The Living Lab
A space for connecting psychology with real-world problems in the field of education.
Intro
Our research
The Living Lab connects practice, policy and psychology. It is brought to life through the networks of relationships between students, academic staff, practitioners, commissioners, policy makers, researchers and communities.
Learning through partnerships ensures that learning goes well beyond problem solving. Creating a dialogue between partners and academics opens the possibility to see the problem differently. All partners learn more about the shared societal challenge by working together and seeing through each other’s field of expertise.
Our partnerships include our students who span the gap between the psychology curriculum and policy and practice through placements, research projects and collaborative research degrees in Greater Manchester and across the North of England.
Study
Study with us
Our research forms part of the BSc (Hons) Educational Psychology.
Fascinated by how children learn and intrigued by the process of identifying learning difficulties? Our undergraduate course explores how our minds develop by interacting with our social worlds.
Join our community
Be part of our research community with a postgraduate degree.
Conduct your own research and make a significant contribution. Find out how you could study with us and see the PhDs our previous doctoral students have completed.
Quote
The Living Lab is alive because of the partnerships we have with schools, systems, and communities.
The Living Lab is alive because of the partnerships we have with schools, systems, and communities.
Recent events
Connecting Conversations in the Living Lab
We were joined by Aji Lewis for our first 'Connecting Conversations in the Living Lab' event. The Connecting Conversations series surfaces stories that are relevant for systems reform in health, education and social care.Selected projects
Digital Home Visiting: Covid-19 Response
COVID-19 has increased stress and reduced access to services for the most vulnerable families. The rapid transition to digital delivery has disrupted relational working central to the volunteer-led model offered through one of the project partners, Home-Start Host.
The research team led a series of sessions across Greater Manchester during the Economic and Social Research Council’s Festival of Social Science to ask the question ‘what makes a good digital home visit?’
Together they co-designed a film that was used to explore the values and role of community sector organisation in the children’s service system, as well as the cues that families and workers use to build relationships. The findings will be used by Home-Start Host in their induction and training for volunteers and co-ordinators.
- Project partner: Home-Start Host
"We highlighted the ways that community services need to be supported"
Hear from Prof Deborah James as she summarises the key discussion points that arose in her work with Home-Start Host.Projects
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Pathways to Talking: Collaborative Evaluation
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Pathways to Talking project was funded by the Department for Education to reduce inequalities for children with speech, language and communication needs.
Deborah James’s background in speech and language therapy and implementation science shaped the collaborative evaluation of the £1.5m project which she led with Professor Julie Marshall from the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care. Deborah also delivered leadership coaching based on a relationship-based leadership approach.
Working with Professor Amanda Ravetz from Arts and Humanities at Manchester Met and Dr Ruth White, Deborah produced a creative response to the project showing the child’s perspective from localities across Greater Manchester through a photographic collection.
Evaluation of the Mentors in Violence Prevention Programme in the West Midlands
Claire Fox worked closely with West Midlands Police, Public Health England in the West Midlands, and the wider Violence Reduction Unit to evaluate a mentoring programme for the prevention of violence in the region.
The Mentor Violence Prevention (MVP) model is informed by the bystander model; using students as educators in schools to lead change through challenging and shifting peer group norms around violence.
Claire led a collaborative learning evaluation, which worked well due to the openness of the partners to learn from each other and improve the MVP programme.
- Project partner: West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit
Relationship-Based Coaching for Systems Leadership in the Early Years
This project will develop a leadership-coaching model to be co-designed with members of the early years’ workforce from across Greater Manchester. The model is based on principles and practices of relationship-based work and is relevant to all those who work in the early years system across the city region.
Dr Gillian Janes from Manchester Met’s Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care is collaborating on this project, bringing her expertise and experience in leadership for systems improvement in health and social care.
Initial Teacher Education for Inclusion Project
Bringing psychology to life with our partners, this project tackles real-world issues facing both teachers and vulnerable learners in schools. For example, how can we enable new teachers to develop more inclusive practices? The Initial Teacher Education for Inclusion Project (ITE4I) investigated this by analysing teacher training and following student teachers into their first two years of teaching.
One of the few longitudinal studies of its kind in Europe, the research was led by Peter Hick and Yvette Solomon with a team at Manchester Metropolitan University, and colleagues from University College London and University College Cork.
The project ran from 2015-18 in Ireland, where it continues to have a significant impact on policy development for teacher education.
Our people
Meet the team
The Living Lab is directed by:
Contributors:
Contact
Contact us
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate member of the Living Lab, are interested in studying with us, or would like to know more about our work, please email Prof Deborah James.