From local to global research

The School of Education at the University of Glasgow is committed to social justice in and through education, and to education research and practice of the highest quality. We aspire to be a world leader in addressing the contemporary educational issues of our times and to making a difference for society’s most vulnerable and educationally disadvantaged. The School over the past 5 years has been ranked on at least one occasion 1st in the UK on three league tables: the Times Good University Guide, the Complete University Guide and by the National Student Survey.   

A large and vibrant group of education academics committed to interdisciplinarity, staff in the School are organised across four research and teaching groups, three research centres and two research networks. Our commitment to social justice permeates all of our work, including our research and research-led teaching.

The school brings together researchers with expertise across all sectors of education: formal and non-formal, and from primary school through to higher, adult and community education. The School prides itself on the effective integration of research, theory, policy and practice. 

Highlighted themes of our research are: urban and place-based learning; adult learning and youth transitions; migration and refugee education; collaborative schooling for change; and ethics, religion and values in education. The School also offers courses in teacher education, psychological studies, children’s literature, TESOL, community development, museum education, education policy and leadership, adult education, assessment in education, and inclusive education. We also have a large group of postgraduate research students undertaking PhDs and EdDs.

A key feature of our research is our commitment to placing educational research as part of an interdisciplinary agenda to support the development of more equitable societies in the spirit of social justice and its contribution to producing better places locally, nationally and globally. This is evidenced in a number of ways, including through our contributions to major programmes of work such as What Works Scotland, the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC) and the GCRF Centre for Sustainable Healthy Learning Cities, each funded by the ESRC. 

A second important dimension of our work is the critical interaction with government and policymakers at national and international level. For Scotland in particular, we seek to be a major source of research-informed evidence that contributes to positive economic and societal impact, benefiting all citizens of the country. Key members of the School play significant roles within government through a range of secondments and knowledge exchange activity with for example, the Department for International Development (DfiD), Scottish Government, Education Scotland, the Scottish College of Educational Leadership, the Scottish Qualifications’ Authority and the General Teaching Council Scotland. One professor is a member of the First Minister’s International Council of Education Advisers, the Scottish Government Senior Academic Adviser to the Learning Directorate and Attainment Challenge; another acts as a critical friend to the Scottish Governmental review of provision post 15, The Learner Journey 15-24, is a member of the Cabinet Secretary’s review committee for Assessment and National Qualifications, and of the National Improvement Framework group.

We collaborate with over 200 organisations across all continents. The interactive map below shows those partners and their locations, and provides a description of each collaboration.

Research Projects

Commitment to Glasgow

We have a particular commitment to the city of Glasgow where we are based, and make significant contributions to local educational challenges through What Works Scotland, the Urban Big Data Centre and our contributions to the Applied Social Science Hub in the East End of Glasgow at the Olympia Building, led by one of our professors, Bob Davis. This work includes:

  • through the Education arm of the UBDC, and deriving from its Integrated Multi-media Data project, which has assessed literacies within the city, the production of 3-D literacy models for use in communities.
  • work of our Robert Owen Centre and What Works Scotland in collaboration with the Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH) and Education Services at Glasgow Council in establishing the first Children’s Neighbourhood in Bridgeton and Dalmarnock in the East End of Glasgow. This takes place-based approach to improving outcomes for children, young people and their communities.
  • Work of the Network for Social and Educational Equity (NSEE), which has initiated research and development collaborations with schools and their partners to close the poverty-related achievement gap, and which has sought to understand how local responses are working in a rapidly changing context and provide insights that can support the next phase of COVID-19 action at both local and national levels.

We also provide leadership of Policy Scotland, based at the University of Glasgow, which in an interdisciplinary fashion builds on the University’s research excellence not only in education but in cognate policy fields including crime, housing, disability, transport, public health, economic and employment policy and welfare reform. Through its research, public events, and brokering collaboration between researchers and policy makers Policy Scotland seeks to stimulate new thinking and good practice in Scotland and further afield.

International outlook

We are also strongly international in our outlook, working extensively in all continents with a particular emphasis on research strengthening activity in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Our activities with an international dimension include:

  • hosting the UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts
  • undertaking a range of projects funded by the UK Research Councils concerned with addressing global challenges such as climate change and migration through education and community development.
  • establishing and leading the International Education Assessment Network (IEAN) of Small Nations and States.
  • advising national governments, through, for example
    • membership of International Evaluation Team evaluating Educational Research in Norway, advising the Norwegian Government and Educational Directorate (Utdanningsdirektoratet), the Norwegian Government’s Ludvigson Committee (the body charged with the revision of national curriculum and assessment in Norway)
    • membership of the National Quality Assurance Higher Education Agency in Portugal
    • membership of the Independent Advisory Group (reporting directly to the Cabinet Secretary for Education in Wales) on the design and enactment of the emerging new national curriculum and assessment in Wales, and subsequently being contracted by the Welsh government to research this development.
    • supporting headteacher development in Vietnam funded by the British Council and Head Foundation
    • establishing a Learning Cities Network around the world through the PASCAL Observatory, working closely with the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, including in a major webinar series in 2020, Learning Cities’ COVID-19 recovery: from research to practice.

International advisory roles

Our international advisory roles also involve working with the European Commission Education and Culture Directorate. In this context, Professor Kay Livingston acted as critical friend during the development and publication of the European Commission Policy Guide, ‘Shaping career-long perspectives on teaching: a guide on policies to improve Initial Teacher Education’ and was an expert advisor on one of the six strategic European Commission Education Working Groups on Schools and member of the Working Group Steering Group leading peer-learning activities with Ministries of Education officials from EU Member States.

At a global level, Professor Michele Schweisfurth has been one of four independent summative evaluators of the Global Partnership for Education, the largest global fund dedicated to the transformation of education in lower-income countries. Also at this level, Professor Chris Chapman serves as President of the highly influential International Congress for School Effectiveness, and is playing a significant role in leading its Crisis Response in Education Network related to COVID-19 recovery.

We also work with national and international agencies, for example, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in Ireland; and the UK National Commission of UNESCO, providing policy advice on teacher education and monitoring and realising the 2030 Education goals.

At the UK level, Professor Michele Schweisfurth is seconded to the Department for International Development as Senior Research Fellow in Education.

Notable research projects

CAMAU: Progression and Assessment in the Curriculum for Wales

The CAMAU project, a collaboration between the University of Glasgow (UofG) and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), funded by the Welsh Government and the UWTSD, is designed to support the Welsh education system in this task.

Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods

At the centre for sustainable, healthy and learning cities and neighbourhoods (SHLC) we work to generate such understanding and evidence to tackle the challenges of social and economic unsustainability in fast-growing urban centres in africa and asia.

 

 

Children's Neighbourhoods Scotland

Partnership between the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH) that has been developed in response to one of the wicked issues of our time. 

Culture for Sustainable and Inclusive Peace (CUSP) Network Plus

Draws together non-academic partners in the UK and in low and middle-income countries (Ghana, Mexico, Morocco, Palestine and Zimbabwe) who work with people in different artistic and cultural settings.

Dual Apprenticeships

Can Dual Apprenticeships Create Better and More Equitable Social and Economic Outcomes For Young People? A Comparative Study of India And Mexico

Educational Peacebuilding in Medellin and Acapulco

Understanding the role of education, culture and learning in responding to crises

 

Gendered Journeys

This project investigates how far, and in what ways, gender may have an influence in the progress of students through higher education, graduation and progression into skilled employment in STEM fields in India and Rwanda.

MIDEQ: Migration for Development and Equality

MIDEQ works with a global network of partners in twelve countries in the Global South, organised into six migration ‘corridors’, to transform understanding of the relationships between migration, development and inequality.

Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State

The international team of researchers, with their different disciplinary backgrounds, research experiences, language and performance skills, conducted international comparative research on translation and interpretation at different kinds of borders and used the research to develop theory, ethical research practices and research methodologies in relation to multilingual research.

SCDE Attainment - Developing pedagogies that work for Pre-Service and Early Career Teachers

Seeks to determine how to better prepare pre-service and early-career teachers to more effectively improve literacy and numeracy attainment and health and wellbeing outcomes in schools serving pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds

Strengthening Urban Engagement of Universities in Africa and Asia

This project, is a collaborative research project between the University of Glasgow and six cities in the Global South (Harare, Zimbabwe; Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania; Johannesburg, South Africa; Duhok, Iraq; Sanandaj, Iran; and Manila, the Philippines). This project explores ongoing engagement activities where universities respond to city demand.

Urban Big Data Centre

UBDC aims in this phase were to promote the use of big data and innovative methods to improve social, economic and environmental well-being in cities.

VisNET

Focuses on key barriers to international collaboration for femail engineering academics, and designs and deonstrates interventions and new best practices in networking and collaborations

Young Adullt - Policies Supporting Young People in their Life Course

Aims to elucidate how LLL policies characterize the target groups of young adults and whether they account for the fact that young adults are a highly dynamic and heterogeneous target groups.

Research Projects