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The Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI)Manchester Metropolitan University

Image produced as part of the Remixing Thick Time Exhibition, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, May 2019.

MMU2559 ESRI Report The Education and Social Research Institute 2019 V11.indd 1MMU2559 ESRI Report The Education and Social Research Institute 2019 V11.indd 1 25/11/2019 14:1725/11/2019 14:17

The Education and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in the Faculty of Education is one of the leading UK centres for applied educational research and evaluation, with a thriving research community. ESRI has an outstanding portfolio of research grants and publications, and is known for its world-leading research, particularly in the fields of theory and methodology, mathematics education, early childhood, and youth and community. ESRI has an interdisciplinary focus, as reflected in its development of arts-informed research and its innovative Biosocial Research Lab.

Introduction to ESRI

Professor Kate Pahl Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange and Head of ESRI, Faculty of Education

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“ESRI is an inclusive and radical research space producing world-leading research in both local and global contexts. Our approach utilises methods which challenge understandings of what research and education could, and should, be. This creates a forward-thinking, collaborative and unconventional environment in which to co-produce quality research.”


ESRI acts as a hub for innovation in qualitative research through its Summer Institute in Qualitative Research and events like the ‘Collaboration, Creativity and Complexities’ conference. ESRI research values informal learning as well as school-based learning and its understanding of education is broad and inclusive.

ESRI aims to offer the best and most innovative approaches to educational research in the UK and internationally, across disciplines and in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders.

Teaching within the Faculty is closely informed by research. ESRI contributes to high quality research training through its EdD and PhD programmes and its membership of the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Our aims are:

• to lead debate, nationally and internationally, on the nature and future of education and educational research.

• to contribute to the development of theory and methodology in applied educational research across the social sciences and the arts and humanities.

• to promote research-based understandings of policy and practice with external stakeholders, community partners and users of social research.

• to support community partners, practitioners and professionals in researching their own practice and contexts of work.

• to work ethically to provide first-class research training and support for community research building.

Our work strongly engages with stakeholders across the city region, nationally and internationally. Our partnerships are extensive and complex, and our research is jointly developed with those partners. Our international work continues to grow. ESRI is currently running several grants in Overseas Development Aid (ODA) receiving countries funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the British Academy. GCRF work is becoming one of the key strands of ESRI’s research.

Our research is led through thematic groups, which are described in the following pages. ESRI staff profiles and research group membership lists, as well as details of our Advisory Board, are available on the ESRI website (mmu.ac.uk/esri).

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https://www.mmu.ac.uk/esri/

Research Councils

Arts and Humanities Research Council

Economic and Social Research Council

Global Challenges Research Fund

UK Research and Innovation

International

ERASMUS+

European Schoolnet Horizon 2020

NSW Environmental Trust UNESCO

Non UK universities Non UK research councils

Public Sector

Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians

Local authorities

Arts Council

Central Government/DfE

Education Achievement Service

Schools

Charities and Trusts

Ambition School LeadershipBritish Academy/Leverhulme

BELMAS (Research and development grant)

British Dyslexia AssociationThe Big Lottery/HLF

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

Co-operative FoundationCity in the CommunityCurious MindsEducation Endowment Foundation

European Space Education Resource Office UK

Froebel TrustGriffin Schools TrustInstitute of PhysicsMuseumsSociety of Applied PhilosophyNuffield FoundationWellcome

Internal

Biosocial LabUniversity Teaching AcademyStrategic Opportunities FundResearch Development Fund

Other Manchester Met internal funding

ESRI Research Interests and Funding Sources

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Charities and Trusts

Ambition School LeadershipBA LeverhulmeBELMAS (Research & development grantBritish Dyslexia AssociationThe Big Lottery/HLFCILIPCoOperative FoundationCity in the CommunityCurious MindsEducation Endowment FoundationESERO-UKFroebel TrustGriffin Schools TrustInstitute of PhysicsMuseumsSoc of Applied PhilosophyNuffield FoundationWellcome

Internal

Biosocial LabCETLStrategic opportunities FundMMU DefaultResearch Development Fund

Early Childhood Literacy Behaviour

2-yo in Education

2-yo in educaiton

Research on Policy

Globalisation

Sense &Sensation

Digital Life

Ecologies

Dis/Abilities

Inclusive Education

Teacher Development

Educational Leadership

Pedagogical Innovation

AgencyFutures

Policy, Politics and Practice

Educational Change

Pedagogy & Classrooms

Philosophy & History

Curriculum & Design

Society & Politics

Materiality & Art

Literacy & Place

Teaching & Learning of Grammar

Multilingual Literacies

Emergent Literacies

InformalLiteracy Science Education

Social Inclusion

Poverty & Education

Youth Engagement

Informal Learning

Computer Science Education

Technology Enhanced Learning

Post Humanist

Cross- Disciplinary

Arts Methods

Co Production

Post Qualitiative

Evaluation Research

Research Councils

AHRCESRCGCRFUKRI

International

ERASMUS+European Schoolnet

Horizon 2020NSW Environmental Trust

UNESCONon UK Universities

Non UK Research Councils

Public Sector

ASCELLocal Authorities

Arts CouncilCentral Government/DfE

Education Achievement ServiceSchools

Education & Global Futures

Teacher Education

Mat

hs E

duca

tion

Youth & Comm

unity

Science

Tech

nology & Lea

rning

Children & Childhood

Literacy & Language

Nursery Education

Families in Museums

ESRI Research Interests and Funding Sources

Theo

ry &

Met

hodo

logy

Bios

ocial

Lab

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Convener: Professor Rachel Holmes

This group recognises the complexity of contemporary childhoods in all aspects of its work. We are committed to developing intellectual, professional and public debates about: the life-worlds of 2-year-olds in the classroom; children’s spatiality; children’s learning with objects; ethics, power and childhood; collaborative and co-produced research with parents and carers; and artists in schools. Our key areas of active research are two-year-olds in education settings, gallery and museum work with under 5s, early childhood literacy and communicative practices, mental health and being/feeling ‘different’ at school, and behaviour and reputation.

Projects

• Odd: Feeling different in the world of education (Arts & Humanities Research Council, £362K). Rachel Holmes & Kate Pahl, with colleagues. January 2018 – January 2021.

• The Sensory Nursery: The life-world of two-year olds in Nursery School (internal funding, £175K). Christina MacRae. January 2017 – December 2020.

• The emergence of literacy in very young children: place and materiality in a more-than-human world (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, £250K). Abi Hackett. October 2017 – October 2020.

• Evaluation and support implementation of the speech/language and communication pathway across GMCA (£200 – £300K, DfE Early Outcomes Fund). Deborah James & Julie Marshall (HPSC). August 2019 – June 2020.

• 2Curious (The Big Life Group, £10k). Kerry Moakes, Jo McNulty & Rachel Holmes. 2017 – 2018.

• How do families experience our museums? (Humber Museum Partnership, £12K). Abi Hackett, Christina MacRae & Lisa Procter. October 2016 – September 2017.

Publications

• Barron, I. & Taylor, L. (2017) Eating and scraping away at practice with two-year-olds. Pedagogy, Culture and Society. 25(4), pp. 567-581.

• Gallagher, M., Prior, J., Needham, M. & Holmes, R. (2017) Listening differently:

A pedagogy for expanded listening. British Educational Research Journal. 43(6), pp. 1246-1265.

• Hackett, A., Holmes, R., Macrae, C., & Procter, L. (2018). Young children’s museum geographies; spatial, material and bodily ways of knowing. Guest Editors Introduction. Children’s Geographies. 16(5), pp. 481-488.

• Holmes, R. (2016). My tongue on your theory: the bittersweet reminder of every-thing unnameable Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 37(5), pp.662-679.

• MacLure, M. (2016) The refrain of the a-grammatical child: finding another language in/for qualitative research. Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies. 16(3), pp. 173-182.

• MacRae, C. (2019). The Red Blanket: A dance of animacy. Global Studies of Childhood. Online First.

• Trafí-Prats, L. (2017) Girls’ aesthetics of existence in/with Hayao Miyazaki’s Films. Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies. 17(5), pp. 376-383.

Impact

Through expertise in early years, innovative methodologies and theoretically-informed co-produced research, this group of researchers contributes to ESRI’s national and international ranking. Our work is built on strong links between research, knowledge exchange, higher education teaching and professional practice. We are committed to ethical practices and attending carefully to the diverse needs of participants as we work alongside them in our research.

Building on the pioneering work of Professor Lesley Abbott OBE with the Birth to Three Matters agenda (DfE, 2001-3), we continue to push forward with the sustained programme of research that we have undertaken over the past 16 years. This research has shifted perceptions of the ways in which babies, through the youngest school-starters (two-year-olds) to older children, experience their worlds in both formal and informal education settings. Over that time, our research has influenced policy, secondary legislation, workforce development, and practices in schools, museums and galleries across England. It has produced innovative resources to enhance practices across education, health and the cultural sector.

Research Groups: Children and Childhood

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Image: Steve Pool, 2019


Conveners: Professor Gabrielle Ivinson and Janet Batsleer

We investigate fundamental processes by which knowledge, experience and practices are created, acquired and passed on inter-generationally through families and communities. We are committed to building sustainable networks between faculty and local communities, bridging the gaps between theory and practice. We focus on working class and minority forms of knowing, post-industrial communities, poverty and education, empowering youth engagement and activism in civic society, race, ethnicity and community based wellbeing.

Projects

• PARTISPACE (Horizon 2020, £300K). Janet Batsleer, Alexandre Pais, Harriet Rowley & Geoff Bright (Co-Is), with international colleagues. May 2015-Apr 2018.

o PARTIBRIDGES (Erasmus+, £45K). Alexandre Pais, Harriet Rowley, Edda Sant & Marta da Costa, with international colleagues. Oct 2018-Aug 2021.

• Creative Margins: Building capacity to widen participation in arts spaces and practices (AHRC Network Grant, £30K). Gabrielle Ivinson. February 2018 – May 2019.

• Belonging and Learning: Arts methodologies for contexts of conflict in Kenya, Uganda & D.R. of Congo (DRC) (GCRF/AHRC, £45K). Su Corcoran & Kate Pahl. January 2019 – December 2019.

• Productive Margins: Regulating for Engagement (ESRC/AHRC Research Programme, £2.4M). Gabrielle Ivinson (Co-I), with colleagues at Bristol and Cardiff. September 2013 – March 2018.

• Song Lines to Impact and Legacy: Creating Living Knowledge through Working with Social Haunting (AHRC Connected Communities Impact and Engagement Scheme, £100K). Geoff Bright (PI) & Sarah McNicol (Co-I). February 2017 – December 2017.

• The Loneliness Project (Co-op Foundation, £59K). Janet Batsleer (PI), James Duggan & Sarah McNicol, in partnership with 42nd Street & The Co-operative Foundation. 2016 – 2018.

Publications

• Batsleer, J., Pohl, A. and Thomas, N. P. (forthcoming) Who knows? Reframing

pedagogies of youth participation. Youth work and the mise-en-scene. Pedagogy Culture and Society.

• Bright, G. and Ivinson, G. (2019) Washing lines, whinberries and (reworking) waste ground: Women’s affective practices in the socially haunted UK coalfields. Journal of Working Class Studies. 4(2) (Forthcoming in December 2019)

• Ivinson, G. (2018) Re-imagining Bernstein’s Restricted Codes. European Educational Research Journal. 17(4), pp. 539-554.

• McDonnell, J. (2018) Is it ‘all about having an opinion’? Challenging the Dominance of Rationality and Cognition in Democratic Education via Research in a Gallery Setting. International Journal of Art and Design Education. 37(2), pp. 233-43.

• Sackville-Ford, M. & Davenport, H. (eds.) (2019) Critical Issues in Forest Schools. London: Sage.

• Sant, E., & Davies, I. (2018). Promoting participation at a time of social and political turmoil: what is the impact of children’s and young people’s city councils? Cambridge Journal of Education. 48(3), pp. 371-387.

• Sikes, P. & Hall, M., 2018. The impact of parental young onset dementia on children and young people’s educational careers. British Educational Research Journal, 44(4), pp. 593-607.

Impact

We develop participatory methods and spaces where voices from the margins are listened to, amplified and valued in order to change attitudes and behaviours and inform policy makers internationally, leading to more representative decision making. The PARTISPACE project informed European policy and led to a Greater Manchester-wide Youth Charter. The Loneliness Project shaped the Co-op Foundation’s Belong programme, which has funded more than 200 organisations that support young people with loneliness. Longitudinal research with post-industrial communities in the north of England and south Wales is re-valuing the hidden knowledge, assets and caring practices of ex-mining communities. The Creative Margins Network has generated new ways of working with marginalised young people.

Youth and Community

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Artwork by Meg O’Malley on wall of Glad’s House, who are collaborating on Su Corcoran’s BA-funded project about (re-)engaging street-connected young people with education in Kenya.

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Conveners: Dr Sam Sellar and Dr Karen Pashby

Researchers in this group examine schools and school systems, higher education and informal education settings with a distinctive emphasis on global perspectives and the emergent futures of education policy and practice. Our interdisciplinary group has expertise in education politics, policy and leadership. We focus on international and development education, global citizenship education, and democratic education. We conduct theoretical and empirical research on local contexts, political and economic influences, comparative analyses, and the impacts of policy on educators.

Projects

• Data infrastructure, mobilities and network governance in education (Australian Research Council). Lingard, B., Gulson, K., Sellar, S., Takayama, K., Webb, T. & Lubienski, C. 2015-2018.

• Teaching for sustainable development through ethical global issues pedagogy: Participatory research with teachers (British Academy). Pashby, K. & Sund, L. 2018 – 2019.

• Teaching equity and justice issues through a critical lens (Swedish Research Council). Öhman, J., Sund, L. & Pashby, K. 2018 – 2021.

Publications

• Gulson, K. N. & Sellar, S. (2019) Emerging data infrastructures and the new topologies of education policy. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 37(2), pp. 350-366.

• Hammersley-Fletcher, L., Clarke, M., & McManus, V. (2018) Agonistic democracy and passionate professional development in teacher-leaders. Cambridge Journal of Education. 48(5), pp. 591-606.

• McDonnell, J. (2017) Political and Aesthetic Equality in the Work of Jacques Rancière: Applying his Writing to Debates in Education and the Arts. Journal of Philosophy of Education. 51(2), pp.387-400.

• Pashby, K. & Andreotti, V. (2016) Ethical internationalisation in higher education: Interfaces with international development and sustainability. Environmental Education Research. 22(6), pp. 771-781.

• Sant, E. (2019). Democratic Education: A Theoretical Review (2006 – 2017). Review of Educational Research. DOI: 10.3102/0034654319862493.

Impact

The group’s research has impact across multiple levels, from international education bodies and professional organisations to local classroom contexts.

• Sam Sellar’s research on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for International Student Assessment has informed a co-authored book, The Global Education Race (with Greg Thompson and David Rutkowski), that was published in collaboration with the Alberta Teachers’ Association and lead to invited keynote presentations to the Alberta School Board Association and the Alberta Assessment Consortium. The book has been translated into Icelandic by the Icelandic Teachers’ Union and was a Top 10 book of 2018 in Schools Week.

• Karen Pashby’s research has been drawn on for keynotes and expert input by: UNESCO Forum on Global Citizenship Education, UNODC Education for Justice expert meeting; Korean Education Development Institute; Swedish Council for Higher Education’s Global Schools Project; Finnish National Board of Education; Global Education Network of Europe (European Commission), Bridge 47 Network (European Union). Recent co-created resource with teachers presented at Dare to Learn festival (Helsinki), Austrian Strategy Group for Global Citizenship Education, and Geography Association’s teacher conference.

• Linda Hammersley-Fletcher’s project, Breaking with Convention: creative thinking in schools, has developed research activity across two school groupings: a teaching schools alliance of nine schools and a multi-academy trust of thirteen schools. Schools have funded a significant ethnographic study spanning eight years, including activities designed to interrupt conventional practices.

Education and Global Futures

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Convener: Professor Moira Hulme

This group brings together researchers with an interest in policy and practice in the field of professional learning, educational leadership and inclusive education. Guided by our research, the group creates training and development programmes for education professionals. Our members work with practitioners and policy makers in primary and secondary education, further and higher education. Our research encompasses initial teacher education (preservice), the early career phase and career-long professional learning. We welcome and maintain active collaborations with schools, colleges, local authorities, teaching schools and education consortia.

Projects

• Evaluation: Education Achievement Service (EAS) Impact of Wellbeing Strategies and support for vulnerable groups. Moira Hulme, Ben Haines, Corinne Woodfine & Karolina Kardas. September 2019 – March 2020.

• Evaluation: Education Achievement Service (EAS) Support for Newly Qualified Teachers (EAS). Moira Hulme, Steph Ainsworth & Ben Haines. January 2019 – July 2019.

• Change Management across a Twelve-School Trust (Griffin Schools Trust). Linda Hammersley-Fletcher. September 2018 – August 2019.

• Evaluation: Accelerating Improvement in Knowsley: Pathways to Success (Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council). Moira Hulme, Steph Ainsworth & Ben Haines. September 2018 – August 2019.

• Quick Controls 2 (Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Innovate UK). Steph Ainsworth and Huw Bell. September 2018 – July 2020.

• Global Education Policy: Understanding the Origins, Impact, and International Diffusion of Teach First (ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship). Emilee Rauschenberger. October 2018 – September 2020.

Publications

• Brown, T. (2017) Teacher Education in England. A Critical Interrogation of School-based Training. London: Routledge.

• Hammersley-Fletcher, L., Clarke, M. and McManus, V. (2017) Agonistic democracy and passionate professional development in teacher-leaders. Cambridge Journal of Education. 48(5), pp. 591-606.

• Hanley, C., & Brown, T. (2017) Developing a university contribution to teacher education: creating an analytical space for learning narratives. Journal of Curriculum Studies. 49(3), pp. 352-368.

• Hick, P., Solomon, Y., Mintz, J., Matziari, A., Ó Murchú, F., Hall, K., Cahill, K., Curtin, C. & Margariti, D. (2018) Initial Teacher Education for Inclusion: Phase 1 and 2 Report to the National Council for Special Education. Dublin: National Council for Special Education.

• Hulme, M. et al. (2017) Teacher Education in Times of Change. Bristol: Policy Press.

• Torrance, H. (2017) Blaming the victim: assessment, examinations, and the responsibilisation of students and teachers in neo-liberal governance. Discourse. 38(1), pp. 83-96.

Impact

Our research has shaped national debate on the form and content of teacher education in the UK and internationally. It has featured prominently in national reviews of systems for teacher development and enhanced understandings of schools-led provision. We have led innovation through ‘hub schools’, school-based research models and advances in early career support, and shaped and stimulated debate on assessment policy and educational equity. Our work has improved staff retention, enhanced their wellbeing and engagement, fostered more effective ways of working and cultivated more inclusive teaching practices. This has benefitted schools, their staff and, ultimately, their pupils.

Teacher Education, Leadership and Curriculum


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Image credit: Laura Trafí-Prats and Ingrid Caudill Trafí, 2018.


Convener: Professor Kate Pahl

We are a new group drawing on a wide variety of perspectives to understand literacy and language learning in and out of school: in curriculum, policy and wider thinking about what literacy and language is or could be. We have backgrounds in socio-cultural theories, psychology and neuroscience, applied linguistics, literary theory, new materialism and post-humanism. We use diverse methods including qualitative, sensory, co-produced, quantitative, ethnographic and artistic. The group will develop through examining literacy in homes, communities and education sectors; exploring new directions in the teaching and learning of grammar; considering the relationship between literacy and place; reconceptualising language and literacy development through theory and methodology; studying multilingual and digital literacies; investigating language and literacy curriculum and policy, and re-thinking emergent literacies.

Projects

• The emergence of literacy in very young children: place and materiality in a more-than-human world (British Academy Fellowship, £250K). Abi Hackett. October 2017 – October 2020.

• Future Literacies in Secondary School English: Reading and writing speculative fiction (SSHRC (Canada), $81K). Sarah E. Truman. September 2017 – May 2019.

Publications

• Ainsworth, S., Welbourne, S. & Hesketh, A. (2016) Lexical restructuring in preliterate children: Evidence from novel measures of phonological representation. Applied Psycholinguistics. 37(4), pp. 997-1023.

• Bell, H. (2016) Teacher knowledge and beliefs about grammar: a case study of an English primary school. English in Education. 50(2), pp. 148-163.

• Escott, H. & Pahl, K. (2017) Learning from Ninjas: young people’s films as a lens for an expanded view of literacy and language. Discourse. DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2017.1405911.

• Escott, H. & Pahl, K. (2019) ‘Being in the Bin’: Affective understandings of prescriptivism and spelling in video narratives co-produced with children in a post-industrial area of the UK. Linguistics and Education.

• Hackett, A. Pahl, K. & Pool, S. (2017) In amongst the glitter and the squashed blueberries: Crafting a collaborative lens for children’s literacy pedagogy in a community setting. Pedagogies: An International Journal. 12(1), pp. 58-73.

• Hackett, A. & Somerville, M. (2017) Posthuman literacies: young children moving in time, place and more-than-human worlds. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 17(3), pp. 374-391.

• MacLure, M. (2016) The Refrain of the A-grammatical Child: Finding Another Language in/for Qualitative Research. Cultural Studies – Critical Methodologies. 16(2), pp. 173-182.

• Pahl, K. (2014) Materializing Literacies in Communities The Uses of Literacy Revisited. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Impact

• Kate Pahl’s AHRC-funded project ‘Taking Yourself Seriously’ worked in a school to develop coproduced research on the efficacy of arts-based methods, including poetry, in supporting social cohesion. The research group (aged 12-13) put on an exhibition. This was attended by the school’s senior management team, who reported a change in understanding of the potential of these methods for young people’s self-esteem. The project team attended a Stronger Communities meeting of local council and voluntary sector members in Rotherham to present and discuss findings, and it was agreed that these would be useful for policy-making.

• As part of the British Academy-funded project ‘The emergence of literacy in very young children’, Abi Hackett has collaborated with artist and doctoral student Steve Pool to devise and install an exhibition in Clifton Park Museum, Rotherham. The aims of the exhibition are to collaboratively trace ways in which objects are meaningful to children at a local community playgroup, and to spark conversations in the wider community about what local spaces mean to children.

Literacy and Language

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Members of the group are world leaders in research on mathematics learning and behaviour. Outputs since 2014 include five authored books, eight edited collections, 28 peer reviewed articles in top-ranked international journals and 27 book chapters. During this period members have been invited for 49 plenary talks and organised three international conferences on theory in mathematics education. Impact is extensive, in and out of schools. Members hold key editorial roles in top journals in the field, and are leaders in international maths education networks. Research projects have been funded by organisations from the UK, Europe, US, and Canada.

Core Members: T. Brown, E. de Freitas, S. Hough, R. Nemirovsky, A. Pais, and Y. Solomon.

Our research focuses on five areas:

1) Pedagogy and classrooms. We explore the teaching and production of mathematics in formal classrooms. Projects address the complex context of school mathematics. An indicative project in this area is: Inclusive Mathematics Teaching: Understanding and developing school and classroom strategies for raising attainment (IMaT) (Norway Research Council), PI: Solomon, 2019-2022. This and other projects focus on mathematics identity and achievement. We also study mathematics teacher education, exploring teacher practice and training policy in the UK and internationally (Brown).

2) Curriculum and Design. We produce mathematics through designing curriculum structures, resources and activities. Projects address the design of mathematics tasks, and the piloting of these in diverse learning environments. The Realistic Maths Education project (EEF), PI: Solomon, Co-I: Hough, 2018-2020, is a large-scale curricular intervention in schools across the UK, building on our previous impact in this area. Projects also focus on developing new curricula for measurement and geometry, and explore transdisciplinary STEM curriculum and theory (see our edited collections in Educational Studies and Cultural Studies-Critical Methodologies (research lead de Freitas, 2017 & 2019).

3) Materiality and Art. We study the embodied and material practices of diagramming, gesturing, and sculpting as aspects of mathematical activity in formal and informal education. PhD student projects explore maker mathematics and arts-maths links, building on our research in aesthetics and materiality (de Freitas & Nemirovsky) and tinkering workshops on the mathematics of tension and curvature in UK, EU, and US (Nemirovsky). We invest in impact and outreach with the project Oubliette: A mathematical adventure (2017 – 2018), which is a series of mathematics escape-rooms codesigned with Manchester Metropolitan University, winning the 2019 Guardian University Award for Teaching Excellence (research lead Nemirovsky). Our edited special issue of journal ZDM (2019) Body studies in mathematics education: Diverse scales of mattering, opens up new areas in the field (de Freitas).

4) Philosophy and History. We use philosophical and historical tools to analyse mathematical activity and behaviour (see Mathematics and the body: Material entanglements in the classroom, 2014, de Freitas & Sinclair, Cambridge University Press). We are a centre of expertise in critical perspectives and creative applications of powerful theoretical frameworks. We work with scholars in the Humanities, and forge strong links with mathematics departments to ground our theory in contemporary practice (see interdisciplinary projects such as the edited What is a mathematical concept? (2017, de Freitas, Sinclair, Coles, Cambridge University Press).

5) Society and Politics. We unpack the politics of mathematics education and its research, and its place in the social world. Projects include conference leadership at the International Congress on Mathematical Education; Mathematics Education and Contemporary Theory; Mathematics Education and Society; Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education and other key events (Pais). A key contribution is the book Teacher Education in England: A Critical Interrogation of School-led Training (2018, Brown, Routledge). Projects also explore the biopolitics of current research into neurocognitive number sense and mathematics dis/ability (de Freitas). Many articles by A. Pais focus on the intersection between the subject and the political, attending to the economics of maths education.

Mathematics Education

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Maths-themed activities for students at Manchester Met’s Saturday Club.


Image credit: Giuseppe Moscato

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Conveners: Professor Cathy Lewin and Professor Yvette Solomon

We are interested in understanding and developing science and computer science education, and the use of technology to support learning, both in formal and informal contexts. Our work draws on innovative theoretical, methodological and pedagogic approaches. We collaborate across disciplines (e.g. computer science, science, sociology, psychology) and institutions, and have specific research interests in technology-enhanced learning in schools, science education, and computer science education. We are an evaluation service provider for European Schoolnet and the Education Endowment Foundation. We continually seek funding for KTPs, evaluations and projects from sources such as InnovateUK, the Education Endowment Foundation and Nuffield.

Projects

• Gamifying CLIL within a mathematics context (ERASMUS+). Sarah Lister, Fiona Haniak-Cockerham & Carrie Birkett. November 2018 – July 2021.

• Evaluation of Tim Peake primary project (ESERO-UK). Su Corcoran & Sarah McNicol. October 2017 – January 2018.

• Breaking new ground in the Science Education realm (ENGINEER) (European Commission). Dave Heywood & Yvette Solomon. 2011 – 2014.

• Extending the university schools model (USM) – an approach combining teacher education and school development in science and mathematics disciplines (unfunded). Amanda Smith, Fiona Haniak-Cockerham, Carrie Birkett & Emilee Rauschenberger. Ongoing.

• The impact of the new Computing curriculum on subject choices at GCSE (unfunded). Cathy Lewin & Ellie Overland. Ongoing.

• Lewin is actively involved in two international networks, taking on leadership roles: EDUsummIT and the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP), both supported by UNESCO.

Publications

• de Freitas, E. & Palmer, A. (2016) How scientific concepts come to matter in early childhood curriculum: rethinking the concept of force. Cultural Studies of Science Education. 11(4), pp. 1201-1222.

• Lewin, C., Cranmer, S., & McNicol, S. (2018) Developing digital pedagogy through learning design: An activity theory perspective. British Journal of Educational Technology. 49(6), pp 1131-1144.

• Overland, E. (2016) Using images as a stimulus to explore the identity of student teachers in computing. In: Brinda, T., Mavengere, N., Haukijarvi, I., Lewin, C. & Passey, D. (eds.) Stakeholders and Information Technology in Education Proceedings of the IFIP TC3 SaITE 2016 Conference Berlin. Germany: Springer, pp. 82-91.

• Stringer, E., Lewin, C. & Coleman, R. (2019). Using digital technology to improve learning: A guidance report. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

Impact

Spanning more than two decades, our sustained research into science, technology and learning has shaped the practices and processes of SMEs, policy makers and educators, attracting more than £2.7 million in funding. This has improved the learning experiences of young people and their families internationally. Projects such as Innovative Technologies for Engaging Classrooms – a collaboration with 17 Ministries of Education, industry partners and other universities, which engaged over 1,000 teachers in participatory design – have informed national professional development programmes around digital pedagogy across Europe. Others have evidenced the impact of ICT on attainment for policy-makers such as the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). Our research has also informed the development of educational technology products for schools and higher education through knowledge transfer partnerships with companies such as CyberCoach. More recently, our researchers presented their work on the University Schools Model at the Houses of Parliament.

Science, Technology and Learning

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Convener: Professor Maggie MacLure

The group is dedicated to the development of theory and methodology in educational and social research. Each member also belongs to one or more of ESRI’s other research groups, ensuring that the development of theory is anchored in empirical research and evaluation projects. We not only work to develop better theory, but also put theory to work to do better research. Our aims are:

• to strengthen the theoretical foundations of educational research;

• to develop trans-disciplinary research methodologies;

• to interrogate the production, use and control of research knowledge;

• to strengthen links between theory, practice, policy and the public interest;

• to lead international debate on future directions in theory, methodology and ethics.

Projects

• Listening-2: Investigating Sensory-Motor Learning in two-year olds (Froebel Institute). M. MacLure & C. MacRae (2019 – 2020).

• Urban Fire Risk Education and Gender in Informal Settlements (British Academy). H. Underhill. January 2019 – June 2020.

• Listening in and out of more-than-human worlds (Leverhulme Trust). M. Gallagher (2017).

• The Biosocial Laboratory for Research on Learning and Behaviour (Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Opportunitie fund at Manchester Met). E. de Freitas & M. MacLure (2016 – 2020). *See separate entry

• The Summer Institute in Qualitative Research: Putting Theory to Work (Showcases the latest trends in theory and methodology, led by a panel of leading international keynote speakers.) The group also provides theoretical and methodological underpinning for research bidding across the other research groups.

Publications

• de Freitas, E. (2017) The temporal fabric of research methods: posthuman social science and the digital data deluge. Research in Education. 98(1), pp. 27-43.

• Gallagher, M.D. (2016) Sound as affect: difference, power and spatiality. Emotion, Space and Society. 20, pp. 42-48.

• Ivinson, G. (2018) ‘Re-imaging Bernstein’s restricted codes’. European Educational Research Journal. 17(4), pp. 539-554.

• MacLure, M. (2017) Qualitative methodology and the new materialisms: “A little of Dionysus’s blood?”. In: Denzin, N. and Giardina, M. (eds.) Qualitative Inquiry in Neoliberal Times. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 48-58.

• Rousell, D. (2019) Inhuman forms of life: on art as a problem for post-qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. DOI: 10.1080/09518398.2019.1609123.

• Sellar, S. & Cole, D.R. (2017) Accelerationism: a timely provocation for the critical sociology of education. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 38(1), pp. 38-48.

• Torrance, H. (2018). Evidence, Criteria, Policy and Politics: the debate about quality and utility in educational and social research. In: Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research 5th Edition. London: SAGE Publications, pp. 766-795.

Impact

The group supports the next generation of educational researchers, nationally and globally, through seminars and international symposia, reading groups, mentorship and special journal issues. The Summer Institute in Qualitative Research provides opportunities for engaging with theory and methodology in dialogue with leading international theorists. It attracts doctoral students, ECRs and senior academics from around the world, in the fields of education, social sciences, health and caring professions, arts and humanities. Members are involved in designing and delivering Manchester Met’s contribution to the ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership.

Theory and Methodology


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ToycamerasfromresearchonOdd:feelingdifferentintheworldofeducation(AHRC),undertakenbyAmandaRavetz.

ImagebyJoRay.

Toy cameras from research on Odd: feeling different in the world of education (AHRC), undertaken by Amanda Ravetz.

Image by Jo Ray


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Image produced as part of the Remixing Thick Time Exhibition, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, May 2019.


Co-Directors: Professor Elizabeth de Freitas and Professor Maggie MacLure

Founded in 2016, the Lab has a strong international research network, focusing on four key areas of research: Sense and sensation (affective, sensory and aesthetic dimensions of learning), Ecologies (more-than-human relationality and learning environments), Digital Life (datafication through biosensors and mixed reality), and Dis/ability (neurodiversity and body studies). The Lab provides an open space for transdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. We pursue novel theoretical and methodological approaches, drawing on fields such as sensory ethnography, speculative philosophy and fiction, affective computing, science and technology studies, immersive arts and atmospheric media, adaptive architecture, and critical life studies. The Lab often works in collaboration with ESRI’s other research groups.

Projects

• Listening-2: Investigating sensory-motor learning in two-year olds (Froebel Trust). PI: Maggie MacLure. CI: Christina MacRae. September 2019 – August 2020.

• Selective mutism in young children (ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Pathways Award). Ruth Churchill-Dower. Director of Studies: Maggie MacLure. 2019 – 2022.

• Co-Designing a Climate Change App with Young People, Educators and Community (Australian Association of Environmental Educators (AAEE)). PI: Prof Amy Cutter-Mackenzie (SCU). CI: David Rousell. 2018 – 2020.

• Future literacies in secondary school English: technological innovation and social critique through reading and writing speculative fiction (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada, Post-Doc Banting Fellowship). Sarah Truman. Supervisor: Elizabeth de Freitas. 2017 – 2019.

Publications

We have edited six journal special issues, focusing on an array of topics related to Biosocial Futures, such as Science Studies, Body Studies, Computational Methodologies, and Environmental Arts. We have published 21 articles, exploring biosensor technologies, neurological number sense, critical dis/ability, posthuman ethics, parental affect, children’s temporality, and speculative/art youth research. We have published 18 book chapters, in presses such as Routledge, Rowman & Littlefield, Springer Verlag, and Peter Lang. The three core Lab members have been invited to lecture and deliver keynotes 23 times since 2016. In addition, we’ve contributed 33 conference papers, often in symposia, focused on innovative research methodologies in the Biosocial and Computational Posthumanities, at international conferences such as the American Education Research Association, International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, British Education Research Association, and the European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.

Impact

The Lab works with arts collectives, community organisations, museums, galleries, non-profit start-ups and schools. We organise conferences and host visiting scholars. We organise in-house workshops, open houses, reading seminars, collaboratories, and a lecture series, all focused on biosocial theory and methodology. We have organised four art exhibitions, including Remixing Thick Time, at the Whitworth Gallery, Manchester (May, 2019), in collaboration with the Young Contemporaries, which focused on time, sensation, and digital media. Our website has tracked nearly 4,000 visitors from all over the world since its launch in 2017.

The Biosocial Laboratory for Research on Learning and Behaviour

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Arts Based Methods at Manchester Metropolitan University https://artsbasedmethods.wordpress.com/

A series of free workshops and seminars exploring arts based research methods at Manchester Metropolitan University.

The Summer Institute in Qualitative Research https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/esri/news-and-events/past-events/siqr-2017/#d.en.95756

This week-long event showcases the latest trends in theory and methodology, led by a panel of leading international theorists.

Maths Education and Contemporary Theory https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/esri/news-and-events/past-events/mect-3/#d.en.96859

A world-leading international conference in the field.

Biosocial Research Laboratory Seminar Series and Collaboratories https://www.biosocialresearchlab.com/

The Biosocial Research Lab works across the boundaries of science, art and the social.

Collaboration, Creativity and Complexities https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/media/mmuacuk/content/documents/mcys/Collaboration,-creativity-and-complexity-PROGRAMME.pdf

A conference hosted jointly by ESRI, the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies and the Health, Psychology and Communities Centre.

External Collaborations:

Creative Margins AHRC Network http://www.creativemargins.net/

This Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded network aims to share knowledge across the fields and disciplines of art and youth/community work by opening spaces for discussion and critical debate.

Belonging and Learning GCRF/ AHRC Network https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/esri/research/projects/kenya-uganda-drc/#d.en.104859

Involves a collaboration between artists, researchers and practitioners working with displaced populations of young people in Kenya, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry https://icqi.org/

ESRI is a Collaborating Site of the Congress, the leading international forum for qualitative research.

The Naming the World Collective

‘Naming the World’ conducts collaborative research on emergent literacies in sustainability rich sites using posthuman and new materialist approaches with young children.

WalkingLab – Performing Lines & Research-Creation https://walkinglab.org/about/researchers/

WalkingLab archives the activities of researchers studying walking methodologies.

Laboratory of International Assessment Studies http://international-assessments.org/

A network that aims to support the international debate on the international assessments.

SenseLab

https://senselab.ca/wp2/

SenseLab is an international network of artists, academics, writers and makers, working together at the crossroads of philosophy, art, and activism.

ESRI Research Networks and Collaborations

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https://artsbasedmethods.wordpress.com/

https://www.biosocialresearchlab.com/

http://www.creativemargins.net/

https://icqi.org/

https://walkinglab.org/about/researchers/

http://international-assessments.org/

https://senselab.ca/wp2/

https://www.mmu.ac.uk/esri/news-and-events/past-events/siqr-2017/%23d.en.95756

https://www.mmu.ac.uk/esri/news-and-events/past-events/mect-3/%23d.en.96859

https://www.mmu.ac.uk/media/mmuacuk/content/documents/mcys/Collaboration,-creativity-and-complexity-PROGRAMME.pdf

https://www.mmu.ac.uk/esri/research/projects/kenya-uganda-drc/%23d.en.104859

Images from Collaboration, Creativity and Complexities

conference, 2019

Image from Inheriting the Anthropocene

exhibition, 2019

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Images by Kate O’Brien


Research Degrees Coordinators: Professor Moira Hulme (Head of Faculty Research Degrees); Dr Chris Hanley (EdD programme, Phase A); Professor Tony Brown (EdD programme, Phase B); Dr Michael Gallagher (PhD programme)

ESRI acts as a base for all Faculty of Education postgraduate research students, who benefit from being part of a thriving research community.

Programmes

We have two research degree programmes: PhD (full-time or part-time), and part-time Doctor of Education (EdD). The PhD programme provides an opportunity for students to pursue academic research in education and related fields. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds, including recent graduates as well as those with professional experience; some of our part-time PhD students are already employed in teaching roles in higher education. The Doctor of Education (EdD) is a professional doctorate. The programme is in two phases: a taught component of research training (Phase A) is followed by a sustained enquiry into the student’s own professional situation and the preparation of a thesis (Phase B). This programme is one of the most significant means by which we build on our strong reputation in the fields of teacher research, school improvement, and professional education across many societal contexts.

Research students are an integral part of the culture of ESRI. All research students are invited to join our research groups, and to attend our research seminars and other events. We have an annual postgraduate conference, at which panels of research students present and discuss their work, chaired by ESRI members. Research students are eligible to apply for conference funding from ESRI to present their work to wider audiences.

White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership

Manchester Met is a member of the White Rose Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP), funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The WRDTP is a collaboration involving social science departments across seven universities. It provides funding for PhD studentships and postdoctoral fellowships, as well as a range of training for current researchers. There are two types of PhD studentship available: Pathway Awards, of which we currently have five, are open to applications on any topic related to the Education, Childhood and Youth pathway, while Collaborative Awards provide the opportunity to carry out PhD research in collaboration with a non-academic partner. Each Collaborative Award is led by an academic supervisor from ESRI alongside an external organisation. We currently have three Collaborative Awards in partnership with the Co-op Academies Trust, Manchester Art Gallery, and Curious Minds.

Current students

A list of current and past student projects is available on the ESRI website, showcasing some of the current topics that our students are researching:

• Fibre mathematics, between the world and the rest: Technical invention as a creative mathematical practice in weaving

• An examination of children’s thinking, learning and metacognitive awareness when making computer games

• Expanding approaches to reflective practice in university-based Initial Teacher Education

• More than Words: Reconceptualising young children’s communication and language through improvisation and the temporal arts

• A material feminist study of women-led comedy as a site for gender disruption within Fourth Wave Feminism(s)

• On not being able to read: Exploring the figured world of emergent literacies

• An examination of the Common Inspection Framework and its impact on independent Muslim schools in the UK

Postgraduate Research Degrees

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2020Maths-themed activities for students at Manchester Met’s Saturday Club.


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