Children and young people

FUTURE THINKERS

About us

The members of the Children and Young People Network share a common aspiration: to contribute to research and knowledge-building that will ultimately lead to improving children's and young people’s opportunities, experiences and outcomes.

Rooted in a recognition of the immense diversity in the lives of children and young people, our research responds to an urgent need to better understand those lives from multiple perspectives, and to explore and identify ways of supporting children and young people as they negotiate the challenges, transitions and opportunities of these vital phases of their development.

Who we work with

Children, young people, parents and families
Young people as researchers
Vulnerable groups
Migrants
Travellers
Teen parents
Children with disabilities
Looked-after children
Children from families with low incomes
Children with parents in UK armed forces
Health and education practitioners
Charities
Social care practitioners
The police
Commercial partners

Our Research

We conduct research locally, nationally and internationally, and examine how the contexts, cultures and spaces in which children and young people live, learn, play and work impact on their health, development and identity. This includes the opportunities and risks afforded by the digital and physical environments, the effects of discourses about children and young people, and the impact of broader social, economic, educational and health inequalities.

Research Themes:

Education and development

Schooling
- Schools in UK and internationally
- Higher education
- Early Years education
- Inclusive education
- Professional learning in schools
Informal education and learning outside school
Home-school learning
Pedagogy, learning and development
- Cognition
- Motivation
- Physical education
- Social learning
- Arts and creativity
- Motor development
- Neurology
- Language development
- Attachment
- Literacy
  - Literacy skills development
  - Literacy difficulties
Educational wellbeing
Educational psychology
SEND
Assessment

Health, lifestyle and wellbeing

Mental health/wellbeing
Reproductive/sexual health
Visual health
Auditory health
Sleep
Health in schools
Children with specific health conditions
Interventions
- Safeguarding and child protection
  - Risk
  - Injury prevention
  - Substance misuse
  - Adolescent drinking
  - Violence
  - Intimate partner violence
Health assessment
Lifestyle
- Parenting
  - Care of new-borns
  - Pregnancy
  - Family feeding practices
  - Sleep practices
- Children’s use of technology
- Diet
- Exercise
  - Sport
  - Exercise psychology

Children’s and young people’s worlds

To read about our wide-ranging research agenda, our values and aims, please see our strategy.

News and events