The covid-19 learning crisis as a challenge and an opportunity for schools: An evidence review and conceptual synthesis of research-based tools for sustainable change

This paper advances our understanding of how schools can become change agents capable of transforming local practice to address the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic. It presents a novel application of cultural-historical activity theory to reinterpret evidence on widespread learning loss and increasing educational inequities resulting from the pandemic, and to identify scalable transformative learning opportunities through reframing the crisis as a double stimulation. By reviewing evidence of the emerging educational landscape, we first develop a picture of the new ‘problem space’ upon which schools must act. We develop a problem space map to serve as the first stimulus to articulate local challenges. Integrating this problem space with research on professional change, we identify conceptual tools to capture learning gaps and implement pedagogic interventions at scale, in order to enhance schools’ agency in directly addressing the crisis. These tools can act as the second stimulus, enabling educators to address local challenges. We conclude by discussing the Covid-19 educational crisis as a unique stimulus for professional learning and outline the potential for durable shifts in educational thinking and practice beyond the pandemic. We argue that this unprecedented historic disruption can be harnessed as a transformative professional learning opportunity. In particular, we consider how research on professional change offers local, scalable interventions and tools that can support educators in preventing the new insights from ‘slipping away’ post-pandemic. Utilising the notions of boundaries and tool-mediated professional change, we examine the ways in which this disruption generates opportunities to envision alternative futures for equitable learning in school.Author 1: The epiSTEMe project [grant number RES-179-25-0003, PI Prof. K. Ruthven] The TEACh project [ES/M005445/1, PI Prof. P. Rose] ESRC Impact Acceleration Grant, University of Cambridge [PI Dr. R. Hofmann] Cambridge University Health Partners Commonwealth Education Trust (PI. Prof. S. Hennessy) Authors 2-8: (2) Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, PhD scholarship (3) Economic and Social Research Council PhD scholarship [ES/P000738/1] (4) Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID), Cambridge Trust, PhD scholarship (5) Economic and Social Research Council [ES/P000738/1] and MRC Epidemiology Unit PhD scholarship (6) Yayasan Khazanah, Cambridge Trust, PhD scholarship (7) Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, UK [TCF180902] PhD scholarship (8) The LEGO Foundatio

Children with language disorder as friends: Interviews with classroom peers to gather their perspectives

Peer reviewed: TrueFunder: LEGO Foundation; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/100018325Funder: Cambridge Trust; FundRef: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003343 Language disorder (LD) is a common childhood condition affecting language development, which can in turn impact children's peer relationships. Although most children with LD are included in mainstream classrooms, there is limited knowledge about the way friendships support or hinder the learning experiences of children with LD in inclusive settings. Typically developing (TD) peers’ views tend to get overlooked when considering inclusion but they need to be heard as they too adapt to inclusive classrooms. In this small-scale study, we explored the perspectives of peers on their friendship quality with children with LD. We conducted friendship interviews with classroom friends (n = 9) of 6–8-year-old children with LD (n = 9), who attended the enhanced provision and mainstream classrooms in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. We used sociometric nomination methods to identify the reciprocal friends of children with LD. We then interviewed these friends using art-based methods and analysed our interview data using thematic framework. Friends of children with LD attending the enhanced provision showed an inclusive mindset and revealed their own strategies for overcoming potential communication barriers. In contrast, friends in full-time mainstream classrooms did not report experiencing communication difficulties when interacting with a peer with LD. We conclude that educational practice should build on those inclusion strategies that children find natural and consider the importance of teaching all children about adjustments that can support inclusion of those with communication difficulties. </jats:p

Participant engagement with play research–examples and lessons learned from the Centre for Play in Education, Development and Learning

Participatory approaches to play research emphasise the active engagement of key stakeholders in all aspects of the research. Ranging from children, parents and educators to policy makers, the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL) at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK, actively engages with a variety of play research stakeholders. The current paper focuses on the ways PEDAL Centre involves children and teachers in its studies. It presents the key literature on participatory research, describes methods followed in the PEDAL Centre and shares insights from applying participatory approaches to play research with children and teachers.LEGO Foundatio