Children, Young People & LearningCelebration of innovation

Improving the lives of children & young people: a celebration of interdisciplinary innovation

Childhood and youth are thought to be the best years of our lives, but for many young people, both here in Scotland and around the world, life can be complex and challenging.

At the University of Strathclyde, our research has a direct, positive impact on the lives of children and young people.

The range of research consolidates the University’s international reputation as a place where complex systems are explored and innovative solutions found, both locally and globally.

Areas of expertise

Engaging directly with children & young people

Strathclyde is home to many members of staff dedicated to improving the lives of children and young people, but two centres of excellence have pioneered channels of communication between children and young people and the policymakers and service providers tasked with shaping support systems for those young people.

Both the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) and the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS) are fully committed to engaging directly with children and young people, carefully listening to and consulting with them, paying full attention to what they have to say about things which can have a profound effect on their lives.

Not only is active listening at the forefront of this research, the centres’ role as two-way conduits of communication better enables practitioners and organisations to become more child-centred, and ultimately respond better to children’s rights and needs.

Men Minds

In recent times, the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) have done groundbreaking research on mental health, co-designed with an exceptional group of young men.

Experience-led practice change

Children who live in or experience the care system, and young people navigating towards independent adult lives after being in care, contributed hugely to two innovative consultation and research projects led by CELCIS.

Digital lives

Digital innovations have reshaped all of our lives. And concerns about the potential risks presented to children and young people by this online world are never far from adult minds. Two recent Strathclyde research projects assessed the reality and implications of online life for young people.

Screen time for children & young people

Professor John Reilly and his team led a Europe-wide research study examining children’s screen time, physical activity and sleep.

Children & cyber security

At Strathclyde’s Computer and Information Sciences department, Dr Karen Renaud led a team of seven UK researchers to work with children to find out how savvy they are when it comes to online deception.

Investing in practitioners

One of the single most important aspects of specialist work being done across Strathclyde centres on developing the knowledge and skills of those people who work directly with young people and children. As the workers who know children best, their expertise is often unsung, but dedicated practitioners always want to learn and improve on the ways they work. This is where Strathclyde shines.

Being Together - CASN learning

One example of developing excellence in the workforce comes from Dr Maggie Macaskill’s inspirational learning module for trainee teachers working with children with complex additional support needs (CASN). This truly innovative approach prioritises relationship building between child and adult, and offers new ways of thinking about inclusion.

Early years, big voice

Another shining example of innovative work supports an understanding of the rights of even the tiniest of children. A team at Strathclyde’s Institute of Education have undertaken research which encourages a recognition of the rights of pre-verbal babies and toddlers through gesture, expression, behaviour and silence. This attunement to the whole child has led to a profound mental shift from some early years workers. 

Bereavement education

Death and dying are never easy subjects, shrouded as they are in taboo. And for children, being shielded from death and bereavement has become a social norm. But one Strathclyde project has developed a grief and loss learning programme for school children in the Forth Valley area. The programme is attracting interest from across Europe and even further afield, and encourages open conversation about one of life’s most difficult subjects.

Multilingualism through art

Modern Scotland is a truly multicultural society, with over 150 languages spoken in our schools. Learning about the myriad benefits of multilingualism through art has been the focus of one highly successful Strathclyde project, which Strathclyde has developed for teachers.

Use of restraint

Life can be challenging for children living in residential care, and for the workers who care for them. The practice of physical restraint in care settings can cause deep trauma for children, who are often already profoundly traumatised. For one team at Strathclyde, the development of alternative thinking about the complexities of restraint aims to support a new approach from staff, one which ultimately benefits them and most importantly, the children in their care who need support.

Partnering with local communities

Strathclyde is proud of and committed to an international outlook, but it is equally important to the University that it acts as a good neighbour to local communities and other areas in Glasgow. For several research projects at Strathclyde, real success has come through collaboration with local groups, families and children. Two of those projects have seen excellent partnerships being built between Strathclyde staff and community groups. 

Bike bus

Riding a bike to school should surely be no big deal, but for many of the world’s smallest citizens, doing so safely is a major consideration. Recently, a cross-Faculty research team from Strathclyde has been working with the city’s Shawlands Bike Bus group and other bike buses around the world, exploring many of the strands involved in the running of such a group.

Playing games & learning

Another multidisciplinary project saw Strathclyde staff support local women from the University’s adjacent community of Royston. The project encouraged the women to rediscover their inner child and re-engage with learning through play. Memories of childhood street games resulted in adults playing the games themselves, often for the first time in many years, and going on to develop techniques to teach the games to local schoolchildren.

Influencing positive change

Working directly with communities or conducting innovative research is all in a day’s work for many of the Strathclyde staff involved with children and young people’s lives. But the priority for several of the University’s child-focussed centres is all about influencing policy and practice at the very highest levels, both nationally and around the globe.

Influencing legislation

Strathclyde’s Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) played a significant role in the development of a major piece of legislation affecting Scotland’s children. Through consultation (including with young people), discussion forums and legal expertise, CYCJ supported the development of an Act which recognises children and young people as being distinctly different from adults when it comes to the law.

International influence

Supported by its impressive international partnership network, the cross-University Institute for Inspiring Children’s Futures aims to do nothing less than influence policy-makers from around the world to adopt practices which significantly improve children’s rights and their future lives.