Education: Unit of Assessment 45

The majority of research in UoA 45, Education is officially classified as world-leading, internationally excellent or recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour, having been placed in the three highest categories for quality in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

Quality Level 4* 3* 2* 1* Unclassified
% of research activity 10 40 35 15 0

Newcastle's claim for international research excellence in education is founded upon distinctive and focused research activities since RAE 2001. Twelve staff from the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, a large multidisciplinary school in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences have research presented in this submission. Other members of the School are submitted to UoA 58: Linguistics.

Through strategically identifying the critical issues in education and addressing them in international contexts, education staff have produced high quality outputs and secured £5m in research awards since 2001. Our submitted staff have produced 28 books and 240 research papers. Vigorous dissemination and interdisciplinary networking by submitted staff is demonstrated by papers delivered at 70 national conferences and 140 international conferences. Our esteem indicators show a high level of international acclaim for our research: we have received 16 prestigious prizes; five colleagues have been invited to give 17 keynote addresses, nine to international conferences. There have been eight invited presentations to international conferences in addition to the keynotes.

We have awarded 70 research doctorate qualifications since 2001 and are currently supervising 90 doctoral students.

We provide a research environment (both cultural and physical) which enables staff to develop their research careers and increases our research capacity. We have a clear strategy to 'pull through' new and early career researchers – including postgraduate research students, research and lecturing staff – which is successfully underpinned by sound structural support.

Together with our research partners, we have built a series of linked communities of practice, within the University and beyond, structured around project work, debates about research methods and epistemology, and a range of dissemination events.

Our research is organised principally through two research centres:

CfLaT engages in distinctive research that enables the creation and translation of knowledge about teaching and learning through research partnerships. The purpose of this knowledge creation is to influence positive change in education. Our research partnerships operate in a range of contexts – schools, colleges, universities, workplaces, families and communities – constructing highly developed theory based upon a deep understanding of educational context and practice. CfLaT's contribution to the discipline of education is made in the areas of:

  • thinking and learning;
  • contexts for learning;
  • professional development;
  • professional identities;

CfLaT has generated over £2m on high profile projects from a range of white-list and peer-reviewed funders including Nuffield, ESRC, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, HEFCE, BECTA and Campaign for Learning.

The mission of the EG West Centre is to develop knowledge and understanding of the role of non-state education in achieving 'Education for All'. This group has secured US$3m from the John Templeton Foundation and Orient Global Foundation to research community schools for those with a low income in Africa and Asia and US$1.6m from ICF/World Bank to develop and research the ‘hole in the wall' computers for children in rural areas in developing countries.