Youth, Development & Social Practices

The focus on young people, their development and social practices, particularly in England, has historically been associated with moral panics related to wellbeing, criminogenic or educational concerns. At best, positive outcomes for young people have been largely attributed to organisations that have influence over their lives.

Consequently, youth voice, personal agency and youth practices have become increasingly scrutinised at organisational level through the lens of market led objectives that focus primarily on addressing youth, their development and social practices as units of economic capital (see DfE 2016). The positioning of young peoples’ voices that reflect their concerns and enable them to participate in the decision-making processes of organisations to which they attend has become increasingly marginalised.

More recently though, a body of research and practice is emerging in England and in wider jurisdictions internationally that invites young people to participate in the processes of research and subsequent social and organisational change. Drawing on models of action and participant action research, their experiences and concerns position the reader, practitioners and policy makers with them as collaborators in social and organisational activism. Here, young people, their activities, voices and concerns are not disassociated from their civic responsibilities as citizens. However, they are also valued as an end in themselves and in response, their voices brought to the table as equal participants in wider social and developmental change.

This area of expertise provides a platform that showcases research, innovation and wider activities being developed in collaboration with young people, community members and practitioner and academic colleagues to build on this emerging body of work. Our impact is a work in progress that is starting to see change at personal, organisational and policy level but with young people as drivers of change at its heart.

Our research is frequently published in leading academic and practitioner publications and journals, including the Journal of Youth Studies, International Journal of Social Pedagogy, The Conversation, Time Education Supplement and the British Journal of Counselling and Psychology. We hold advisory roles with OCR equality and diversity committee and collaborate with the national Youth Agency and Social Pedagogy Professional Association.

Our research and innovation focuses on the following key topics

Young people, online / offline social practices
Youth voice on exclusion, absenteeism and education disengagement
Young people and participation action research
Multi-disciplinary research and collaboration
Youth, community, advocacy and mentoring
Young people, family and relationship

Partnerships and collaborations

We work in close collaboration with local secondary schools in �� and across West Sussex, with regional Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH) services, and Sussex Police.

Publication highlights

Edwards, S., Evea, R., McCabe, G., McCarrick, A. (Accepted for publication 2022) "Lessons from youthwork", Square Pegs: Inclusivity, Compassion and Fitting In – A Guide for Schools
Edwards, S., Bakkali, Y., Kirk, A., Cobb, C., Salanson, B., Walls, N., Kimmins, V. (2021) "Voices from beyond the school gates: students’ and their parents’ lived experience of school exclusion", The Buckingham Journal of Education
Edwards, S., Parmar, E. (2020) "Does absence makes the heart grow fonder? Students' perspectives of curriculum, absenteeism and their pursuit of the good life", The Buckingham Journal of Education
Nguyen, L., van Oort, B., Davis, H., van der Meulen, E., Dawe‑McCord, C., Franklin, A., Willem Gorter, J., Morris, C., Ketelaar, M. (2022) "Exploring the “how” in research partnerships with young partners by experience: lessons learned in six projects from Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom", BMC Research Involvement and Engagement
Franklin, A., Brady, G., Bradley, L. (2020) "The medicalisation of disabled children and young people in child sexual abuse: Impacts on prevention, identification, response and recovery in the United Kingdom", Global Studies of Childhood
Toft, A. (Editor), Franklin, A. (Editor) (2020) "Young, Disabled and LGBT+: Voices, Identities and Intersections", Routledge Research in Gender and Society

Research projects

Disabled children have an increased risk of experiencing abuse, but we know that this group do not always receive the best child protection service. Often their abuse goes unnoticed and/or support is not put in place to better protect them, or help them to recover from abuse. This systematic review synthesised existing UK evidence so that we can learn what works best to protect and support disabled children and young people who are at risk of, or who have experienced, abuse. This study focused on research which had sought the views of disabled children and young people, parents/carers and practitioners.
Working in partnership with two highly respected expert national voluntary organisations (PACE and ACT), and utilising in-depth interviews, this study will explore the experiences of up to 20 parents/carers of children and young people with SEND (from across England and Wales) who have experienced child sexual exploitation. The aim of the study will be to highlight the specific needs of this group to inform policy and practice development.
Disabled young people are often invisible in local, national and international decision-making forums. This British Academy Youth Futures funded project seeks to address this through an innovative partnership between the ��, disabled activists, disabled person-led organisations (DPOs) and disabled young people across the Global South and North.

Specifically, the project team is looking to adapt a disabled young people–led research methodology developed in the UK to meet the cultural/political environment of the Philippines.
Looking at the attainment gap in UK Higher Education between students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and their white peers, this study aims to draw on and extend the principles and working practices of a participatory action research project that are framed with Freire’s decoding model.

Discover our areas of expertise

Youth, development and social practices is one of our five areas of expertise in Education research – explore the others below.

Early years education

In this area of expertise, we're exploring the experiences and opportunities that play a role in the development of young children.

Teacher's hand extracting early years book from shelf

Further education

We're exploring all aspects of further education, from adult education to transitions from military service, leadership and management to further education student experience.