• Singing as Response and Refuge  

    Dr Jennifer Daniel  On Friday 15 September 2023, Manchester was shaken by the knife murder of 14-year-old Nathaniel Shani in Harpurhey, an area of high social deprivation three miles north of the city centre.  By the following Friday the school attended by Nathaniel had launched a lunchtime concert with pupils and ex-pupils performing songs chosen for Nathaniel, facilitated and…

  • Caregiver-implemented feeding interventions for autistic children with food selectivity – a messy picture

    Dr Claire Blennerhassett, Dr Michael Richards and Dr Steve Clayton Food selectivity is considerably more prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to children who are not autistic. Food selectivity is an umbrella term which refers to an insufficient variety of food consumption, characterised by a range of feeding issues including food refusal,…

  • The new frontier: What is knowledge exchange, and does it really matter?

    Christina Blakey, Head of Knowledge Exchange Office, Edge Hill University While Knowledge Exchange within the University sector in the UK is not exactly a new frontier, you’ll have seen in recent years an increase in the use of the term ‘knowledge exchange’ and a heightened focus on universities engaging with, and investing in, knowledge exchange…

  • Exposure to Social Injustice: Towards Social Justice

    Dr Victoria Jamieson The magnitude of economic disadvantage, poverty, and social inequality suggests that issues of social injustice demand our attention now, more than ever before. Recent years have demonstrated the shifts, changes, and the unpredictability of the world, where new injustices continually emerge. While vulnerability to social injustice is predominantly a function of complex…

  • Plato, Professionalism, and the Everyday Life of Schools

    Dr Naomi Hodgson The 2021 film, Young Plato, screened this month as part of Edge Hill’s Annual Conference on Research in Education, and it has garnered widespread praise and won multiple awards at international film festivals for its depiction of Holy Cross Boys’ School in Ardoyne, Northern Ireland. More specifically, it is a depiction of…

  • Playing outdoors; access, agency, and the Forest School approach

    Dr Karen Boardman, Jackie Sumner and Silvia Cont Every child has the right to play and learn outdoors. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) outlines Article 31 – the right to play as “Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural…

  • The richer relationship between disadvantaged students and their achievement

    Matthew Greenhalgh Quality education, often measured through an individual’s academic achievement, is a proven factor of later successes in academia and employment, and has the potential to improve health outcomes, increase income, and support social mobility. However, research suggests disparities are presented across socio-economic classes, with disadvantaged students’ experiences of education and opportunities for learning…

  • Pushing the pedagogical boundaries through collaborative research

    Dr Ian Shirley and Dr Anna Mariguddi Music is all around us. The power of music and benefits of music education  are well documented (see for example Hallam, 2010; Hallam and Himonides, 2022). In England, the teaching of music is a statutory requirement between the ages of four and fourteen. Although a large proportion of this…

  • Welcome to the new EHU blog – The Knowledge!

    Professor Jo Crotty The Institute of Social Responsibility started a blog in March 2020 in response to the first Covid lockdown. With the aim to critically examine broad conceptualisations of social responsibility across all disciplines, the Institute was committed to exploring the opportunities for cross sector collaboration and co-operation and to draw on the experience…