REAL Centre Principles

In order to achieve the REAL Centre’s aims, each of the themes are underpinned by three key principles:

Adopting rigorous research methods

• Promoting education as a human right and an engine for sustainable development
• Centering social justice and equity in and through education
• Understanding education both as potential cause and consequence of injustices
• Countering injustices related to intersections between poverty, gender, disability ethnicity, race, language and conflict
• Examining education systems from pre-primary through to higher education
• Centering research on the Global South, including to inform research in the Global North
• Tackling injustices within and between countries in the context of conflict and war, and climate and environmental degradation
• Tackling inequalities in distribution of power within and between countries in political, social and economic forms
• Decolonising historic injustices and geo-political changes

Working in partnership

• Forging ethical and equitable academic and non-academic international partnerships
• Promoting equitable partnerships underpinned by shared values, mutual respect and collaborative commitment
• Co-creating contextually-relevant evidence
• Building and fostering a community of engaged scholars across stages of the career path

Ensuring impact

• Achieving impact through public engagement to inform policy and practice
• Drawing on diverse knowledge across disciplines using innovative, rigorous and reflexive methodologies