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Research

Inclusion, Society and Education Research Group

This research group is interested in research on inclusion.

Inclusion, Society and Education Research Group logo

We adopt a social scientific approach to a broad range of inclusion-based issues in society and education-based settings.

Members of the group have published extensively in humanities, social science and policy-based journals, as well as contributing to prominent book publications in their areas of expertise.

In addition, the group has successfully acquired external research funding to investigate a broad array of social issues pertaining to inclusion in education, narrative methodologies, youth wellbeing, educational policy and the social return on policy investments for people with disabilities.

Finally, members of the group have also undertaken academic leadership by helping to nominate panel members for the 2021 Research Excellence Framework and fellowships to the Academy of Social Sciences.

Our areas of interest are:

  • Inclusive education
  • Disability and sport
  • Marginalised youth
  • Migration, diaspora, and hybridity
  • Decoloniality
  • Youth leisure cultures
  • Families and parenting
  • Life course outcomes
  • Social, political, and epistemic justice

Get in touch

If you are an organisation that would benefit from our expertise or a researcher who wishes to be part of this group, please email s.swain@yorksj.ac.uk or s.kumar@yorksj.ac.uk.

Research activity

Walker, E. and Walker, L. (forthcoming) Mapping the Importance of Place, Identity and Local Ways of Knowing in S. Pike and E. Rawlings-Smith Encountering Place in Education.

Su, F., Wood, M. and Tribe, R. (in press) 'Dare to be silent': re-conceptualising silence as a positive pedagogical approach in schools. Research in Education.

Su, F. and Wood, M. (in press) Relational pedagogy in higher education: what might it look like in practice and how do we develop it? International Journal for Academic Development.

Wood, M. and Su, F. (2022) Pursuing Teaching Excellence in Higher Education. Towards an Inclusive Perspective. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Wood, M., Pennington, A. and Su, F. (2022) 'Back to the Future': thinking with Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and Alec Clegg (1909-1986) on the promise of education. Oxford Review of Education.

Dransfield, M., Wood, M. and Su, F. (2022) Following the yellow brick road? Developing inspiring learning and teaching in the pursuit of teaching excellence in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education.

Dobson, T. and Stephenson, L. (2022) A trans-European perspective on how artists can support teachers, parents and carers to engage with young people in the creative arts. Children & Society.

Dobson, T. (2022) "A structure that other people are directing": Doctoral Students’ Writing of Qualitative Theses in Education. The Qualitative Report, 27 (4). pp. 997-1010.

Dobson, J. and Dobson, T. (2021) Empowering student voice in a secondary school: Character Education through project-based learning with students as teachers. Teacher Development, 25 (2). pp. 103-119.

Su, F., Wood, M., Alerby, E., Da Re, L. and Felisatti, E. (2021) ''When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won': exploring the value and appropriation of silence and quietude in academia'. European Journal of Higher Education.

Haines Lyon, C. (2021) Democratic Engagement. In: Rose, Jo, Jay, Tim, Mazzoli-Smith, Laura and Todd, Liz, (eds.) Respositioning Out-of-School Learning: Methodological challenges and possibilities for researching learning beyond school. Bingley, Emerald Publishing Ltd (In Press)

Clark, J., Haines Lyon, C., Jay, T., and Laing, K. (2021) Ethical practice in out of school learning. In: Rose, Jo, Tim, Jay, Goodall, Janet, Mazzoli-Smith, Laura and Todd, Liz, (eds.) Respositioning Out-of-School Learning: Methodological challenges and possibilities for researching learning beyond school. Bingley, Emerald Publishing Ltd (In Press)

Ashbridge, C., Clarke, M., Bell, Beth T., Sauntson, H. and Walker, E (2021) Democratic citizenship, critical literacy and educational policy in England: a conceptual paradox? Cambridge Journal of Education. pp. 1-17.

Clarke, M., Haines Lyon, C., Walker, E., Walz, L., Collet, J., and Pritchard, K. (2021) The banality of education policy: Discipline as extensive evil in the neoliberal era. Power and Education.

Swain, S. (2021) Voices from the margins: Khat-chewing, devotional leisure, and ambivalence in the British-Somali diaspora. In: Caudwell, J and Di Martini-Ugolotti, N. (eds.) Leisure and forced migration: Reframing critical analysis of lives lived in the asylum system. London. Routledge.

Swain, S., Lashua, B., Spracklen, K. (2021) Khat-chewing, moral spacing and belonging: Sociological insights into the cultural space of the mafrish in the leisure lives of older and middle-aged British-Somali males. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure. 4(3), pp. 1-22.

Haines Lyon, C (2020) Working towards a democratic home-school imaginary. In Shostak, J, Clarke, M, Hammersley Fletcher, L (Eds) Paradoxes of Democracy, Leadership and Education: struggling for social justice in the twenty first century. London: Routledge.

Wood, M., Pennington, A. and Su, F. (2020) ‘The Past No Longer Casts Light Upon the Future; Our Minds Advance in Darkness’: the impact and legacy of Sir Alec Clegg’s educational ideas and practices in the West Riding of Yorkshire (1945-1974). British Journal of Educational Studies, 69 (3) 307-326.

Glazzard, J. and Trussler, S. (2020) Supporting Mental Health in Primary and Early Years: a practice based approach. London: Sage.

Hague, N., Swain, S., and Madigan, D. (2020) The 'Goalball Family': An Exploration of the Social Value of Goalball Amongst Players and Communities in the UK. Goalball UK/ York St John University.

Hague, N., Swain, S., Smith, H., and Harland, R. (2020) Youth, Community and Social Wellbeing: Investigating the Role of Youth Groups in the Health and Social Wellbeing of Young People in Semi-Rural Areas in the North of England. Office for Students/ Future HY/ York St John University.

Stephenson, L and Dobson, T (2020) Releasing the Socio-Imagination: Children’s voices on Creativity, Capability and Mental Well-being. Support for Learning, 35 (4). pp. 454-472.

Dobson, T and Stephenson, L and De Arede, A (2020) Writing a Novel with Roma Primary School Children: Tensions in Disrupting Aetonormativity. Children's Literature in Education.

Ritchie, L., Swain, S., Bottomley, S., and Smith, H. (2019) Service children's thoughts on applying for university: a qualitative study exploring why young people from military families in North Yorkshire are under-represented in higher education institutions. Project Report. Office for Students/ Future HY/ York St John University, York.

Sloanes, O., Swain, S., Bottomley, S., and Smith, H. (2019) Barriers to Accessing University in Coastal Communities: A qualitative study exploring why young people living along the North Yorkshire Coast are underrepresented in Britain's Higher Education institutions. NCOP/York St John University, York.

Dobson, T., Stephenson, L., and De Arede, A (2019) Disrupting aetonormativity: involving children in the writing of literature for publication. English in Education. pp. 1-16.

Dobson, T., and Stephenson, LS (2019) "I think it fits in": Using Process Drama to Promote Agentic Writing with Primary School Children. Literacy, 53 (2). pp. 69-76.

Dobson, T., and Rose, A. (2019) The use of technology to enable school governors to participate remotely in meetings: A solution to skilled governor shortages in schools? Management in Education.

Garratt, D., and Kumar, S. (2019) Physical Education, Citizenship and Social Justice: A Position Statement. Quest, 71 (2). pp. 188-201.

Su, F. and Wood, M. (2019) Reinterpreting teaching excellence. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 21 (2) 78-82.

Wood, M. and Su, F. (2019) Parents as 'stakeholders' and their conceptions of teaching excellence in English higher education. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 21 (2) 99-111.

Bright, G. & Pugh, C. (eds.) (2019) Youth Work: Global Futures. Rotterdam: Sense.

Swain, S. (2019) Sport, Power and Politics: Exploring Sport and Social Control within the Changing Context of Modernity. International Journal of the Sociology of Leisure. 2(4), pp. 385-402.

Swain, S., Spracklen, K., Lashua, B. (2018) Khat-Chewing in Liminal Leisure Spaces: British-Somali Youth on the Margins. Leisure Studies, 37 (4), pp. 440-451.

Swain, S., (2018) From a symbol of 'Broken Britain', grime has become a voice for the voiceless. The Conversation.

Swain, S. (2018) Grime Music and Dark Leisure: Exploring Grime, Morality and Synoptic Control. Annals of Leisure Research., 21(4), pp. 480-492.

Haines Lyon, C. (2018) Democratic parent engagement: relational and dissensual. Power and Education. 10 (2). pp. 195-208.

Wood, M., Pennington, A. and Su, F. (2018) Pre-figurative practice and the educational leadership of Sir Alec Clegg in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England (1945-1974). Journal of Educational Administration and History, 50 (4) 299-315.

Dobson, T and Stephenson, LS (2018) Challenging boundaries to cross: primary teachers exploring drama pedagogy for creative writing with theatre educators in the landscape of performativity. Professional Development in Education.

Dobson, T., and Rose, A., Parton, G., and Hart, M. (2018) Boundary Crossing in School Governing Bodies: Perspectives from the Business Community. Educational Management Administration and Leadership.

Dobson, T and Stephenson, L (2018) Preservice Teachers' Identity-Agency With Progressive Writing Pedagogies. Global Journal of Human Science: Linguistics and Education.

Su, F. and Wood, M. (Eds) (2017) Cosmopolitan Perspectives on Academic Leadership in Higher Education. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Wood, M. and Su, F. (2017) What makes an excellent lecturer? Academics' perspectives on the discourse of 'teaching excellence' in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 22 (4) 451-467.

Dobson, T and Stephenson, L (2017) Primary Pupils' Creative Writing: Enacting Identities in a Community of Writers. Literacy, 51 (3). pp. 162-168.

Swain, S. (2017). The Khat Controversy: Dark Leisure in a Liquid Modern World. Annals of Leisure Research, 20 (5), pp. 610-625.

Riches, G. Rankin-Wright, A. Swain, S. Kuppan, V. (2017). Moving Forward: Critical Reflections on Doing Social Justice Research. In. Long, J., Fletcher, T. and Watson, B. (eds) Sport, Leisure and Social Justice. London: Routledge.

Spracklen, K. Lashua, B. Sharpe, E. Swain, S. (2017) The Palgrave Handbook of Leisure Theory. Basingstoke. Palgrave.

Bright, G., Pugh, C., and Clarke, M. (2017) Youth work, agonistic democracy and transgressive enjoyment in England. In: Pickard, Sarah and Bessant, Judith, (eds.) Young People Re-Generating Politics in Times of Crises. Palgrave studies in young people and politics. London, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 315-332

Riches, G. Spracklen, K. Swain, S. (2017) Northernness, Northern Culture and Northern Narratives. London. Routledge.

Haines Lyon, C (2016) For the love of libraries: a student eye view. Taking Stock, 24 (2). p. 18.

Fletcher, T. and Swain, S. (2016) Strangers of the North: South Asians, cricket, and the culture of 'Yorkshireness'. Journal for Cultural Research, 20 (1), pp. 86-100.

Dobson, T (2016) "Just because I’m not a published author does not mean that I'm not a writer": Primary Trainee Teachers’ Identities as Creative Writers. Writing in Practice: The Journal of Creative Writing Research, 2.

Su, F. and Wood, M. (2016) Towards an ‘ordinary’ cosmopolitanism in everyday academic practice in higher education. Journal of Educational History and Administration, 39 (1), 1-15.

Wood, M. & Tribe, R. (2016) 'In a silent way: student perceptions of silence in community'. Pastoral Care in Education, 34 (3) 144-155.

Haines Lyon, C (2015) Exploring community philosophy as a tool for parental engagement in a primary school. International Journal for Transformative Research, 3 (1).

Trussler, S. and Robinson, D. (2015) Inclusive Practice in the Primary School: a guide for teachers. London: Sage.

Norris, P., and Pugh, C. (2015) Local authority youth work. In: Bright, Graham, (ed.) Youth work: histories, policy and contexts. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 80-101

Goalball UK (2020)

The 'Goalball Family': An Exploration of the Social Value of Goalball Amongst Players and Communities in the UK.

Download report: Goalball Final Report (PDF, 4.7 MB)

Office for Students (2019)

Youth, Community and Social Wellbeing: Investigating the Role of Youth Groups in the Health and Social Wellbeing of Young People in Semi-Rural Areas in the North of England.

Download report: Social Wellbeing Final Report (PDF, 5.8 MB)

NCOP (National Collaborative Outreach Programme) (2018)

Service children's thoughts on applying for university: a qualitative study exploring why young people from military families in North Yorkshire are under-represented in higher education institutions.

Download report: Service Children's Thoughts Final Report (PDF, 609 kB)

NCOP (National Collaborative Outreach Programme) (2018)

Barriers to Accessing University in Coastal Communities: A qualitative study exploring why young people living along the North Yorkshire Coast are underrepresented in Britain's Higher Education institutions.

Download report: Barriers to Accessing University Final Report (PDF, 4.6 MB)

Group members

Simon Kumar

Simon Kumar

Group leader

Dr Spencer Swain

Group leader

Emma Walker staff profile image

Dr Emma Walker

Academic

Sarah Trussler

Dr Sarah Trussler

Academic

Sue Shippen

Sue Shippen

Academic

Helen Rowe

Dr Helen Rowe

Academic

Lucy Sors

Academic

Michelle Yeoman

Michelle Yeoman

Academic

Profile image of Carole Pugh

Carole Pugh

Academic

Tom Dobson staff profile image

Professor Tom Dobson

Academic

Dr Margaret Wood

Academic

Tiffany Bisby O'Rorke

Tiffany Bisby O'Rourke

Academic

Hannah Cutting

PhD researcher

Hilary Conroy

Academic

Joan Walton

Dr Joan Walton

Academic

Profile image of Charlotte Haines Lyon

Dr Charlotte Haines Lyon

Academic

Trish Hobman

Dr Trish Hobman

Academic

Dr Steven Cock

Academic

Brian Rock

Dr Brian Rock

Academic

Alec Scott

Academic

Ian Wilson

Ian Wilson

Academic

Catherine Samiei

Dr Catherine Samiei

Academic

Staff profile image of Margaret Meredith

Dr Margaret Meredith

Academic

Emma Clarke

Academic

Dawn Kennedy

Academic

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