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Our Research

The Department of Educational Research was established at Lancaster in 1967 and is recognised for its excellence in terms of both teaching and research. The Department was ranked in the top twenty of eighty two Departments of Education in the RAE 2008. 80% of our research output is considered to be of international standing and 45% has been graded as internationally excellent and world leading.

The Department benefits from its location within a very strong Faculty of Arts and Social Science(FASS), which also has a history of excellence in research. Many research collaborations exist between members of the different departments in the Faculty enabling a lively, interdisciplinary research culture. We also have strong links with Lancaster's internationally renowned Management School through our overlapping interests in areas such as technology-assisted professional learning, activity systems and higher education.

As a relatively small department we focus strategically to maximise both our impact in practice and policy, and our academic contribution to the field. We consistently generate substantial volumes of research and evaluation work. Over the last five years we have had 136 externally funded research and development projects. We have particular strengths in our key areas of post-school education and training, informal learning, the psychology of teaching and learning and the application of new learning technologies.

The department takes a 'public policy research' stance, which sees educational research knowledge as developing in dialogue with concerns and debates in the public policy sphere and within civil society. We consciously promote and reflect on the interconnections between practitioner, policy and scientific agendas and this approach shapes our discussions within the department and our responses to new opportunities for collaborative research and knowledge transfer activities.

Also central to our approach is the development of a new generation of researchers who are theoretically widely informed, methodologically competent and innovative and who are well networked into policy and practice. Our postgraduate courses (including our Masters courses and two taught PhD Programmes) are a key part of this strategy.