2025/26 Project Stream 2 - (Dis)connections and Boundaries
Team
Brianna L. Kennedy (lead)
CenTCS Director
Deniz Ortactepe-Hart
CenTCS Associate
Max Antony-Newman
CenTCS Fellow
Ruth Unsworth
CenTCS Fellow
Francisco Valdera-Gil
CenTCS Fellow
Lixin Li
CenTCS PGR
Rebecca Wood
CenTCS Associate
Rhona Brown
CenTCS Associate
Claire Ramjan
School of Education
University of Glasgow
Abstract
The stream focused on researching and enhancing connections between communities and educational spaces, fostering parent and family engagement, and building on the affordances of place-based education. In CenTCS, we strive to eliminate barriers and soften boundaries between schools and communities, and teachers and caregivers. In addition, we also embrace families' funds of knowledge, and imagine educational futures that include all educators, students, families, and wider communities. Our work foregrounds linguistic and cultural diversity, social inequality, and agency of educators, students, families, and community members. This stream primarily focused on the first question in our Research Compass by reimagining education for just futures through place-based connections. We also addressed the fourth theme in the Research Compass by focusing on partnerships (broadly defined) and young people and their communities. Activities of this stream have implications for the other themes in the Research Compass.
During 2025–26, this stream supported work to understand and soften boundaries between schools and communities, teachers and caregivers, and formal and informal educational spaces. It has also provided a foundation for partnership work with schools, community organisations and international collaborators.
Keywords
teachers and communities; funds of knowledge; diversity; school connections; minoritized pupils, families, and communities