Research Themes & Groups

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Our cutting-edge research covers all aspects of learning across the lifespan – through early years, schooling, further and higher education, and into the workplace.

We pride ourselves on the excellence and collaboration that runs through all of our work and puts us at the forefront of the educational debate.

Research Themes

Theme 1: Language, Cognition and Development

Research in the Language, Cognition and Development theme focuses on different aspects of how learners develop, notably in the areas of language and literacy, cognitive reasoning, cognitive development and the impact of learning environments on developmental and educational outcomes.

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Theme 2: Policy, Economy and Society

The Policy, Economy and Society theme provides a focal point for research relating learning to political, social and economic contexts, within the UK, in Europe, and globally.

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Theme 3: Pedagogy, Learning and Knowledge

The Pedagogy, Learning and Knowledge theme is centrally concerned with the relationships between knowledge and pedagogic policy and practice, as well as how knowledge and pedagogy interact with the ways in which learning activities are designed.

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Research Groups

Our individual research groups are organised within our parent themes. Our research projects that sit within these groups are both qualitative and quantitative in nature, and our methods hubs define how we carry out our work. Although staff and students are typically members of research groups within a specific theme, many do join meetings and events of groups under other themes.

Take a look at the tables below to see how our themes, groups and centres are set up.

Research Groups	Research Themes
Applied Linguistics	Language Cognition & Development
Child Development and Learning	Language Cognition & Development
English as a Medium of Instruction	Language Cognition & Development
Comparative & International Education	Policy, Economy & Society
Philosophy, Religion and Education	Policy, Economy & Society
Critical Digital Education	Pedagogy, Learning & Knowledge
Subject Pedagogy	Pedagogy, Learning & Knowledge
Sociocultural & Activity Theory	Pedagogy, Learning & Knowledge
Teacher Education & Professional Learning	Pedagogy, Learning & Knowledge

	Research Themes
Rees Centre	Language cognition & development
Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment (OUCEA)	Policy, economy & society
Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE)	Policy, economy & society
Centre for Skills, Knowledge, and Organisational Performance (SKOPE)	Policy, economy & society

The Oxford Education Deanery

The mission of the Oxford Education Deanery is to empower education practitioners and policy professionals worldwide to understand, use, and co-produce high-quality research evidence in education.

The Oxford Education Deanery aims to facilitate a two-way conduit between the wealth of expertise in the Department of Education and the stakeholders in whose name its research is conducted. It offers a mechanism to support professional learning and research engagement among practitioners and policy audiences worldwide.

Hubs

Quantitative Methods Hub

This page is currently being updated.

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Qualitative Methods Hub

The Qualitative Methods Hub formed in 2013 with the aim to bring together different researchers and practitioners to discuss qualitative research from a range of disciplines and fields across the University and beyond.

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