Education
Education is a field of study which draws primarily on the disciplines of history, political science, philosophy, psychology, and sociology to study the process and practice of learning and teaching.
It is concerned with pursuing theoretical, practical and professional knowledge to improve the teaching and learning experience.
Over 83% of research submitted to REF2021 by colleagues based in the Education Unit of Assessment (UoA) was judged to be World Leading or Internationally Excellent by a peer review panel. This is an endorsement of the quality of our research and its translation into real world impacts in areas such as educational equality, children’s rights, shared education, and our commitment to partnership with colleagues in schools, the community and with parents. We are delighted that Education has been ranked at 16th in the UK (Times Higher Education UoA table).
of research in Education was assessed either 'Internationally Excellent or World-Leading'
(REF 2021)in the UK
(TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION REF21)KEY THEMES
Research coalesces around 5 key themes:
- Children’s Rights
- Shared Education
- Applied Behaviour Analysis
- Education: Advancing Understanding, Improving Outcomes
- We are also currently developing a strong research profile in the area of TESOL
KEY RESEARCH PROJECTS
The Vice Chancellor’s Research Impact Prize was awarded to School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work Academic Professor Laura Lundy in recognition of the global impact of The Lundy Model of children’s participation in developing policies that affect their lives.
The work on Shared Education has been recognised by her Majesty the Queen with a Queen’s Anniversary Prize.
This project aims to identify the characteristics of effective ABA interventions delivered through telehealth while focusing on research quality rigour and the use of single systems research designs that comply with quality recommendations.
Dr Aisling O'Boyle has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Hornby Trust to investigate the use of dictionary resources by refugee families: A Welcome Dictionary: refugee families using dictionary resources to support English Language Learning.
The aim of the research is to achieve a better understanding of how bilingual multimodal dictionaries are used, in order to develop a more informed approach to learner and teacher training. It will contribute evidence on the use of bilingual dictionaries, highlight the role of dictionary resources as key cultural artefacts and as tools for support in the lives of newly resettled refugee families.
Academic Staff
| Name | Area of Expertise | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Joe Allen | Higher Education Teaching and pedagogical research. | joe.allen@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 3424 |
| Professor Carl Bagley | Educational policy; ethnography; critical arts-based approaches to educational research. | carl.bagley@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 1370 |
| Professor Dina Belluigi | Authorship and interpretation; critical Higher Education Studies; visual and arts-based methodologies; creative arts higher education; post-colonialism, post-conflict, race and gender. | d.belluigi@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5948 |
| Dr Ibrar Bhatt | Applied linguistics, language education, literacy studies, higher education, digital literacy and epistemology. | i.bhatt@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 1489 |
| Dr Andrew Biggart | Educational disadvantage and inequalities; policies and interventions to tackle educational underachievement in children and young people. | a.biggart@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5946 |
| Dr Nichola Booth | Support and interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder; using Applied Behaviour Analysis to teach new skills and reduce challenging behaviours. | n.booth@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 3264 |
| Dr Ian Cantley | Teachers' pedagogical practices; improving student achievement and interest in mathematics; foundations of educational measurement models. | i.cantley@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5936 |
| Dr Ian Collen | Modern Languages education; Initial Teacher Education; international dimension of schooling. | i.collen@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5960 |
| Dr Pamela Cowan | all aspects of using modern information technologies in educational contexts, assessment in education, structural equations modelling and issues in mathematics and computing education. | p.cowan@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5931 |
| Professor Karola Dillenburger | Applied Behaviour Analysis; evidence-based intervention in autism; parent training; child protection; child behaviour management. | k.dillenburger@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5985 |
| Dr Caitlin Donnelly | School ethos and intergroup relations; Shared Education and school relations in Northern Ireland and other divided societies. | caitlin.donnelly@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5943 |
| Dr Katerina Dounavi | Applied Behaviour Analysis; autism; evidence-based interventions; telehealth; parent training; verbal behaviour; professional supervision; inclusion. | k.dounavi@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5951 |
| Dr Gavin Duffy | Shared Education in Northern Ireland and other societies; educational leadership. | g.duffy@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5260 |
| Dr Laura Dunne | Health and wellbeing; child development; programme evaluation. | l.dunne@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5042 |
| Professor Jannette Elwood | Testing and assessment and their impact on students' lives; gender and its interaction with assessment; educational assessment research and practice. | j.elwood@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5967 |
| Lesley Emerson | Citizenship and human rights education; children’s rights: participation, wellbeing, civil and political rights; children's rights-based and participatory research. | l.emerson@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5927 |
| Dr Mel Engman (sabbatical leave January to June 2025) |
Indigenous/heritage language use and reclamation; language, sign and power; linguistic ethnography; analysis of social media practices. | m.engman@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5158 |
| Dr Jenny Ferguson |
Applied Behaviour Analysis; autism; social communication; play-based intervention, technology-based training; assent; naturalistic intervention; parent-training. |
jenny.ferguson@qub.ac.uk | |
| Maria Hatchell |
Initial Teacher Education, English (Language and Literature), Literacy and Post-Primary Education. |
m.hatchell@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr Leanne Henderson |
Educational Trajectories and Transitions; Language and Education Policy; Educational Assessment; Young People's Educational Experiences. |
leanne.henderson@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 1834 |
| Professor Joanne Hughes | Education in divided societies; inter-group relations; inequalities in education; shared education. | joanne.hughes@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5934 |
| Dr Karen Kerr | Science education and assessment; primary children's attitudes to science and their concept development; teacher professional development for science; outdoor learning. | k.kerr@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5945 |
| Dr Hazel Khamanra |
Initial Teacher Education; Science Teacher Recruitment and Retention: Science Education at Post-Primary Level; Education for Sustainable Development |
h.khamanra@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr Katrina Lloyd | Children’s mental health and wellbeing; survey research with children and young people; secondary data analysis of large-scale survey data. | k.lloyd@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5962 |
| Professor Laura Lundy | International children's rights with a focus on: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; education; decision-making; national education; social security law. | l.lundy@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5942 |
| Professor Alison MacKenzie | Injustice and inequality; SEN/Inclusion; Capability Approach (Nussbaum); education policy; philosophy of emotions; feminism and gender; literacy/linguistic capital. | a.mackenzie@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5930 |
| Professor Tess Maginess | Adult education; innovative, creative and arts-based pedagogies; older people; dementia; mental health; non-traditional learners; literature. | t.maginess@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 2512 |
| Professor Sarah Miller | Social emotional development, academic attainment; programme evaluation, randomised controlled trials and systematic review methods. | s.j.miller@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5944 |
| Professor Daniel Muijs | School and teacher effectiveness, school-to-school collaboration and curriculum. | hos.ssesw@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5929 |
| Dr James Nelson | Interface between religion and education; teacher education; role of religion in school; shared education; role of religion and religious education in teacher education. | j.nelson@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5904 |
| Dr Aisling O'Boyle | Language and education; discourse in educational contexts and intercultural contexts; English language learning and teaching; applying corpus linguistics research to education; knowledge construction; speaking skills. | a.oboyle@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)289097 5935 |
| Dr Liam O'Hare | Prevention and early intervention to improve outcomes of those facing disadvantage; social, emotional and wellbeing outcomes of children and young people; educational attainment. | l.ohare@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)289097 5973 |
| Dr Devon Ramey | Applied Behaviour Analysis; Autism Spectrum Disorder; developmental disabilities; quality of life; challenging behaviour; verbal behaviour; technology-based instruction. | d.ramey@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 1828 |
| Dr Jennifer Roberts | Educational programme design and evaluation; language and literacy; Educational Effectiveness, RCTs, Early Years and Primary Education, SEN/Inclusion. | j.roberts@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 3177 |
| Professor Allen Thurston | Learning and literacy; disability research and research methods; attainment for students from socio-economic disadvantage; impact of vision impairment. | a.thurston@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5169 |
| Dr Sultan Turkan | Bilingual/multilingual education; fairness issues in educational assessments; linguistically and culturally responsive teaching and teacher education; language teacher education. | s.turkan@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 1811 |
Research Staff |
|||
| Dr Maria Cockerill | Improving learning in schools, specifically literacy, with a particular focus on pupils from socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds. Educational programme design and evaluation, including randomised controlled trials. | maria.cockerill@qub.ac.uk | email only |
| Dr Nicole Craig | Early numeracy development, quantitative methods and effectiveness of educational interventions. | n.craig@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 5017 |
| Dr Jayne Duff |
Language Trends for England, Northern Ireland and Wales; language education at primary and post-primary level; young people’s attitudes to languages. |
jayne.duff@qub.ac.uk | |
| Dr Montserrat Fargas-Malet | Small rural primary schools and their relationship with the community. | m.fargas@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 3195 |
| Dr Rebecca Loader | Education and social cohesion, identities in education, faith schools, intercultural education, and intergroup relations. | r.loader@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 1363 |
| Dr Joanne O'Keeffe | Early intervention research and process evaluation in attainment, health and wellbeing; interventions for improving outcomes for children and young people from socio-economic disadvantage. | j.okeeffe@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 3287 |
| Dr Gareth Robinson | Internationalisation of Shared Education, particularly in the US and Israel, and the transnational network structures that emerge from such collaboration. | ga.robinson@qub.ac.uk | +44 (0)28 9097 3164 |
Education at Queen’s embraces a variety of theoretical traditions and methodological innovations to offer a range of stimulating post-graduate programmes within a vibrant and nurturing learning environment. Our ambition is to prepare educators and challenge leaders to utilise theory and research evidence to improve and transform educational practice.
We offer two BA (Hons) Education Studies programmes and a range of postgraduate programmes for pre-service and in-service teachers as well as educational leaders.
Educational Researchers at Queen’s maintain close links with local policymakers and our research is regularly used to inform educational policy. Research in education has also been used to shape the work of major global agencies including UNESCO, UNCRC and UNICEF.
Education articles from our current Newsletter
An article entitled ‘Plugging the Gap: Shared education and the promotion of community relations through schools in Northern Ireland’, by SSESW colleagues Joanne Hughes and Rebecca Loader, has been named as one of 10 ‘landmark studies’ in educational research over the past 10 years by the British Educational Research Association (BERA).
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The School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW) is proud to announce the launch of a pilot Research School initiative between Queen’s University and St Dominic’s Grammar School in Belfast. The initiative draws on the expertise of SSESW colleagues to support the school’s teachers in integrating research into their practice. It also offers opportunities for pupils to develop valuable research skills that will prepare them for future academic and professional pursuits.
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In September 2024, our internationally renowned Centre for Shared Education (CSE) colleagues, in collaboration with the British Council, hosted a group of around 20 public sector officials and NGO representatives from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The group was on a study tour of Northern Ireland schools and contacts to explore issues relating to conflict transformation. They were accompanied by British Council in-country Directors.
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