Research projects
CIE is committed to high-quality research that can be used to inform policy and practice at a range of levels and in a wide variety of contexts.
We have a strong history of research excellence in leading large and long-term projects for international agencies, as well as for conducting consultancies with and for national governments, NGOs and other bodies.
Current
- Strengthening Rapid Education Responses in Acute Emergencies: Jan - Dec 2021
Lead Researcher (PI): Dr Sean Higgins
Co-PI: Professor Mario Novelli
Co-Investigators: Dr Gabrielle Daoust & Dr Birgul Kutan
Sponsor: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Funding amount: $300,000 - Action on Children's Harmful Work in African Agriculture: Jan 2020 - Jan 2027
Researchers: Professor Máiréad Dunne & Dr Sara Humphreys
Sponsor: Department for International Development (DFID) - Political Economy of Education in Conflict Contexts - The PEER Network: Jan 2020 - Jan 2024
Lead Researcher (PI): Professor Mario Novelli
Co-PI: A.Smith
Co-Investigators: Professor Naureen Durrani & Professor Azeem Badroodien
Sponsors: UKRI Global Challenge Research Fund Network Plus Grant
Funding amount: £2,000,000 - Youth, Gender and Education: Changing landscapes of work in rural sub-Saharan Africa (WE-SAY): March 2020 - June 2022
Lead researcher: Dr Barbara Crossouard
Co-researchers: Professor Máiréad Dunne (Sussex), Professor Relebohile Moletsane (University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa), and Dr Moses Dauda (Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria)
Sponsor: British Academy - Process Evaluation of the Ongoing Government Adoption of the Second Chance Education Programme in Ethiopia: Feb 2020 - June 2022
Lead Researcher (PI): Professor Kwame Akyeampong
Co-Investigators: Dr Jo Westbrook and Dr Sean Higgins
Sponsor: The Luminos Fund / Dubai Cares
Funding amount: £43,058In February 2020, Professor Kwame Akyeampong (who recently left Sussex for a role at the Open University), Dr Jo Westbrook and Dr Sean Higgins secured the funding to carry out a three-year process evaluation of the Ethiopian Government's adoption of the Second Chance (SC) Education programme for out-of-school children. The award followed an earlier mixed-methods longitidinal study in 2018 by Sussex researchers which illustrated that pedagogy and teacher training made a considerable impact on learning outcomes and on children's resilience and aptitude for learning and this enabled them to transition to public primary schools and successfully complete. Indeed, it was the compelling evidence of the impact of SC pedagogy which prompted the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia to adopt the programme.
Informed by the success, the Ethiopian government partnered with The Luminos Fund to scale up the initiative and pilot government adoption of the programme so that by the end of the evaluation period (June 2022) the SC programme would be incorporated into annual budgets and the operation plans of four Ethiopian regions: Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR and Tigray.
The evaluation focuses on system-level scaling up of the Speed School model and research targets (i) Ministry of Educatio officials responsible for the overall strategy, (ii) regional and district education officials repsonsible for the integration process and (iii) headteachers and teachers who will be iterating and innovating the model in government schools.
Drawing on prior experience of researching and evaluating the SC programme in Ethiopia and Liberia, Jo and Sean will work with Ethiopian researchers to look at teacher training, classroom observations and parent/community relations.
This project provides a great opportunity for CIE to build on previous research into accelerated learning programmes by foregrounding how innovative pedagogies may be taken up at national and systemic level, consolidating CIE as a specialist research centre in the field of interventions for out-of-school children. Moreover, it demonstrates the huge impact of Sussex research on one of the most important challenges facing the field of education and development: out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, this research demonstrates how CIE's different research themes - education in conflict, transformative pedagogies, gender and identities - come together fruitfully in its research endeavors.
- Social Movement, Learning and Knowledge Production in the Struggle for Peace and Social Justice: Jan 2018 - June 2021
Lead Researcher (PI): Professor Mario Novelli
Co-researchers: Dr Birgul Kutan & Dr Patrick Kane
Sponsor: ESRC
Funding Amount: £442, 670Visit project website knowledge4struggle
- Comparative Study of Teacher Education in India, South Africa and England: March 2018 - May 2021
Researcher: Professor Yusuf Sayed & Professor Simon Thompson
Sponsor: Ministry of Human and Resources Development, India SPARC Project and UKIERI
Funding amount: $30,000-50,000 USD - Assessment of Education Strategies and Interventions Adopted in Jordan as a Response to the Syrian Crisis: July 2018 - March 2021
Lead Researcher (PI): Dr Linda Morrice
Co-researchers: Dr Mariam Attia, Dr Marcos Delprato, Professor Yusuf Sayed & Professor Gillian Hampden-Thompson
Sponsor: Queen Rania Foundation
Funding Amount: £146,300This mixed methods research project examined how educational interventions in Jordan have enabled access to quality education for Syrian and Jordanian students and fostered social cohesion in Jordan. Quantitative data was collected from over 3,000 students at different categories of MoE schools (host community, Syrian second shift, regular and camp schools), and non-formal learning settings (NFLCs). In depth qualitative data was collected via interviews with school principals and teachers, classroom observations, and focus groups with students and parents.
Four working papers and a final report were produced as part of this study:
- Younes, M., and Morrice, L. (2019): The Education of Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Issues of Access and Quality. A review of policies and initiatives (2012-2018). Centre for International Education and Development, University of Sussex.
- Salem, H. and Morrice, L. (2019): A Review of Social Cohesion Initiatives and Challenges - with a focus on Jordan and education, Centre for International Education (CIE), University of Sussex, UK.
- Younes, M. and Morrice, L. (2019): The Education of Syrian Refugees in Jordan: Summary of Demand-side Constraints and Interventions. Centre for International Education and Development, University of Sussex, Brighton UK.
- Delprato, M. Morrice, L. and Al-Nahi, S. (2019): A Summary of Key Patterns in the Jordanian Education System by School Type, Gender and Region. Centre for International Education and Development, University of Sussex, Brighton UK.
Six policy briefs were also produced as part of the project:
- Educational interventions in Jordan as a response to the Syrian crisis: learning and social cohesion for all?
- Education interventions in Jordan as a response to the Syrian crisis: learning and social cohesion for all? (Executive summary)
- Jordanian and Syrian students’ learning outcomes in camp, second shift and integrated schools.
- Access, equality and social cohesion for Syrian refugees: What teaching and learning processes are effective?
- Teaching and learning approaches promoting access, equality and social cohesion for Syrian refugees: How are teachers and school leaders supported?
- Building acceptance and improving social cohesion between refugee and host populations: What formal and non-formal education and protective strategies are effective?
The project contributed directly to CIE’s work on the role of education in conflict affected areas, and our work on improving equitable access to education for all. It highlights the importance of quality education and pedagogical approaches which foster social cohesion and well being among refugee and host community students, and the support needs for teachers to implement these approaches in practice.
A selection of some recently completed projects
- Technical Support for the Inclusive Education Project in Uganda (consultancy): April 2016 - Dec 2020
Researchers: Dr Jo Westbrook and Dr Jacqui Shepherd
Sponsor: Sightsavers
Funding amount: £47,542This inclusive education project has been working on the development of more inclusive classrooms at primary level through a collaboration between the University of Kyambogo, Uganda, Disabled Peoples Organisations and Sightsavers, and in conjunction with the close involvement of the Ministry of Education, Uganda, and the University of Sussex.
As consultants, Jo Westbrook and Jacqui Shepherd work with Kyambogo, the National Union of Disabled People and the National Society for Disabled Children to develop a Certificate Course in Inclusive Education, comprising ten interactive modules for pairs of tutors to take from all 54 Primary Teacher Colleges. Jo taught some of the modules together with Kyambogo staff on two of the three residential training weeks at the specialist SEND PTC of Lira in the North of Uganda in 2017 and 2018. The impact of the Certificate on tutors has been considerable, with many using the word ‘conversion’ to indicate the profound challenge to their prior beliefs about disability and changes made to how they teach and observe their trainees. Several have independently forged links went outside their PTC to work with learners with disabilities in local refugee camps and at a Deaf School.
A second plank of the project was the orientation towards inclusion for all Coordinating Centre tutors who deliver CPD to teachers in the field, Inspectors and District Education Offices, carried out by staff from Kyambogo and Sightsavers.
Some 100 tutors have now graduated with the Certificate who in turn have taught their PTC colleagues through an Abridged Version of the Certificate, also developed by Sussex. The final five months of Sussex involvement focuses on working with Kyambogo to revise the ten modules ready to be slotted into the new B.Ed degree course curriculum with its longer school practicum, incorporating the interactive pedagogic elements used in the face to face teaching.
In working in such a collaborative manner with a variety of relevant in-country stakeholders, this project contributes to CIE’s ways of working with Southern actors, and directly works towards greater social justice at a practice level for tutors, trainees and most importantly learners with disability in mainstream classrooms.
- Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Youth Employment in sub-Saharan Africa - A mixed methods study: April 2017 - March 2020
Lead Researcher: Dr James Sumberg (IDS)
Co-Researchers: Dr Barbara Crossouard & Professor Máiréad Dunne
Sponsor: IFAD - Safe and Quality Education for Girls and Boys in Displacement Situations in Ethiopia and Somalia: March 2018 - Feb 2020
Lead Researcher (PI): Professor Yusuf Sayed
Co-researchers: Dr Nimi Hoffmann & Farzana Bardai
Sponsor: EUEC BRiCE Program
Funding amount: €5, 890,000 (total grant) / £225,198 (Sussex Portion) - Research into the Curriculum and Pedagogy of the Second Chance Programme in Liberia: Dec 2018 - July 2019
Lead Researcher (PI): Dr Jo Westbrook
Co-Researchers: Dr Sean Higgins & Professor Kwame Akyeampong
Sponsor: The Luminos Fund
Funding amount: £62,899 - Education for Out-of-school Children with Disabilities in Jordan (consultancy): 2018-19
Researcher: Dr Jacqui Shepherd
Sponsor: Queen Rania Foundation
Funding Amount: £14,460 - Improving Education for Refugee Background Students: Feb - Sept 2018
Lead Researcher (PI): Dr Linda Morrice
Sponsor: Sussex Learning Network (SLN:COP Innovation Fund)
Funding Amount: £7,973
- Understanding Complementary Basic Education in Ghana: Sept 2017 - Dec 2018
Lead Researcher (PI): Professor Kwame Akyeampong
Co-Researcher: Dr Sean Higgins
Sponsor: DFID
Funding Amount: £131,000 - Effectiveness and Efficiency of Secondary Education in sub-Saharan Africa: Aug 2017 - June 2018
Lead Researcher (PI): Professor Kwame Akyeampong
Co-Researchers: Dr Marcos Delprato & Emeritus Professor Keith Lewin
Sponsor: The Mastercard Foundation, Toronto, Canada
Funding Amount: £192,000 - Optimising Refugee Resettlement in the UK: July 2014 - Feb 2018
Research team: Dr Linda Morrice, Professor Michael Collyer, Professor Rupert Brown and Dr Linda Tip
Sponsor: ESRCPROJECT PAPERS
Roundtable Meeting Report on Optimising Refugee Resettlement: March 2019
Integration of Resettled Refugees in the UK: FINAL REPORT
English Language for Resettled Refugees: POLICY BRIEF
Forced Migration Review: Special issue on resettlement (Feb 2017)
- Higher Education, Internationalisation and Mobility: Jan 2015 - Dec 2017
See details on the web pages for this research study.
- Engaging Teachers in Peacebuilding in Post-conflict Contexts: Sept 2014 - Sept 2016
Lead Researcher: Professor Yusuf Sayed
Sponsor: ESRC-DFIDSee details on the web pages for this research study.
- Research Consortium on Education and Peacebuilding: 2013-16
Lead Researcher: Professor Mario Novelli
Co-Researchers: Professor Naureen Durrani, Professor Yusuf Sayed & Dr Laila Kadiwal
Sponsor: UNICEF
Visit the Consortium's own website - Education Sector Governance, Inequality, Conflict and Peacebuilding in Kenya and South Sudan: Sept 2014- Dec 2015
Lead Researcher: Professor Mario Novelli
Sponsor: UNICEF