BPS Psychology of Education Section Workshop

26^th October 2017

There are many stages of research; designing, planning, recruiting, testing, reviewing, disseminating, and impact. While these stages are consistent across many subjects and topics, the way in which the process is implemented can differ. Research involving in children, for example, can be a very different process to working with adults. We recently attended a workshop organised by the BPS Psychology of Education Section, hosted by the University of Edinburgh, ahead of their annual section conference. The themes for the workshop were around working with schools and the non-academic impact of research in the field of education. For postgraduate researchers, these are both important elements of the research process that should be considered carefully.

The first workshop, delivered by Dr Emma Vardy from Coventry University, took us through the etiquette and challenges of recruiting from and working with schools. We heard about the formal process of working with schools, from ethical considerations, through to dissemination and benefits to the school. We also engaged in helpful discussions with fellow postgraduate researchers about our own experiences, and were able to learn from one another. One topic that was particularly interesting, and especially relevant when it comes to our work with children with autism, was that of informed consent. How do we know that children and their parents understand what is being asked of them? How can we be sure that they are giving their informed consent to take part? Ideas such as asking a child to explain the task instructions back to the researcher to show their understanding of the instructions, or providing smiley and sad faces to colour in to indicate their feelings about participation, were all helpful suggestions which we felt would be easy to adopt within future studies. Another welcome suggestion that came from the workshop discussions was attending parents’ evenings or similar school events as a great opportunity to explain our research to parents face-to-face, before sending out very detailed information packs. While it is ethically vital to provide parents with detailed information about the research, we know too well how daunting a pack of papers can be, especially to a busy family. Opportunities to engage with parents in person is one way to address this issue. Other interesting ideas were proposed around the benefits we could potentially provide to schools, particularly when there are no immediate benefits of the research project. Suggestions included delivering assemblies about working in science, offering to spend time reading with the children individually, or planning school visits to the university campus. As educational and developmental researchers, we rely on the enthusiasm and commitment of schools, therefore it is so important that we give something back wherever possible.

This theme of collaboration and reciprocation fed well into the second workshop, “Building the Blocks of Impact”, led by Professor Dave Putwain from Liverpool John Moores University. While academic impact is one that is usually at the forefront of our agenda as researchers, at first glance, non-academic impact can seem rather abstract and elusive, particularly with theoretical (as opposed to applied) research. Despite there being many possible types of impact (on the environment, the economy, business, or public policy) we agreed that in developmental or educational psychology, the most common areas for us are likely to be in academic advancements, health and welfare, or society and culture. After considering the definition and importance of non-academic impact, we focussed on thinking about our own impact plans, with the support of other postgraduates in the group. The first step was to identify our stakeholders, and how they will be involved in the research project. Stakeholders could be clear, particularly in the case of projects with external collaborators, or may be more general such as teachers or the children themselves. Involving them in the research might include delivering workshops, talks to children, or training for interventions. Once these were determined, we could begin to think about what would change for them as a result of our research, and how we might evidence that change. The change might be in areas such as educational planning, teaching delivery, or even the design of classrooms. We soon realised that as researchers, our methodical mindset pushes us towards evidencing change over time by using robust methods such as conducting longitudinal studies. Our discussions pushed us to think outside the box, where evidencing impact could be as simple as a letter from the headteacher, describing the changes they have seen in their pupils or teachers, or in the overall attainment of the school. Impact is becoming more and more important in the research world; thinking about the process in the early stages of research is important for delivering successful impact.

A huge thank you to BPS Psychology of Education Section for organising the event, to University of Edinburgh for hosting in such a beautiful city, and to Dr Vardy and Professor Putwain for igniting and facilitating such important and timely discussions.