The funding environment continued to be very competitive during 2012–13, reflecting ongoing constraints on UK public funding, but we continue to demonstrate higher than average success rates.
Research councils £6,372,506
2004–05
This made up 31 per cent of our total income, and included £13.3 million in grants for individual research projects. Research councils account for 48 per cent of our total research project funding, and UK central government departments account for 21 per cent. Overall, the UK public sector provided 74 per cent of project funding, the UK charitable sector provided 11 per cent, with EU sources accounting for £1.5 million (11 per cent) and non-EU sources providing £446,000 (3 per cent).
Research income by source (£ and %)
2003–04
The Institute’s total research funding amounted to £21.9 million in 2012–13.
Michael Reiss Pro-Director: Research and Development and Professor of Science Education. Professor Reiss’s main research interests are in understanding how science is learned and improving the ways it is taught, and in school sex education and bioethics. He is vice president and honorary fellow of the British Science Association, honorary visiting professor at the Universities of Leeds and York and the Royal Veterinary College, director of the Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology Project and an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Recently I have been working with John White on what the aims of a school curriculum should be, specifically for the teaching of science. We begin by arguing that curriculum development should start with aims rather than, as is typically the case, with subjects. We therefore ask what might be the fundamental aims of school education. We conclude that they are two-fold, namely to enable each learner to lead a life that is personally flourishing and to help others to do so too. These high-level aims can be translated into more specific ones by considering how human flourishing requires, for most people, such things as the acquisition of a broad background understanding, moral education, a life of imagination and reflection, and preparation for work. To illustrate our argument more specifically we then turn to the teaching of science. We show how our position relates to and simplifies present writing about the aims of science education and conclude that our proposals would result in a school science education that had similarities with much current school education, which is desirable as it suggests that our proposals are not completely unrealistic, but some non-trivial differences too, which is encouraging as it suggests that our approach has practical worth rather than simply replicating existing approaches.
03
Navigating a way to independence Environmental learning in individuals with Down’s syndrome and Williams syndrome
Funder Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Agence Nationale de la Recherche
Budget £627,198
Dates April 2010 to August 2014
Principal Investigators Dr Emily K Farran (IOE) and Professor Yannick Courbois (Université Lille Nord de France)
Research team Dr Kerry Hudson (Institute of Education); Dr Mark Blades (University of Sheffield); Dr Harry Purser (Kingston University); Dr Daniel Mellier (Université de Rouen, France)
Investigating strategies for environmental learning in typical and atypical development (project ELSTRAD) About the study For people with learning difficulties, the ability to learn new environments has a significant impact on daily life and independence. The ability to navigate can make the difference between being able to join the workforce or not. Our past research has shown that both individuals with Down’s Syndrome (DS) and individuals with Williams Syndrome (WS) find it difficult to learn a route – for example, the route to the local shop, to work, or, in childhood, from the classroom to the school hall. We set out to determine the nature of the difficulties experienced by these populations by investigating environmental learning in people with DS and WS and in typically developing (TD) children.
How the work is being undertaken In the typical population, the development of environmental learning begins with knowledge of landmarks – for example, a church spire – along a route (landmark knowledge). This then develops to knowledge of the sequential order of the turns and landmarks along the route (route knowledge), and finally to what is known as a cognitive map, by which the spatial structure of an environment is understood. Across a series of studies, we investigated each of these three aspects of environmental learning in up to 108 TD children, 50 individuals with DS and 19 individuals with WS. For this, we used virtual environments, in which the participants viewed a virtual town on a computer screen and navigated around the town using a mouse. We are now developing studies designed to test methods of improving environmental learning in these groups.
Findings and impact We found that, with sufficient practice, individuals with DS and WS can learn a route. However, routes are inflexible to change; these groups are less able to find alternative routes or shortcuts, and they find it difficult to orient when lost. This should be taken into account when encouraging these groups to develop their independence, and when preparing individuals with learning difficulties to join the workforce.
For the Williams Syndrome Foundation, research such as Dr Farran’s navigation research is the difference between our population simply being a group of people with a diagnosis and our being a cohesive body working towards a better future, armed with evidencebased insight and reasoned strategies for positive change. Lizzie Hurst, CEO Williams Syndrome Foundation
Our research will be used as the basis for a handbook for practitioners, carers and families, giving advice on how to support navigation in people with learning difficulties. It may also help to support the evidence base for travel training models developed by government departments for education. Our research findings have reached parents, carers, practitioners and people with learning difficulties, as well as academics and clinicians, via the Williams Syndrome Foundation (WSF) magazine, the 2013 Williams Syndrome Foundation convention, and the 2013 Down’s Syndrome Education International (DSEI) conference. During June 2014 we will be taking part in ‘Live Science’ at the Science Museum in London, giving members of the public the opportunity to learn about how our research informs our knowledge of human behaviour.
For more information, see elstrad.eu
05
Talking ’bout their generation
Longitudinal Study of Young People in England
Funder Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
About the study
Budget
The Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) follows the lives of around 16,000 people born in 1989–90. The study began in 2004, when the cohort members were aged 13–14, and has collected information about their education, employment, economic circumstances, family life, health and wellbeing, social participation, and attitudes.
£2.6 million
Dates 2013 onwards (study began 2004)
Principal Investigator
The LSYPE is managed by the IOE’s Centre for Longitudinal Studies. It was previously managed and funded by the Department for Education (2004–2012).
Lisa Calderwood
Research team Professor Lorraine Dearden, Dr Kathryn Duckworth, Jon Johnson, Carole Sanchez Marie Thornby (IOE)
How the work is being undertaken The LSYPE cohort members were surveyed every year from age 13–14 (2004) to age 19–20 (2010). The next survey is scheduled for early 2015, when the cohort members will be approaching their 25th birthdays. By age 25, many of the cohort members will have completed their education. Most will have started their careers, some may have children, and many will be trying to get a foot on the property ladder. We will collect information on all these aspects of their lives and more, building a complete picture of how life is unfolding for this generation.
Findings and impact The data are publicly available to researchers around the world via the UK Data Service. The LSYPE has been used by researchers in academia and government to investigate a range of issues, including: drivers and barriers to educational success; transitions to higher education, training or work; pupils’ aspirations and attitudes towards school; risky behaviour and associated outcomes; alcohol consumption; and community cohesion. The LSYPE has directly influenced many government decisions. For example, findings from the study recently informed the decision to raise the participation age in education. Policymakers regularly cite LSYPE findings in debates on diverse issues such as learning difficulties, schools, bullying, under-age binge drinking, drug misuse and the Educational Maintenance Allowance.
LSYPE is a unique and valuable cohort study which
focuses on the transitions undergone by young people and particularly the role of education in maximising their opportunities in adult life. Continuing LSYPE is important; it will allow researchers to extend the work to analysis of all outcomes in young adulthood.
Clare Baker, Longitudinal Surveys Team Department for Education
07
Working towards a healthier England Reviews facility to support national policy development and implementation Funder Department of Health (England)
Budget £1.5 million
Dates February 2014 to January 2017 (subject to review in 2016–17 and possible extension to 2019)
Principal Investigator James Thomas
Research team Mukdarut Bangpan, Ginny Brunton, Jenny Caird, Kelly Dickson, Sergio Graziosi, Kate Hinds, Josephine Kavanagh, Dr Alison O’Mara-Eves, Professor Ann Oakley, Professor Sandy Oliver, Rebecca Rees, Phil Rose, Claire Stansfield, Gillian Stokes, Dr Katy Sutcliffe (IOE); Dr Amanda Sowden (Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York); Professor Nicholas Mays, Professor Mark Petticrew, Sandra MounierJack and Dr Helen Burchett (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)
About the study This programme carries out rigorous systematic reviews of research in order to inform policy development and implementation at the Department of Health (DH) in England. It also continues to develop better ways to identify, synthesise and communicate research evidence for policy (and practice). The programme as a whole began in 1995, and previous grants have totalled in excess of £3 million.
How the work is being undertaken We work closely with DH teams who are involved in developing policy in specific areas. In the past, we have looked at: childhood obesity, sexual health, smoking cessation and tobacco control, social care and the problem of late diagnosis across a range of conditions. We have recently completed a large review which has examined the prevalence of paediatric medication error in the UK and what we might be able to do about it. The problems of how we know what we know are central to this work. Therefore, this programme looks at how we can develop our understanding of the ways in which research knowledge can ‘move’ between the academic and policy sectors, and how this movement can become more accurate and timely.
Findings and impact From 2007 to 2009, a previous phase of the programme focused on obesity among children and young people. The research informed the development of national health policies such as the Change4Life campaign and the National Child Measurement Programme. It also fed into the development of DCSF and Youth Sports Trust programmes aimed at less active children. More recently, we synthesised research evidence for the Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery (2008–09) and the Review of the Regulation of Cosmetic Interventions, led by Sir Bruce Keogh (2013).
This is a very
valuable, interesting, meticulous and rich piece of work, and will help the Commission considerably.
The Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery (2009)*
* Feedback on an earlier phase of the programme
09
Big questions for small scientists
We found
the activities encouraged lots of talk and creative ideas. Using inquiry based learning promoted cross-curricular, innovative lessons.
Jen Shiers, early years Teacher
Funder European Union Seventh Framework Programme Grant no. 26664
Budget €2,836,624 million (IOE budget £142,770)
Dates September 2011 to August 2014
Principal Investigator (IOE strand) Dr Sue Dale Tunnicliffe, Institute of Education
Project coordinator Professor Suzanne Gatt, University of Malta
Partner institutions The Malta Council for Science and Technology; Malta University; Associacao HandsOn Science Network, Portugal; Catholic University College, Vives, Belgium; Jyvaskylan Yliopisto, Finland; Univerzita Jana Evangelisty Purkyne V Usit Nad Labem, Czech Republic; Rhinische Freidrich Wilhelms University Bonn, Germany; University of Cyprus, Cyprus; Bundesministerium fur Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur, Austria; Panepistimio Kritis (University of Crete), Greece; Tranavska Univerzita c Trnave, Slovakia; Univerisidade do Minho, Portugal; University of Southampton, UK; Mugla Univeritesi, Turkey; Universite Paris 8 Vincennes Saint-Denis, France; Exor Group Ltd, Malta; EU Core Consulting SRL, Italy
Pri-Sci-Net – Networking Primary Science Education About the study Pri-Sci-Net aims to promote inquiry-based science education (IBSE) for children aged 3 to 11 years across Europe, by providing educational materials and professional development for teachers. Working with our European partners, we have been developing and trialling 45 IBSE activities across three age groups; creating networks for both academics and primary teachers; providing national and international in-service training on IBSE; recognising successful research and practice with young children; and organising international conferences.
How the work is being undertaken Each partner devised five activities for their chosen age range, which were narrowed down to a final 45 activities in total. These were trialled in schools, where cultural and language issues were noted and documented, as well as feedback from pupils and teachers on the effectiveness of the activities. In each activity, the teachers were regarded as facilitators, scaffolding the experiences for pupils.
Findings and impact Our partners in the study have already reported a widespread effect in increasing the understanding of IBSE among participant teachers. We are currently seeking funding to continue evaluating the programme in autumn 2014, continuing to observe the ways in which IBSE is implemented in English schools, and looking at whether it has an ongoing effect on pupils’ scientific investigations. The findings are available to teachers and others involved in science education via the project website, which features regular newsletters. Activities have been translated into the languages of member partners, and will also be translated into Spanish, and there is a discussion forum for participants and others to exchange views.
One activity for the foundation stage, Strong Walls, took place over half a term. The teacher and children started by investigating walls outside, looking at how they stay together. The children moved on to build their own indoor and outdoor walls using building blocks, tested the walls by pushing them over, and talked with the teacher about patterns of building and how weak walls could be improved. The whole class built the final wall, and then wrote up the experiment together, discussing the conclusions at ‘circle time’ and suggesting ideas for improvement next time. Data from these trial evaluations, together with comments from teachers and children and demographic data, are being collated for the final project report.
11
Telling stories about family life Funder Economic and Social Research Council (Phase III National Centre for Research Methods node)
Budget ÂŁ1.4 million
Dates October 2011 to September 2014
Principal Investigator Professor Ann Phoenix
Project Principal Investigators Professor Julia Brannen, Dr Rebecca O’Connell, Professor Ann Phoenix (IOE); Dr Janet Boddy (Sussex University); Professor Rosalind Edwards (NCRM Hub, Southampton University)
Research team Helen Austerberry, Dr Claire Cameron, Heather Elliott, Professor Jane Elliott, Dr Abigail Knight, Natasha Shukla, Sam Parsons (IOE); Professor Molly Andrews, Professor Corinne Squire (Centre for Narrative Research UEL); Professor Jo Boyden, Dr Gina Crivello, Madhavi Latha, Dr Virginia Morrow, Renu Singh, Professor Uma Vennam, Emma Wilson (Young Lives, Oxford University); Hanan Hauari (IOE)
Narratives of Varied Everyday Lives and Linked Approaches (NOVELLA) About the study People’s habits and their relationships to society are often negotiated within families. NOVELLA looks at the links between what people do and what they say they do, and what this can tell us about their identities, values and possible future actions. We use a variety of methods to analyse the ways in which family members understand their practices, and we document innovative ways of conducting secondary narrative analysis and matching data across a range of datasets.
The NOVELLA project
has broken new ground by combining the study of ‘the everyday’ with powerful methodologies that re-use and creatively link diverse existing data sources. Cohort studies, diaries, films, survey marginalia and more have been brought to bear on an essential issue of how to make our understanding and policy relevant for family life as we really live it. Libby Bishop, UK Data Archive
Novella projects Parenting Identities and Practices We are undertaking a secondary analysis of two previous studies (Transforming Experiences and Fathers across the Generations and Fathers across Three Family Generations in Polish, Irish and UK origin white families). We look at the ways in which family practices over the life course and over long time spans are narrated. We also examine how narrative analysis compares and contrasts with analyses of data from the IOE’s Millennium Cohort Study.
Families and Food This study aims to advance knowledge about how to research the ‘disconnect’ between behaviour and constructed meanings in habitual food practices. We are doing this by exploring the usefulness of narrative methods in food research and through the secondary analysis of archival data of different types: for example, interview narratives, diary entries and visual data such as photographs and historic film footage from Pathé News.
Family Lives and the Environment This project examines the role of the environment, including understandings of climate change and climatic events, within families’ narratives of their everyday lives. We are analysing existing qualitative data from interviews with young people in Andhra Pradesh (India) from the Young Lives study (Oxford University) and new qualitative data from Andhra Pradesh, London and Sussex.
Other elements of NOVELLA’s work include two small-scale collaborative projects conducted with the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) and the Mode NCRM research node. These look at whether it is possible to do narrative analysis on paradata, and at food blogs and parenting. We also run a training programme designed to improve methodological skills in narrative analysis and linked approaches, and provide online resources for researchers. NOVELLA shows how important it is for social policy interventions to be based on a clear understanding of what families actually do. For example, the Family Lives and the Environment project demonstrates how family members’ understandings of ‘environment’ are situated within their homes, neighbourhoods, country, and the resources available to them. The policy implications of this are that top-down messages about the need for environmental change need to be founded on bottom-up family experiences of the environment.
For more information, see novella.ac.uk
13
A changing landscape Review of the school leadership landscape in England About the study At a time of numerous new national policies for schools in England, the research, conducted between October 2011 and July 2012, explored the state of school and academy leadership in England. This included exploring the demographic and workforce features of school leaders, school leadership models and practices and the ways in which school leaders are responding to new policy agendas.
How the work was undertaken The research consisted of four overlapping phases: a literature review of recent school leadership studies and interviews with national stakeholders; an analysis of demography and the labour market using existing data sets, including the School Workforce Census; a national survey of school leaders, with responses from 834 headteachers, 769 middle and senior leaders and 347 chairs of governors; and the collection of qualitative data from eight school case studies, 20 telephone interviews with headteachers and three focus groups with school leaders.
Findings and impact The key findings related to demography, leadership models, the challenges leaders perceive they face and the support they are able to seek out. On demography, we found an emerging bipolar age distribution of headteachers. Compared to a decade ago, there are now considerably more heads in their late 50s and 60s, but also more teachers achieving headship in their 30s. We also found persistent gender and racial inequalities in the progression of teachers into leadership roles, as well as a segregation of the school leadership labour market by regions and school types.
On current policy, we found a general ambivalence to school autonomy policies, with less than one fifth of headteachers agreeing that their pupils would benefit from current policy reforms. School leaders were most positive about policy where it concerned school-to-school collaboration, but there were also significant variations between schools by phase and school type. In light of these differences, a Latent Class Analysis (LCA) considered how headteachers understand and plan to respond to current policy changes. Four Latent Classes of headteachers were identified, summarised here in very general terms: • In Class 1 (containing 22% of respondents), heads were broadly positive about school autonomy and confident about pursuing new policy opportunities embodied in academisation and Teaching Schools. • In Class 2 (34%), heads were uncertain about whether they would gain new autonomies in practice and were cautious about engaging with policy. • In Class 3 (32%), heads were apprehensive about school autonomy and concerned that a declining role for Local Authorities would impact negatively on their school. • In Class 4 (12%), heads were sceptical about the aims and constraints of policy and strongly negative about its anticipated impacts. Across these four classes, there was a statistical likelihood of: Academy principals and headteachers of ‘outstanding’ secondary schools being located in Class 1; ‘Good’ schools, in both primary and secondary phases, being located in Class 2 and Class 3; Primary, community and voluntary controlled schools, as compared to foundation schools and academies, being located in Class 4. A key implication, we conclude, is that school autonomy policies have a very real potential to exacerbate existing local hierarchies between schools.
Funder Department for Education/ National College for Teaching and Leadership
Budget ÂŁ172,000
Dates October 2011 to September 2012
Principal Investigators Prof Peter Earley and Dr Rob Higham (IOE)
Research team Rebecca Allen, Tracey Allen, John Howson, Rebecca Nelson, Shenila Rawal (Institute of Education, University of London); and Sarah Lynch, Laura Morton, Palak Mehta and David Sims (National Foundation for Educational Research)
The review of the
leadership landscape was an important and timely study. It provided a picture of how school leadership was responding at a time of significant change and so helped inform the thinking on how to support the shift to a self-improving system.
Steve Munby, CEO, CfBT and former CEO, National College for School Leadership
15
Other work The case studies featured in this brochure represent only a small selection of the IOE’s work across education, health and social science. Other recent and ongoing work includes: The Moral Economy of Global Civil Society: a history of voluntary food aid This research looks at 20th century programmes of voluntary food aid and famine relief to investigate the roots of what current discourse calls ‘global civil society’. We are examining three distinct periods of transnational humanitarianism: the Soviet famine of 1921–22; relief efforts in Western Europe in the mid-1940s; and the famine in the Horn of Africa 1983–85.
The Evolution of School Mathematics Discourse, Seen Through the Lens of GCSE Examinations This project analyses the language used in GCSE examination papers over the past three decades in order to investigate how expectations about students’ mathematical activity have changed. Questions presented in different forms have been trialled with students. We found differences in the nature of the mathematics and in how students act as mathematicians.
Funder Swedish Research Council Budget 5.5 million SEK (£550,000) Dates 2013 to 2016 Principal Investigator Professor Norbert Gotz (Sodortorn University, Sweden) IOE Investigator Dr Georgina Brewis
Funder Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Budget £222,009 Dates 2011 to 2014 Principal Investigator Professor Candia Morgan (IOE)
Taking on the Teenagers – using adolescent energy to reduce energy use
INCLUSIVE trial: Initiating change locally in bullying and aggression through the school environment
The aim of this project was to design technology-enhanced learning experiences about energy consumption that were targeted to teenage learners. We worked with teenagers to understand their attitudes, motivations, and barriers to energy saving, and collaborated with them in the design of technology to support learning about energy. Funder Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Budget £320,000 Dates 2010 to 2013 Principal Investigator Professor Rosemary Luckin (IOE)
This study will assess a whole-school restorative intervention, which aims to reduce bullying and aggression in order to improve health and educational attainment among secondaryschool students. It involves: formation of a school action group; staff training in restorative practices; and a social and emotional skills curriculum. The study methodology is a randomised controlled trial with integral process and economic evaluations. Funder National Institute for Health Research and Education Endowment Foundation Budget £1.9 million Dates 2014 to 2018 Principal Investigators Professor Russell Viner (UCL) and Professor Chris Bonell (IOE) IOE Investigators Chris Bonell and Meg Wiggins
Schooling and Unequal Outcomes in Youth and Adulthood This project is examining the role of schooling in determining educational attainment, occupational outcomes and social mobility. We aim to answer a range of questions, including: are certain types of school, or schools with certain characteristics, more successful than others and why? Do some types of school suit some pupils better than others? To what extent is schooling implicated in social and educational inequalities in Britain? Funder Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Budget £300,000 Dates 2013 to 2016 Principal Investigator Dr Alice Sullivan (IOE)
This document is available in a range of alternative formats. Please contact External Relations for assistance. Telephone +44 (0)20 7911 5512 Email info@ioe.ac.uk Contact us Michael Reiss Pro-Director: Research and Development Institute of Education 20 Bedford Way London WC1H 0AL Telephone +44 (0)20 7612 6092 Email m.reiss@ioe.ac.uk ioe.ac.uk/research twitter.com/IOE_London Š IOE 2014