Impact of UofG Research

The School of Education is committed to social justice in education. We aim to be world leaders in research addressing the pressing education issues of our times, making a difference for the most vulnerable and educationally disadvantaged people in society.

Our core focus on social justice in education is supported by five thematic areas of research.

  1. Migration and Refugee Education: research at intersections between culture, literacies, inclusion and pedagogy, notably in regions of conflict, with a focus on the arts, children's literature and literacies.

  2. Collaborative Schooling for Change: advances research with policymakers and practitioners, aimed at enabling all children to achieve their potential irrespective of background.

  3. Ethics, Religion and Values in Education: philosophical/theological research on educational ideas and theory building applied to contemporary issues of social justice in education.

  4. Urban and Place-based Learning: research examining relations between place and educational disadvantage, particularly in the Global South.

  5. Adult Learning and Youth Transitions: research on the impact of learning opportunities on the life courses of young and older adults, including those most vulnerable in labour markets and at risk of social exclusion.   

Our research is designed and conducted in collaboration with end users, with non-academic partners being incorporated as co-investigators or advisory group members for projects, research centres and networks. This approach and our commitment to research that is beneficial to communities at local, national and international level is demonstrated in the four Impact Case Studies that we submitted for the Research Excellence Framework. 75% of which was rated as ‘world leading’ and 25% ‘internationally excellent’.

  1. Supporting collaboration and partnership to improve educational attainment in Scotland

  2. Developing and supporting teachers as learners

  3. Shaping Educational Assessment Policy in Small Nations and States

  4. The Mediator Toolkit: supporting mediators working with children using picturebooks in contexts of displacement

We work hard to extend impact activities and develop innovative and experimental forms of knowledge exchange; recognition of this led to 21 recent projects gaining funding from the College of Social Science ESRC Impact Acceleration Account for these activities.

We have also made an impact in equality and gender diversity in initial teacher education, by increasing the number of men entering the teaching workforce with strategies that have resulted in the best male to female ratio on any PGDE programme in Scotland.

See more about how our research makes a difference

Read more about some of the impacts we make in Africa