Within the umbrella concepts of knowledge. learning, policy, pedagogy, the curriculum and assessment the foci of recent and current research projects of researchers in the group, funded and unfunded in the UK and internationally, include:

• pedagogies and curriculum effective in responding to the needs of all students, including those who experience difficulties in learning, and those who support them;
• literacy learning in schools, most especially in relation to those students who experience barriers;
• approaches to understanding, assessing and addressing behavioural issues in schools;
• approaches to teacher professional development, in particular as it relates to the training and development of new teachers as well as in-school practitioner research work;
• learners’ views of what helps and hinders their learning and ways in which these views can support the development of effective pedagogy;
• policy and practice in special educational needs provision in schools.

Fields of knowledge and areas of investigation continue to develop and intersect. Currently conceptual approaches used by research group members include, but are not limited to, socio-cultural understandings of learning and behaviour and the theoretical framework offered by the concept of communities of practice elaborated, most notably by Lave and Wenger.

Most recent and current research-related projects

Members of the group have been, and currently are, working on a number of projects with members of other groups in IREd and external colleagues.

1. In 2019, a co-edited book, Wearmouth J and Goodwyn, A (eds) Pupil, teacher and family voice in educational institutions, led by this research group, was published by Routledge, with chapters focused on voice in educational contexts that were authored by 12 members of staff with 2 external colleagues in New Zealand. In this volume, the term ‘voice’ refers to the values, opinions, beliefs and perspectives of students, families, teachers and senior management of institutions in the education system. It also refers to the extent to which those values, opinions, beliefs, and perspectives are considered and included when important decisions are being made. We acknowledge that, while the concept of voice is given in the singular, the groups to which we give voice in this book are not intended to represent a unified body of beliefs, perspectives, and cultural values. Rhetoric associated with the concept of voice in education has grown increasingly popular in recent decades. This predicated on the belief that students will achieve more, that parents and families will feel more confidence in the institution, and that teachers will be more effective and professionally fulfilled if the senior management listen to, and act upon, the values, opinions and beliefs of the people community associated with it. However, rhetoric is not always the same as what is actually experienced in reality. This book was designed to explore some of the tensions in this area of education.

2. Currently the group is leading a further major writing project: a co-authored book to be published by the Open University Press in 2021: Wearmouth, J and Lindley, K Bringing the curriculum to life. There are 14 members of staff, cross-groups, involved in authoring the chapters, with a head teacher and an external academic also. The focus of this book is acknowledgement of the importance of creating curricula that engage learners in their studies at all stages of formal education if they are to achieve levels of which they are capable, and, hence, leave school or college with enhanced future life chances. The rich and diverse collection of contributions made in this book reflect a range of values, assumptions and ideas about how and in what ways different groups and communities may construct, enact and imaginatively extend curriculum within (and sometimes outside) of state-maintained schools at different levels and in different areas of the curriculum. A core intention of this book, is to offer its readership a wider lens through which to revisit and reflect on some of the assumptions that inform the design and delivery of curriculum in practice. Some of the overarching questions and ideas raised foreground the implicit tensions and opportunities connected to the rights of learners, the role of parents, the state and other stakeholders.

3. The group continues to maintain its external links with Maori colleagues at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. The group leader was commissioned to work on the evaluation of the research and development project Te Kotahitanga that was designed to raise the achievement of Maori students in secondary schools and, later, as a consultant on a further project Kia Eke Panuku. Publications from these projects and with others at the University of Waikato include:

• Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Wearmouth, J. & Peter, M. (2012) 'Developing an Effective Education Reform Model for Indigenous and other Minoritized Students', School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 23(1), pp. 49-70
• Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Wearmouth, J. & Peter, M. (2012) ‘Professional Development, Changes In teacher practice and improvements in indigenous students’ educational performance: A case study from New Zealand', Teaching and Teacher Education, 28 (5), pp. 694-705
• Bishop, R, Berryman, M & Wearmouth, J (2013) Developing an effective education reform model for indigenous and other minoritised students, Wellington, NZ: NZCER
• Berryman, M. & Wearmouth, J. (2018) ‘development of an observation tool designed to increase cultural relationships and responsive pedagogy to raise the achievement of Māori students in secondary classrooms in Aotearoa New Zealand’, Journal of Education and Development; 2(2), pp. 32-45
• Wearmouth, J (2017) ‘Employing culturally responsive pedagogy to foster literacy learning in schools’, Cogent Education, 4(1), DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2017.1295824
• Wearmouth, J, Berryman, M & Glynn, T (2013) ‘Culturally Responsive Approaches to Challenging Behaviour of Minority Ethnic Students’, Chapter 31, in T. Cole, H. Daniels & J. Visser The Routledge International Companion to Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, pp. 280-87, London: Routledge
• Wearmouth, J. & Berryman, M. (2012) ‘Viewing restorative approaches to addressing challenging behaviour of minority ethnic students through a community of practice lens’, Cambridge Journal of Education, 42(2), pp. 253-268
• A jointly-authored chapter has been commissioned from a group member and Waikato colleagues by external academics.

4. A research project investigating the views of special educational needs co-ordinators about effective provision for autistic learners in mainstream schools was completed and published in 2019:

• Wearmouth, J. & Butler, C. (2019) Special educational needs co-ordinators’ perceptions of effective provision for including autistic children in primary and middle schools’, Education 3-13, pp. 258-272

5. A pilot research project focusing on the use of recorded books to enhance enjoyment and engagement in reading and reading competence among secondary-aged learners with barriers to accessing literature is underway in partnership with a charity and a secondary school.

6. Group members continue to carry out research in special educational needs and disability, and publish single- and co-authored theory- and research-informed books in this area. Publications include:

• Wearmouth, J, Gosling, A, Beams J & Davydaitis, S (2017) Understanding special educational needs and disabilities in the early years, London: Routledge
• Wearmouth, J. (in press for 2021) Special educational needs and disabilities in schools: A critical introduction, 2nd ed, London: Bloomsbury
• Wearmouth, J. (2016) Effective SENCO: Meeting the challenge, Maidenhead: McGraw Hill/Open University Press
• Wearmouth, J. (2019) (3rd edition) Special educational needs: the basics, London: Routledge
• Wearmouth, J (in press for 2021) Special and additional needs and disabilities, London: Sage