CREID research projects

Increasing global migration brings considerable challenges for schools and teachers. Teaching that matters for migrant students aims to understand and  help teachers meet the needs of migrant students. The project focuses on the work of teachers within different schools and different support systems that are available to students and teachers in Sweden, Finland and Scotland.

Visit the TEAMS project website 

TEAMS policy briefing 

The aim of this research is to develop and test games for meaningful ethics education in a HE context. The project combines design-based approaches with qualitative methods and philosophical inquiry and is led by Dr Aline Nardo.

As part of the project, we created a digital educational ethics game called ‘Write or Wrong’ from scratch, which is currently being tested with students at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (July 2024). The game breaks with established design principles in educational game design in order to respond to particular challenges that ethics as a learning domain poses. Specifically, it moves away from a person- and content-centred approach to ethics education in favour of an understanding of ethical dilemmas as wicked problems that reach beyond individual behaviour, knowledge and decision-making.

Research findings were presented at AERA (2022) and ICLS (2022), the KAVLI Centre for Ethics, Science and the Public (2023), and The Alan Turing Institute London (2022).

Collaborators

Professor Manu Kapur (ETH Zurich) and Dr Matthew Gaydos (Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University)

Publications

Nardo, A. and Gaydos, M. (in preparation) “What Searle’s Chinese Room Can Teach Us About Games For Ethics Education.”

Nardo, A. and Gaydos, M. (2021) "‘Wicked problems’ as catalysts for learning in educational ethics games," Ethics and Education, 16(4), pp. 492–509. doi: 10.1080/17449642.2021.1979283.

Funding

The development of the game ‘Write or Wrong’ (2019-2021) was funded by the ETH+ Foundation and ETH Innovedum teaching innovation grants. ETH Zurich and the University of Edinburgh have funded the research associated with the development of the game (2019-201). CREID has co-funded the pilot study (implementation of game ‘Write or Wrong’) conducted in July 2024.

Funder: National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS)

Research related to this project

A team of researchers led by Dr Nataša Pantić employs new network approaches to study how teachers’ practices shape and are shaped by their social networks within and beyond schools. The aim is to understand how CoPs emerge from teachers’ day-to-day interactions with colleagues, families and other professionals as they seek to improve all students’ learning and schooling experiences.

Contact Dr Nataša Pantić

This Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) large grant aims to advance a multi-disciplinary understanding as well as a home-international comparison of the political economies of exclusion, and how more equitable outcomes can be achieved for pupils, their families and professionals.

The research was organised into three strands running across the four years of the project:

• Strand A: Landscapes of Exclusion examined how legal frameworks, policies and practices of regulation shape systemic practice, and the patterns, characteristics and consequences of exclusion.
• Strand B: Experiences of Exclusion focused on families’, pupils’ and professionals’ experiences of the risks and consequences of exclusion.
• Strand C: Costs and integration examined the financial costs associated with exclusion. It  also integrated findings within and across jurisdictions to ensure continuous learning as the research develops a coherent multidisciplinary understanding of the political economies of exclusion.

Visit the Excluded Lives project website

Research related to this project

The aim of this project was to understand the experiences and outcomes of commuter students at the University of Edinburgh as the pandemic receded.

We analysed administrative data and conducted an online survey to understand the number of commuter students at the University as well as their social characteristics and academic trajectories. We also used in-depth interviews to understand commuter students’ experiences of academic and social support, interactions with their peers and their views of the positive and negative aspects of commuting from home to university.

In terms of impact, we hope the research will provide insight into the practical and cultural changes which the University might make to improve the experiences and outcomes of this group. It speaks to the University’s Strategy for 2030 by focusing on how best to create a positive and supportive learning and teaching environment for our students as well as by thinking about the contribution that commuter students make to both the University and their local communities. 

Project Team Members

• Sheila Riddell
• Hazel Christie
• Laura Cattell
• Rachael King
• Sofia Shan
• Lyn Tett

Download the report

Learn more about the University's Strategy for 2030

The SaChA project uses the Agents of Change Toolkit (ACToolkit) to promote more inclusive and equitable education in schools in Scotland and around the world. ACToolkit guides school staff through planning, implementing and evaluating change projects. The Toolkit is an accessible and practical tool for schools to engage with change projects around the SDGs through minigames and playful activities that facilitate whole-school approaches. The ACToolkit is designed to help educators:

• build SDG-related improvements into their local plans
• identify relevant expertise and work with other players within and beyond schools to implement change projects
• evaluate the impact of change processes and outcomes

Working with at least 8-9 schools, we shared the Toolkit and supported practitioners to address issues specific to their schools that reflect global challenges, e.g. inequality, diversity, sustainability and COVID recovery. Learnings from this work will be shared with other schools to demonstrate how ACToolkit can be used to tackle similar or other challenges.

The project builds on four completed projects:

• Agents of Change Toolkit (ACT)
• Teaching that Matters for Migrant Students (TEAMS)
• Teacher Education for Changing Demographics of Schooling and Making Sense of Teacher Agency for Inclusion
• Impacts of COVID-19 on Teaching Practice Opportunities for Virtual Internships

Agents of Change Toolkit (ACT)   Teaching that Matters for Migrant Students (TEAMS)   Making Sense of Teacher Agency for Inclusion  

CREID Briefing 40: Autonomy, rights, and children with special needs: key informant interviews Scotland

Analysis of key informant interviews: Scotland

English case study findings

English local authory survey results

Scottish case study findings

Scottish local authority survey results

The rights of children with special and additional support needs in England and Scotland

Other projects

Future delivery of advice and information services for additional support needs

Literature review of pupils with additional support needs

Post-school transitions of people who are deaf or hard of hearing

The education of children and young people with a sensory impairment in Scotland

The impact of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004

Implementation of direct payments in Scotland for people who use care services

Report on the development of care co-ordination services in Scotland  

Dimensions of persistent inequality in Scotland

Equality and diversity in the further education workforce

Immigration, equality and human rights

Report of a feasibility study into setting up a Scottish centre for research on equality and human rights

What does the human rights agenda have to say about care and dignity?  

Access to higher education in Scotland

Disabled students in higher education: Experiences and outcomes

Higher education, the Devolution Settlement and the Referendum on Independence: Research Findings

Patterns and destinations of cross-border higher education mobility in the UK

Student characteristics and their association with cross-border higher education mobility in the UK

Widening access to higher education: Does anyone know what works?

Dispute resolution and avoidance in special and ASN in England and Scotland

Evaluation of the All Wales School Liaison Core Programme

Restorative practices in three Scottish councils

Evaluation of education provision for children and young people educated outside the school setting in Wales

Exclusion from school – What does it mean to pupils?

Towards a Lifelong Learning Society in Europe

Formal continuing education with small and medium-sized enterprises

Survey of adult returners to education in Europe

The contributions of the education system

Other projects

An overview of the policy and delivery base for Skills Development Scotland

Disability, Skills and Employment - A review of recent statistics and literature

ENLIVEN: An overview of provision in Scotland in seven types of education for adults

Experiences of workplace learning in SMEs: Lessons for good practice

Lifelong learning and equity in Scotland

Post-school education for marginalised young people: Evidence from Scotland

Reviewing attitudes to vocational learning

Skills for Scotland: Learning in and for businesses

Choosing the PGDE: Motivations and influences for students with and without widening participation backgrounds

Gender balance of the teaching workforce in publicly funded schools in Scotland

Pupils as Citizens: Participation, responsibility and voice in the transition from primary to secondary school - Executive summary

Teaching that matters for migrant students project policy