Impact case study database

Strand 1. Birth to Three Matters

In 2015, ESRC selected B-3M as one of its 50 ‘landmark contributions’ that ‘put the care and education of children firmly on the public agenda’. There has been renewed uptake of the framework by EY professionals dissatisfied with current EYFS and non-statutory guidance for the under-threes. A Manchester Metropolitan-hosted seminar ‘Does Birth to Three Matters Still Matter?’ (29.02.20) received overwhelmingly affirmative responses (56 invited attendees; 168 respondents to a follow-up survey). Respondents valued its ethos, accessibility and competence-based approach. It was used to facilitate conversations with parents, for staff training and induction, and in undergraduate and doctoral education. B-3M “ shapes every day for our youngest children in nursery. It forms the basis of what we do and our ethos” (Nursery Manager). “ It shaped how we think about learning in the baby room” (Proprietor, Montessori Nursery). “ We have been using it to develop a programme for our babies” (Childcare Development Manager, Commercial Nursery Chain). Nursery World subsequently commissioned an article on the contemporary significance of B-3M ( Holmes, 2020) [A]. B-3M is offered as an under-three curriculum in multiple UK nurseries, commercial nursery chains and in nurseries overseas (e.g. Italy, Egypt, Dubai and Denmark). It is offered as a resource on The Foundation Years website (DfE/NCB) and essential reading in the Pearson BTEC First Diploma in Children's Care, Learning and Development. The national Early Years Coalition, which is developing alternative non-statutory guidance for the EYFS entitled Birth to Five Matters, honours B-3 Matters in its name, and invited the research team to provide specialist Birth-to-Three input across multiple working groups [B].

The research has shaped workforce development and accreditation. Manchester Metropolitan provided EY Teacher Status accreditation for the DfE (2013-2016), and led ten HEIs in the training of Early Years Professionals (2012–2014) and Teachers (2015-6) for the National Council for Teaching and Leadership. A total of 1,090 EYPs and EYTs were trained. Barron chaired two QAA reviews of the Early Childhood Studies Subject Benchmark Statement (2014/2019) and the additional Early Childhood Graduate Practitioner Competencies at Level 6 (2018–2019). All 50 UK UG degree courses are required to be compliant with the benchmark statement. Led by Barron, the Early Childhood Degrees Network secured the 2020 reclassification of early childhood graduates as ‘professionals’ in the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2020, vol. 2: The Coding Index). This significant change finally recognises the competencies of EY graduates and the status of university EY degree programmes [C].

Strand 2. Two-year-olds in the nursery

MacRae’s work on The Sensory Nursery “brought a new level of quality in all the staff team. Being able to see, share, be more reflective, thinking in a positive mind set” [room leader]. The research was featured in Nursery World ( 18.03.18). Listening-2 led to changes in adult-child ‘attunement’ and documentation at home and nursery [testimonials]. 90 participants attended an online Froebel Trust seminar (June 2020) on Listening-2. MacRae was interviewed by the very well-regarded website Early Years TV (10.04.20). This CPD resource was viewed by practitioners and professionals from 40 countries and had 2,104 unique views in the first week of its release. One viewer remarked “ I will now view pictures and videos sent in by parents in a totally new way”. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Listening-2 maintained online contact with parents and practitioners to help them curate their personal stories of lockdown and reflect upon their engagements with their children [D].

Hackett’s research on the multi-sensory and embodied dimensions of early literacy in an outdoors initiative, in collaboration with Thrybergh Dalton Children's Centre, led to significant changes in pedagogy and attainment by 1-2-year olds on EYFS language assessments [Hackett, MacLure & McMahon, 2020, d above]. An exhibition at Clifton Park Museum (Sep-Nov 2019) for communities, families and local authority decision-makers saw 7,166 visitors over eight weeks. Hackett’s place-based, relational methodology has been taken up by Rotherham Council (RMBC) Arts and Heritage services as a key element of its new approach to co-producing services and physical spaces with young people, and will form part of the Children’s Capital of Culture 2025 [E].

The research on performance-based practice [ 10 above] was developed into an interactive dance experience for babies, ‘ Duvet Dancing’ by Anna Daley and Anne O’Connor (Primed for Life, funded by Curious Minds), touring 12 community, health and arts venues across Morecambe, Heysham and Lancaster, involving 84 participants. Duvet Dancing was presented at the People Dancing’s national event (November 2019), Penn Green Research Nursery, and children’s arts festivals. It was featured in The Visitor (Morecambe), The Lancaster Guardian, The Lancashire Evening Telegraph, BBC Radio Lancashire, and Nursery World (07.04.20). “ *I am much more able to professionally articulate my interest in non-verbal performance work with early years.*” (Anna Daley, artist) [F].

The ‘2-Curious’ projects [ 9, 11 above] led practitioners to change their attitude to habitual ways of working. “ *2-Curious was like an inside wake-up call. To help us look within, beneath and beyond the routines we’re so busy in.*” (Big Life Nursery practitioner). “ *The spark of enthusiasm and joy of what we did here; I've been able to take it back to my own nursery context to explore further.*” (Big Life Nursery practitioner). [G]

Strand 3. Under-threes in museums and galleries

The museums and galleries research [ 12, 14, 15, 16] has transformed early years provision, curatorial and educational practice across the UK. Working with Young Children in Museums ( f above) is the first book to provide such guidance for UK museums. MacRae and Hackett gave keynotes on national best practice events for the museum cultural sector: including Hull (Sept, 2017), University of Cambridge (Dec 2017), Leeds (Oct 2018) and Newcastle (May 2019). They produced guidance for museum professionals working with early years audiences. The research has reshaped practitioners’ understanding of early years work in museums and influenced the design of space and activities for very young children and their families. The Humber research by Hackett, Procter & MacRae on families’ use of museums prompted North Lincolnshire Museum, Ferens Art Gallery and Sewerby Hall to develop dedicated spaces for under-fives, directly increasing the numbers of family visits in 2014-2017, from 739,348 to 1,421,942 (documented in an external evaluation report, Mair Health, 2018) [H]. Hackett (with Yamada-Rice) also developed the IVE (formerly CapeUK) Creative Families Award, a framework and resources for museums seeking to enrich the experiences of very young children and their families. The Clore Studio evaluation for MAG led to Manchester Metropolitan’s pivotal involvement in the gallery’s redesign of their strategy and flagship interactive space for families and practitioners. This redevelopment is expressly underpinned by the research team’s previous and concurrent museum and gallery research, at the request of Katy McCall, Family Learning Manager, “ MMU’s research really informs what we do in the gallery… feeds us things that extend our thinking … developing an emerging and experimental gallery space for families and early years providers... So exciting to be part of a team, in the city. Makes us stronger in times of austerity” [I]. This collaboration is reflected in the edited publication with curators, the family learning manager, and an ESRC White Rose DTP PhD student (Holmes et al, f above). MAG is the most visited museum in Manchester.

The research has underpinned new initiatives including an outreach project with young mothers and a practitioner residency project on young children’s use of the museum and botanical gardens at the Fitzwilliam, and a new Toolkit for early years audiences at the Museum of London. These organisations are leaders in their region, meaning the research is cascaded through peer-sharing (e.g. the early years network for London museums, and including a special issue of GEM’s Journal of Museum Education on early years audiences by the Fitzwilliam) [J]. When MAG closed in lockdown, the Affecting Space team [ 16] contributed to a virtual platform to enable parents to do ‘stay and play’ activities at home, supported by the production of 100 baby activity boxes, distributed to 60 parents with babies, and 40 2-year olds, whose funded nursery provision had been halted by the pandemic (testimonial). These have now been commissioned for all babies in the city with 3,000 kits to be sent out via Sure Start centres. [I].

The research programme has prepared learners for 21st century global citizenship, equipping teachers to meet diverse learner needs, use technology and improve the quality of teaching and learning in research-engaged schools. Impact derives from the programme’s close engagement with teachers and policymakers throughout the design and conduct of the research at international, national and local level, along with a common focus on the production of resources, guidance, exemplars and the iterative testing of new approaches with teachers.

Teaching for sustainable development through ethical global issues pedagogy: Pashby and Sund created a set of principles for practice and a professional development resource to support global citizenship education. Developed and tested in Europe, the resource is now used internationally across curricular areas to address topics ranging from climate change and decolonisation to sweatshops. The Head of Research for the Toronto District School Board (245,000 students, 583 schools) uses the resource to promote the global competencies agenda and develop critical reflexivity among teachers. The University of Toronto School (650 students) has embedded it in its global citizenship curriculum. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Global Centre used Pashby’s work to develop draft descriptors for the transdisciplinary themes as part of a review of the IB curriculum, shaping its 1,884 Primary Years programmes worldwide. Ireland’s national Global Citizenship Education programme for post-primary schools also adapted the material for its ‘How to..’ guide (2020) and used it in training sessions to develop the confidence and capacity of 140 teachers. They found the resource helped to lead teachers and students “ to answers that led to the real root causes of poverty and injustice in a way that other tools did not”. Educators using the resource report: “ students have deeper understanding of issues and their complexity” and that “ it has helped lower performing students to understand step-by-step different aspects of big issues, such as climate change”. SALVE (Support and Love via Education) International, a UK and Ugandan charity, now deploys the resource in its online discussion programme, to address questions of inequality chosen by children. [A].

In 2020, the Chair of the EU sponsored Bridge 47 Network invited Pashby to join the drafting committee for a European Road Map for achieving SDG 4.7, providing research insights on global citizenship in formal education. She worked with the network and IDEAS Scotland to develop the Development Education contribution to the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference ( COP26). She has used the resource to train members of the Austrian Global Citizenship Education Strategy group, including representatives from NGOs, the Ministry of Education and the Austrian Development Agency. With Vis and Faulkner (D32 Art and Design), Pashby has also applied learning from global citizenship education to tackle the issue of visual disinformation. They produced an online resource (Questioning Images) with NGO CIVIX as part of the flagship Student Vote programme for the 2019 Canadian Federal Elections. Over 1.2 million young people and 25,000 teachers accessed it, reaching 70% of all schools in Canada. It was also used in the Voto Estudiantil (VE) curriculum for the 2019 Local Elections in Colombia, which was accessed by 603 teachers on 220 campuses, with a potential reach of over 76,000 students. The CIVIX team observed an increase in critical-thinking skills amongst students who engaged [B].

The Initial Teacher Education for Inclusion project informed the Teaching Council of Ireland’s (TCI) re-accreditation of programmes. The TCI Director commented that it: “provide[d] a solid research basis, both in terms of the increased emphasis on inclusive education in the Standards policy, the definition of inclusive education, and how we believe school placement should align more helpfully with programme content, school context and learners’ needs”. As a result of the research, inclusive pedagogy is embedded across the ITE curriculum, Newly Qualified Teacher induction processes, and the framework for continuing professional learning in Ireland. Inclusive education is prominent in a coherent Standards framework that stretches from Céim (ITE) to Droichead (induction) to Cosán (CPD) (from step to bridge to pathway). The knowledge generated through the project is embedded within the Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education (2020), which places inclusive education at the core of all ITE programmes in Ireland from 2022. The revised programmes will benefit 1,300 teachers who train to teach in Ireland each year. Inclusion is one of six key learning areas within the Cosán National Framework for Teachers’ Learning. Implementing Hick and Solomon’s recommendations, the revised framework supports teachers’ ongoing professional learning for inclusion by creating space for collaboration and access to specialist support [C].

iTEC research shaped the Future Classroom Toolkit (FCT) into a usable change management tool. Evidence of its positive impact on teachers and students (e.g. digital skills, attainment) provided a strong rationale for embedding it in teachers’ professional development programmes across Europe, leading to wider realisation of these benefits. ‘ The solid evidence gathered and effectively communicated had a considerable impact in the years after the project’s formal end.’ The FCT was used in nine follow-on projects led by European Schoolnet [4]. They directly involved 1,057 teachers from 26 European countries, developing their digital pedagogy and enhancing teaching for 23,275 students. Evaluators on the Creative Classroom Labs (2013-2015) project concluded that the scenario development process was critical and that: “ It is evident from the observation visits that this has led to the change of practice”. A Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) course from the Europeana project, which includes a module on designing learning scenarios, involved 4,764 teachers with an estimated reach of 57,000 students. Ambassadors from 15 European countries promote the FCT through CPD events, particularly in Hungary, Finland, France and Portugal. To date, Portugal has organised 458 events involving 13,846 teachers, reaching 138,460 students. In August 2020, Hungary accredited a course for teachers on the FCT, endorsed by The State Secretary for Education [D].

The Digital technology and attainment in schools review formed the basis of the EEF guidance report ‘Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning,’ which uses research to help teachers to identify the most effective ways to integrate technology into the classroom. It has received 31,832 unique page views in the UK, Australia, U.S, Holland, France, Malaysia, UAE and Canada (29.03.2019 – 30.11.2020). The report has been widely cited as an important resource (e.g. The Australian Department of Education, Victoria, Nuffield Foundation, Nesta). Children’s communication charity iCAN used it to support its response to the Oracy APPG inquiry (2019) [E]. It also provides an evidence base for decision-making in schools. For example, The British International School, Abu Dhabi, invested in OneNote and Century to support modelling/explanation and feedback on the basis of the “ conclusive evidence” in the report. It led Learn-AT Teaching School to invest in specialist assessment software and informed changes in practice around feedback and modelling at River Multi Academy Trust’s 14 schools. The de Ferrers Trust cites it in the Feedback and Marking Policy for its five schools [F].

The research gained heightened importance with the switch to remote learning during the Covid-19 response. It informed two rapid evidence assessments (Edtech Hub consortium and EEF). The EEF and its Australian equivalent (Evidence for Learning) also promoted it as guidance for home learning and school planning. The report underpinned CPD run by Research Schools and consultants at over 132 institutions, from nursery to FE-level, shaping teaching delivered to over 120,000 students in England, Wales, Spain, The Netherlands, Abu Dhabi, Madrid and Dubai. Well-known CPD provider, Mark Anderson, embedded the report’s recommendations in his training, describing the report as, “ the single most important report to inform my thinking and subsequent sharing in recent years”. [G] It is now part of Hodder Education’s acquisitions procedure and was used to ‘ sense check’ investment in a digital platform and website expansion to support learning as part of its Covid-19 response [H].

Research on Support for Newly Qualified Teachers resulted in enhanced induction support for over 250 teachers per annum in South East Wales (Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen); a region covering 234 maintained schools with 72,000 pupils, 19% of all pupils in Wales. Changes to the regional induction policy have resulted in support for the development of teacher mentor skills, a process for matching mentor and mentees, the establishment of cluster-level development hubs, and the promotion of portfolio building as a mentored experience. The research directly informed the redesign of Professional Learning Days delivered across the region by a network by 38 Professional Learning Schools. From September 2019 the EAS has, “Redesigned aspects of the NQT Professional Learning offer to include bespoke sessions focussing on developing individual NQT needs and visiting an alternative setting so a range of schools’ pedagogical approaches can be viewed”. [I]

Hammersley-Fletcher’s sustained research partnerships with multi-academy trusts informed the development of reflective school improvement models, strengthening staff agency and capacity for curricular innovation. A head-led Trust with a ‘ challenging portfolio’ of three high schools and ten primary schools (7,000 pupils), Griffin Schools Trust (GST), had to drive large-scale change at pace. The Trust’s CEO contends that the research programme facilitated this, creating “ a sustainable culture of self-reflection, accurate self-evaluation, openness to change and new ideas” and says that “without it, the organisation would have been more insular and more buffeted by the latest political/ educational agendas and less steered by quality research, informed ideas and strategy”. Hammersley-Fletcher’s annual research reports fed directly into the Trust’s planning cycle, the central strategic plan and the development plans of the 13 member schools. One head described the research as: “ an immensely important part of our development as individuals and as a collective, without which changes would not have been as meaningful, impactful or relevant”.

Work with the Teaching Schools Alliance (TSA), which has nine schools, 380 teachers and approximately 4,700 pupils, informed the establishment of designated research leads and cross-school projects. This helped it to “ build capacity and leadership and build bonds between schools”. (Head, Meadowbank Primary). Leaders used action research methods on data from their schools, initially addressing questions aligned with appraisal targets. For example, one project led to the development of, “ clear practices and processes in place for transition, with strong partnerships between the different phases”. The Executive Head of the TSA’s lead teaching school states that Hammersley-Fletcher’s research created a culture in which “ schools are able to drive their own improvement in a way that is relevant to their context and sustainable”. Her school built on this practice to develop pupil agency, creating a designated research area in each classroom, which “ further empowered learners, both pupils and staff”. [J].

Manchester Metropolitan’s RME materials development and the accompanying CPD model have had a substantial impact on practice in schools, colleges and in-service teacher education in England and the Cayman Islands. It has also influenced practice in India, where GCRF-funded research visits in 2019 and 2020 to discuss and develop the use of an RME approach in schools, targeting disadvantaged students, resulted in staff development in the understanding of support for mathematical literacy.

Since August 2013, thousands of students in England have been the immediate beneficiaries of the research due to their involvement in the Nuffield-funded GCSE resit trial (147 students) and the EEF-funded randomised controlled trial (approx. 17,000 KS3 students). Independent analysis of pre-post test data in the GCSE resit project showed that the use of RME models correlated with improved performance among the intervention group in use and understanding of number and proportional reasoning [2, Appendix 8]. Detailed script and classroom analysis showed enhanced sense-making [2], and the potential of RME for re-engaging low attainers [6]. In the EEF trial, teachers report on the benefits of the materials for deeper learning (“ I think it really helps to embed the concepts and ensures pupils understand the work … I’m sure if pupils were taught this way from early years we wouldn’t struggle with teaching and embedding the fundamentals as much in secondary school. Instead of trying to reverse poor learning we would be able to help pupils make progress with deeper learning.” [Manchester Teacher]) and on teachers’ practice (“ *RME questioning has had an impact on improving questioning in many teachers’ lessons across all teaching groups.*” [Mansfield Teacher]) . To date, at least 20 out of 60 schools in the EEF trial have taken up RME beyond trial requirements [A], integrating RME into their schemes of work at KS3 and beyond, cascading RME across whole year groups, or rolling it out to GCSE level, as described by the Head of Mathematics at Hadlow Rural School, Kent: “We have continued to use the Year 7 material with our new 2020 cohort (not a requirement of the programme) as we wholeheartedly believe that this approach has a positive impact on both the learning and enjoyment of our students.... Schemes of work across both Key Stage 3 and 4 continue to be developed to draw on the lessons learned from RME and the pedagogy behind it.” [B]

The advent of COVID-19 in spring 2020 led to an extension of the trial activity and redirection towards (i) support for remote teaching of students at home and (ii) production of optional ‘recovery’ materials in a capstone unit for Year 9, targeting missed schooling due to lockdown. Teachers continued to attend optional training by Zoom through to December 2020 (N=80) [C]. The final release materials will become open access from June 2021 on a dedicated legacy website.

The success of Manchester Metropolitan’s work has led to widespread take-up in England of the RME approach and resources. Making Sense of Maths (Hodder) has sold 25,500 copies since January 2014 [D]. As one of the schools in the original MiC project, Cheadle Hulme High School introduced a department-wide RME approach, and still uses materials written by the Manchester Metropolitan team, including new materials produced in the EEF trial. The school is the highest performing in mathematics in Greater Manchester and its curriculum description refers to RME hallmark pedagogy, e.g. use of context and drawing, multiple strategies and progressive refinement. The school is now part of the Laurus Trust Academy Trust, implementing RME across its five secondary schools, comprising approximately 4,000 pupils. Director of Mathematics Marisa Bartoli writes: “GCSE results … went from strength to strength and whilst many factors contributed to this, mock results showed that students were attempting questions that traditionally might have been left unanswered. …. One of the schools that has joined the Trust is a fully established school and colleagues have been directed to focus on modifying their more traditional approach ... The structure that the EEF project resources provide frees them to focus on the questioning…parents have indicated that their students have already begun to reflect positively on the change to their Maths lessons this year, suggesting that they are “happier in Maths now that it is not just all about right and wrong answers.” Pupils … enjoy their mathematics lessons and feel they are making progress. Formal assessments across the Trust show pupils continue to make progress.” [E]

Independent evaluation of the MiC and MSM projects highlighted the value of our CPD model, with a key focus on developing understanding of RME philosophy and theory ( Searle & Barmby, 2012). Hough’s reputation in RME-related CPD has led to work with the North-West One Mathematics Hub as a strategic partner since 2014, advising and influencing decision-making. The GCSE resit project has had particular impact, and she has led training of four cohorts of teachers on ‘Supporting Post-16 GCSE Resit’, (approx. 80 teachers in the NW1 Hub and approx. 100 teachers in Southampton and Birmingham). Meanwhile, Gough has led training for five cohorts of teachers on the Hub-based Teacher Subject Specialism Training (TSST), training 60 teachers - new to mathematics teaching - in RME methods. North-West One Maths Hub lead Simon Mazumder writes: “The work NW1 has carried out with MMU and the RME project has resulted in many innovation work streams that have been currently adopted as National Collaborative Projects … Sue and other MMU colleagues have not only helped design but also facilitate on these work streams. Currently over 600 colleagues in both primary and secondary phases have participated. The result of this work has been a greater cohesion of the school’s community in Greater Manchester and the ability for NW1 to meet its community’s needs. The popularity and impact have been significant and looking at social mobility index the maths work carried out has improved child mobility and raised standards across all phases particularly primary.” [F]

Recognition of Manchester Metropolitan’s work in RME and its potential for deepening understanding of mathematics has led to invitations from policy and practice bodies to develop materials, influence assessment, contribute to curriculum development and train teachers/CPD leads in order to enhance student achievement. In 2013, the DfE invited Hough to be one of three developers on its Multiplicative Reasoning (MR) project, aiming to develop teacher subject and pedagogic knowledge in MR. Hough was responsible for writing resources (one third of the MR resources are based on RME, via Hough’s input) and training CPD leads for rolling out the programme nationwide. Evaluation ( DfE, 2015) reported a positive impact on students’ relationships with mathematics [F]. In the NW1 Hub, MR has been delivered to five cohorts, involving approx.100 teachers. Hough served on the Teaching Core Maths Advisory Board in 2015, training CPD leads in four national centres during 2017/18, reaching approx.130 teachers. Eade, Dickinson, Hough and Gough jointly trained 120 teachers in seven locations across the country in 2018/19 in Core Maths ‘Keeping the Context Alive’ days. In 2016, the AQA invited Hough to sit on its expert panel on the basis of her expertise in RME, feeding into assessment design. Her input has led to recognition in marking schemes of non-routine visualisations of question solutions. Her post-16 work led the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications to invite her to join its Schools and Further Education committee in 2018, commenting on, and making, policy recommendations. Both Hough and Solomon work with the recently-formed Centres for Excellence in Mathematics (CFEM), formed to address problems in post-16 mathematics education. One element of its strategy is to work with contextualisation, drawing on RME’s track record in this area. Manchester Metropolitan’s work on developing and researching RME is described on a permanent page on the influential Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) website. Stella Dudzic, MEI Programme Leader (Curriculum and Resources) writes: “We make use of the ideas we have learnt from the team … in the teaching resources we write and in the professional development we offer. … Videos of the team at MMU … available on MEI’s YouTube channel … are in the top most watched videos on the channel. The most popular video … has 3,500 views. … MEI has developed a contextualisation toolkit for teachers of post-16 GCSE Mathematics; our thinking … has been influenced by our work with the Mathematics Education team at MMU … Our experience of working with RME continues to influence the strategies we include in our professional development …” [G]

Manchester Metropolitan’s work on RME has also had international impact. In 2011, the Ministry of Education in the Cayman Islands invited Eade to work as numeracy specialist on the primary curriculum for mathematics . Over the course of seven years, he integrated scenarios, developed during the MiC project, into the curriculum and developed a ‘Maths Recovery’ teacher-training programme (60+ teachers), influencing teachers’ practice and student attainment [1]. Resources are based on RME principles of use of context and problem-solving. Student achievement rose from 25% at expected level and 5% above in 2011, to 62% at expected level and 25% above in 2018 [1, H].

In July 2019, Hough, Gough, Kathotia and Solomon visited the Vidya Bhawan Society in Rajasthan, India. The Society is committed to ‘Social Transformation Through Education’, and saw the benefits of developing RME-based mathematics in local schools as a means of raising achievement and retention among disadvantaged students. The team realised that access to mathematical reasoning and literacy materials could benefit this group, and in February 2020, Kathotia and Solomon returned to India to work on supporting the local team of five educational resource workers to expand their understanding of mathematics teaching and learning, and to evaluate their own materials development and implementation. Support for this work continued online during the Covid-19 pandemic [I].

RME’s potential for inclusive mathematics classrooms underpins the Norwegian Research Council-funded IMaT project, which includes an RME-based CPD intervention, in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan. The OsloMet Kompetanse for Kvalitet (‘Competence for Quality’) course is delivered to 160 teachers each year, with 40 teachers taking part in the IMaT project with access to Manchester Metropolitan materials [J].

Our research has brokered active communication between grassroots and powerful institutional players, bringing marginalised voices and different types of knowledge to the fore in decision-making processes. This has led to more representative policymaking, shaping the distribution of funding and making public services more responsive. It has benefitted those directly involved and generated wider societal gain.

Partispace participants represented Manchester, the UK and Europe as delegates to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. In 2018, Batsleer was seconded to Youth Focus North West (YFNW) to develop a European Living Charter of Human Rights with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). They worked with European and regional networks to create a Greater Manchester-wide Youth Charter. Working in partnership with Sick! Festival, 30 young people also produced a two-day ‘takeover’ at NIAMOS arts centre (2019), which confronted a YouGov statistic that 18% of young people in the UK believe ‘life is not really worth living’. They delivered their response to the question: ‘For the lives of young people to be valued what needs to change?’ to 150 key stakeholders through commissioned artworks and live events. Supporting a 2018 report on cohesion that GMCA produced in response to the Manchester Arena bombing, the projects created “ opportunities for young people to discuss difficult topics and have safe places to go and socialise with peers”. The researchers were “ absolutely vital” in “ ensuring that the process was rooted in meaningful and sensitive engagement with young people” and the project “ continues to inform [Sick! Festival’s] commitment to working with young people across Greater Manchester, and the approaches that [they] take to doing this”. [A]

YFNW also co-created a Masters level unit in Youth Participation and Youth Work at Manchester Metropolitan through Partibridges, embedding workplace knowledge to resolve a gap between student skills and sector needs. The CEO stated: “I felt disempowered in an academic setting but this project has helped break those barriers down”. [B]. Project partners are now developing a transnational module for European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) certification. Similarly, Lost and Found led to “collaboration - a shift in relational power dynamics towards a collective of artists rather than a project and creative lead and those being supported”. Participants used it as an expressive vehicle, creating a series of art installations and four walking tours, which foregrounded their voices and experiences, and engaged over 100 people with their lived experiences of homelessness [C].

Loneliness Connects Us shaped the Co-op Foundation brand, which re-launched in 2016 and “ has been woven through everything [it] has done since”. The Head of the Foundation states, “ In the beginning we didn’t fully appreciate the complexity of youth loneliness or have a precise end goal we wanted to achieve. It was only through our further qualitative and quantitative research that we were able to define the problems we want to address”. The research identified core themes and the reasons young people might be lonely. The researchers’ focus on societal context also re-connected the Foundation with its co-operative values. Combined with quantitative research conducted by ICM, the findings underpinned the Foundation’s report All Our Emotions are Important – Breaking the Silence about Youth Loneliness, allowing it to communicate the full scale of the problem to the government and funders, including its parent company [D].

When Loneliness Connects Us started, the Foundation had 2.5 full-time staff and five projects; it now has nine staff and hundreds of projects. Loneliness Connects Us was ‘ a huge part of that growth’. It underpinned successful bids to the DCMS/National Lottery Community Fund’s #iwill scheme for youth social action (GBP1,000,000) and helped the Foundation to ring-fence GBP2,400,000 of the government’s Building Connections Fund (set up in response to the Jo Cox commission) for young people. The findings also supported applications to the Co-op for match-funding, bringing the total to GBP5,400,000. The research shaped the focus of Co-op Foundation’s overarching Belong programme, which distributed the funding, and guidance referred all applicants to the research. In total, Belong awarded GBP6,500,000 to 343 organisations across the UK, engaging 18,734 young people. It is on target to deliver measurable outcomes for 7,500 young people by 2021. In the assessment period, 5,033 young people have gained skills, 5,327 have improved confidence, 2,648 feel more valued and 3,130 have more trusting relationships. The young co-researchers also highlighted the plight of under-served towns, helping the Foundation to define the places it wants to benefit from its community-focused Spaces to Connect funding (GBP1,600,000) [D].

42nd Street made isolation and loneliness a key theme in its business plan due to the research. It also helped it to secure Arts Council funding (GBP49,101) for a year’s worth of work on isolation and loneliness with young people. The CEO explained: “The creative approach to the peer research enabled the real experiences of young people to be voiced and complexity of the issues and emotions surrounding youth loneliness to be captured. …we have made [these insights] the basis of discussions, social actions and change”. [E]

Social Haunting: Judges awarded Bright the Working-Class Studies Association’s Russo & Linkon Award in 2015. They reported that his research “ breaks new paths… for comprehending the impact of the horrors and suffering caused by class society over generations” [ F]. 350 people participated in the 14 Ghost Labs, which formed outlets to articulate this collective trauma. The UnQuiet, a piece of theatre produced by partner, New Vic Borderlines and members of Unite Community, was seen by over 100 people. A two-part radio documentary, ‘ Song Lines and Social Haunting’ was broadcast to an estimated 150,000 listeners via stations in the UK, Malawi, Hungary, Slovenia, the USA and Indonesia, where ‘listening clubs,’ and phone-ins served as catalysts to discuss local issues [F]. The British Council in Bangladesh also used the Graphic Lives comics in public programmes as, “ a powerful element to showcase our connection with UK and the Bangladeshi community living there”. The UN Women’s Champion described them as “ a new way to empower migrant women from the UK”, whilst other attendees spoke of the hope the stories gave them. They also informed Hyde Community Action’s successful proposal for a Healthy Minds group support service [G].

The Ghost Labs enabled Unite Community “to reflect upon the difficulties that [they] face representing marginal, often very vulnerable members of society”. Bright also briefed the Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign on the projects, providing “ useful contextual material in support of the legal argument for a public inquiry into the policing of the 1984 mass picket presented to the Home Secretary in Autumn 2015”. The New Vic continues to use project tools in the UK and internationally. The Director states that Bright’s work “ had a significant effect” on the way it “ designs work in communities where loss and absence (in all its forms including loss of industry and identity) is very much present”. This has helped her to build ‘ authentic relationships’ with local partners, such as Unite, ACORN and Women Against Pit Closures, “ all who are in their own words continuing the fight for their communities which was started decades ago”. [H].

East Durham Artists’ Network (EDAN) produced an exhibition based on their Ghost Labs experience (September 2018) and, when Community Development Officers at The Auckland Project saw it, they realised they could adapt the methodology, “ to tentatively build trust with participants respectfully, over time, affording them dignity and acknowledgement of their experiences and memories”. They used social haunting as a ‘conversation tool, for a pilot project that gave them “ an emotional understanding of how everyone was feeling [and] how best to use funds to fill the gap left by government cuts in areas such as youth centres”. The methodology has informed spending and led to new community-driven projects, including a long-term partnership to secure the future of the Woodhouse Close Community Centre and ‘Ghost Lines’ – a project to transform disused railway lines into ‘ future-facing spaces’ through art trails and geocached ‘ haunted objects’. [l]

Productive Margins: In 2017, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Education formed a Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) Expert Panel. The panel invited Ivinson to present research evidence, and included her insights and examples from the Life Support project in the report it submitted to government. The resultant national guidance Relationships and Sexuality Education in Schools (2019), advocates for ‘ relevant, engaging and coproduced’ approaches and creative design, drawing heavily on the models foregrounded in Ivinson’s presentation. The guidance advocates youth-led arts-based pedagogies that focus on the concerns of young people instead of imposing topics drawn up by adults [J].

The films ‘Light Moves’, ‘Graphic Moves’ and ‘Life Support’ were shown in festivals in Cardiff, Newport and Merthyr Tydfil, each attracting over 200 people and speaking back to pathologising media images of the place where the participant-producers live. They also used ‘Life Support’ to lobby against the threatened closure of Forsythia Youth, voicing their objections. Collaborator CEO of Artis Community argues that: “ because [Gabrielle] doesn’t present as ‘other’, her curiosity encourages curiosity and her research becomes embedded in the creative process, enabling creativity to reveal the very best in people”. She contends that her subsequent projects, including a Big Dance film that brought together over 400 children and young people, would not have achieved its ‘ transformational outcomes’ without Ivinson’s research methods. Addressing the ‘ persistent and widespread lack of diversity’, Arts Council England highlighted in its ten-year strategy (2020-2030), Creative Margins “ influenced the way in which ACE will encourage the organisations we invest in to support and adopt new and emerging talent, to drive artist collaboration and to encourage learning at all levels”. It also informed a developing partnership between Tate and Brighton Youth Centre, and has “already impacted on some of [BYC’s] own work in broadening participation in our Arts Festival”. [K]