EducationChildren, Childhood, and Development

Our Children, Childhood, and Development research theme focuses on children and young people’s rights, voice, and physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional aspects of learning from early childhood. It also examines the philosophical and sociological conceptualisations of children and childhood and explores ethical research with children.

We study the impact of childhood experiences on learning and advocate for policies that promote a nurturing environment, inclusive education, and safeguards against exploitation. Our goal is to create environments in which children can thrive. We also study children’s experiences outside formal schooling or educational contexts.

Our work aims to foster a society that values and protects the rights of its youngest members and safeguards children's rights while ensuring that policies, laws, and social systems prioritise their wellbeing. It informs best practices for policymakers and teachers to support children, young people, and their families. We also explore traditional views on children and childhood, often challenging and redefining how they are understood.

Co-leads

Subthemes

Early Childhood Educational Research is an established specialism across the world. Along with the recognition that the early years of life are foundational for children’s future success, early childhood is also seen as a distinct and valuable stage for children. For example, Alison Clark’s work from the University of Norway and funded by the Froebel Trust, on Slow Pedagogy, demonstrates the importance of supporting children to live in the now to experience an unhurried childhood.

Supporting children’s learning at this stage is a highly specialised skill that requires robust evidence-based knowledge to plan responsively for children’s play, learning and high-quality and nurturing lived experiences.

Furthermore, understanding brain development and communication is key to establishing attachment and relationships which directly impact children’s later self-concept, confidence and engagement with education, learning and society.

This research sub-theme tackles an eclectic mix of research approaches and topics including, but not limited to, early childhood theorising, pedagogy and play, children’s emotional regulation and wellbeing, attachment and infant neurosciences, family and home learning and digital childhoods. The work of the Early Childhood sub-theme at the Strathclyde Institute of Education is showcased more extensively through our Strathclyde Early Childhood Hub.

Leads
Subtheme members

The subtheme ‘Voice and Participation’ concerns research where children’s opinions, perspectives, desires, and values are central to both focus and methodological approaches. It is moved by the responsibility conferred by Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and by a shared commitment to social justice and democratic principles. This commitment is further confirmed and strengthened by the incorporation of the UNCRC in Scottish law, which now grants children the legal right to be consulted on all matters that concern them.

The population we are interested in extends beyond the legal age of childhood – up to 18 in Scotland – to include young people up to the age of 25, in line with the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 for those under twenty-five years old who are eligible for “children’s services”, such as those who are care leavers.

The projects and activities that are included in this subtheme are diverse; we are engaged in a range of taught courses, knowledge exchange, and research projects with children and young people of different ages and in different contexts. The subtheme also incorporates conceptual explorations aimed at better understanding the nature of voice and participation, how it fits with broader conceptualisations of dialogical and democratic practices, and the affordances and challenges inherent in listening to children and young people. The uses and abuses of adult power, epistemic justice, inclusivity, and activism are themes that run throughout our activities.

There is a strong emphasis on participatory methodologies that seek to involve children and young people in every stage of the research process based on a commitment to the principle of ‘no research on us, without us’. To this end, in 2026, we will institute a [SIoE CYP consultation group] to create sustainable involvement in the early stages of planning and design, achieving the highest standards of ethical practice in all research involving children.

Creative and pedagogically aligned approaches are employed in a variety of contexts including play-based approaches, participatory methods, and school pupils as researchers, from early infancy and beyond into emergent adulthood. We will also be a point of contact to offer advice on research with and/or involving children to colleagues and doctoral students in the SIoE.

Lead
Subtheme members