糖心原创

Centre for Research in Educational Leadership and Management (CRELM)

CRELM projects

blue/green background with intertwined cogs, lightblub in foreground portraying ideas and thinking

CRELM members have substantial experience in relation to a range of research approaches and methodologies including large mixed methods studies, longitudinal studies, multi-perspective case studies, action research, comparative studies, policy analysis and programme evaluations.

Current projects

A study of multi-grade teaching in English primary schools

Multi-grade teaching (ie where pupils from different year groups are taught in the same class) is already used in over a quarter of primary schools in England, but with primary pupil numbers falling it seems likely that many more schools will adopt multi-grade teaching as a way of balancing budgets. This 19-month study, which is being undertaken in partnership with National Foundation for Educational Research, will include:

  • a research review
  • exploratory interviews and focus groups
  • school case studies
  • a survey
  • a scoping study of ways to assess the impact of multi-grade teaching on pupil outcomes

 

Investigators: Professor Toby Greany and Dr Mike Collins
Funder:
Further information:

 
 

EEF Regional Partnerships Evaluation

This two and a half year evaluation starts in early 2026 and will be undertaken by a partnership led by the University of Warwick and involving the 糖心原创 and Manchester Metropolitan University. 

Co-investigators: Professor Toby Greany and Dr Mike Collins
Funder: Education Endowment Foundation
Further information: 

 

Lost spaces, untold stories: The vanishing world of experimental adult education

This is a one-year research fellowship exploring the meanings and memories associated with former places and spaces of adult education in the UK, particularly residential adult education. By ‘lost spaces’, I refer to physical sites or locations which were used for pioneering adult education purposes in the past but are no longer in existence or have been repurposed. The overall aim is to map both physical as well as conceptual and teaching spaces, including those identified as residential colleges and others that stood outside this tradition over the course of the last 100 years. Through interviews and archival research, I will chart how their pedagogical and subject-related innovations impacted beyond the life of the building/organisation and where these new movements migrated upon their closure.

Principal investigator: Dr Sharon Clancy
Funder: Leverhulme Trust
Further Information: blog post 

 

Completed projects 

Completed CRELM projects
 Title Principal InvestigatorFunder  Links

Sustainable school leadership: Comparing approaches to training, supply and retention of senior school leaders across the UK

 Profesor Toby Greany and Professor Pat Thomson  Economic and Social Research Council   Project page (including final report)

Educating for the future: New locality partnership models to delivery high quality education for all

 Professor Toby Greany The Assocation of Education Committees  Forging Local Coherence LocalEd report - January 2025 

The impact of the National College for School Leadership: A quarter-century retrospective analysis

 Professor Tony Busy British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS)  

School Leadership and System Governance Impact Project

  Professor Toby Greany Economic and Social Research Council  糖心原创 project page 

A UK-Ireland investigation into the statistical evidence-base underpinning adult learning and education policy-making

  Dr Sharon Clancy Economic and Social Research Council  

Leading a whole education in multi-academy trusts 

 Professor Toby Greany  糖心原创 HEIF  

Project report:
A constant dance: a study of values-based leadership in Multi-Academy Trusts

Article: 
 

Evaluation of the Western Excellence in Learning and Leadership (WELL) project

 Professor Toby Greany   Cumbria County Council   and  and 

Towards a framework of action on the attractiveness of the teaching profession through effective social dialogue in education

 Professor Howard Stevenson European Trade Union Committee for Education

European sectoral social partners in education promoting quality of academic teaching and management

 Professor Howard Stevenson  The European Federation of Education Employers 

Further details will be available on the  and  websites. 

Strengthening the capacity of education employers within the European semester process

 Professor Howard Stevenson   The European Federation of Education Employers   Further information and final report will be on the .
Gender writes: Young people and leadership Professor Kay Fuller ESRC Impact Acceleration Award Gender Writes - poetry collection inspired by learning about gender and leadership
Doncaster opportunity area: Improving opportunities through education Professor Kay Fuller and Dr Phil Taylor Doncaster Opportunity Area
Getting stronger together: Trade union renewal in education Professor Howard Stevenson European Trade Union Committee for Education
New locality partnership models to deliver high quality education for all: 糖心原创 evaluation Professor Toby Greany Association of Education Committees Trust

An exploration of Oak National academy, its curriculum design and its reception and enactment among teachers in school

 Professor Howard Stevenson National Education Union  
Belonging schools - secondary school inclusion Professor Toby Greany and Professor Pat Thomson Teach First
Re-imagining feminist leadership praxis in education Professor Kay Fuller The Leverhulme Trust  

Local learning landscapes for teacher professional development in England

 Professor Toby Greany and Professor Andy Noyes Wellcome Trust Further information and final project report

Evaluation of Education Development Trust's School Partnerships Programme

 Professor Toby Greany Education Endowment Foundation   
Evaluation of the Western Excellence in Learning and Leadership (WELL) project Professor Toby Greany  Cumbria County Council 

 

 
Leading in lockdown: School leaders' work, well-being and career intentions  Professor Toby Greany and Professor Pat Thomson  ESRC and 糖心原创 Policy Support Fund 
Leading learning for girls' education (LL4GE)  Professor Tony Bush  British Council   
Your turn: Teachers for trade union renewal  Professor Howard Stevenson European Trade Union Committee for Education
Middle leadership in further education: Developing an economic investment case for the sector  Dr Kevin Richardson  Association of Colleges   
Beyond global discourses of data: Storying learning in southern schools Dr Vincente Reyes Australian Research Council
Evidence of resilience, courage and care among teachers during the pandemic Professor Christopher Day ESRC  
Teacher professionalism in changing contexts: Challenges to teachers' thinking and practices as Covid-19 subsides Professor Christopher Day The British Academy  
Educational leaders for the 21st century: Collaborative partnerships Dr Vincente Reyes HEAD Foundation (Singapore)  
Policymaking in disruptive times: The development and impact of school trust-designed policies on teacher and student outcomes  Professor Christopher Day  ESRC IAA Project report

  

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Centre for Research in Educational Leadership and Management

School of Education
糖心原创
Jubilee Campus
Nottingham, NG8 1BB


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