WHo are We?

Local Matters, led by Dr Carl Emery and Dr Louisa Dawes, is a participatory research and professional development approach to understanding and responding to poverty and building social justice in place. Essentially, it supports participants to become place-based social justice researchers. Partners include the National Education Union, schools, charities and foodbanks.

This participatory arts-based educational research project is designed to illuminate historical and contemporary social justice activities in Ardwick, Manchester. Focused on addressing the absence of local women’s contributions to social justice from mainstream historical narratives, the project amplifies the lesser-told story of Ellen Wilkinson along with others who spoke truth to power. Project is led by Sandra Clare and the Ardwick Education Partnership

Focuses on arts-engaged and youth-led community mathematics through workshops and events in communities around the university. We ask: What makes a community mathematician? We are finding new ways to transform the culture of mathematics in schools by working from the ‘outside’.

Laura Black, Charlotte Mergrouerche, Sky Harington, Keisha Thompson, Kate O’Brien, Alejandra Vicente-Colmenares, Edda Sant

Challenging the dominance of cis-binary male/female gender in mathematics education, we conducted a survey and follow-up interviews with university students who self-identified as trans*, nonbinary, agender gender queer or gender non-conforming.  We mapped experiences of learning mathematics and experiences of learning gender, exploring the connection (if any) between the two. 

Laura Black, Diane Harris, Tee McCaldin, Maria Pampaka, Julian Williams, Kate O’Brien, Shunqi Zhang

The aim of this project is to address the needs of the Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the key expected outcomes of this project is to create collaboratively, specifically with the local Pakistani communities in Rochdale, a highly deprived area, a research-evidenced 'call to action' document to be published on various academic and public platforms in order to increase impact.

Choudry, Sophina (PI), Burman, Erica (CoI), Williams, Julian (CoI), Bharkhda, Jaina (Researcher), Iftikhar, Sidra (Researcher)

Our project analysed the academic writing of 37 essays written by Chinese MA students, followed by online surveys and focus groups, to obtain a picture of the features that make China English its own unique variety, stemming from the perspective of linguistic, and cultural, equality.

Alex Baratta, Rui He and Paul Smith

This project is a pilot study that aims to conceptualise how mutual forms of solidarity can first address lived experiences of inequalities among diverse ethnic, racialised, gendered and classed local communities in Greater Manchester. 

L-earning: rethinking young women’s working lives is a 3-year research study exploring young women’s early experiences of work – including work while studying – and how these experiences may contribute to gendered inequalities in later life. The study is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of the 'Transforming Working Lives' initiative – a broader scheme of research projects investigating changes in working lives and power in the workplace. 

Kim Allen (PI, University of Leeds), Rachel Cohen (City St George’s, University of London), Kirsty Finn (University of Manchester, Kate hardy (University of Leeds). 

Our Shared Cultural Heritage (OSCH) is a British Council-led project, part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund's Kick the Dust programme. It aims to engage young people aged 11-25 in exploring UK and South Asian cultural heritage, developing new methods for museums to connect with young people, and making heritage more relevant and inclusive.

Sadia Habib

Building gender equality partnerships between Kenya/Manchester; supporting the individual growth and career progression of senior Kenya/Manchester women; and carrying out participative action research identifying areas in each organisation that need changing ensuring the prospects of women in academia and research are unhampered. Critically involving current decision-makers in each organisation in the process of starting systemic change and sharing recommendations with the sector. 

Olive Mugenda (Kenya), Rachel Cowen (FBMH), Natalie Gardiner (FBMH), Susan Mambo (Kenya), Caroline Ngugi (Kenya) and Diane Harris (MIE)

For my PhD I am working with a year 10 class that I teach to see what happens when I work collaboratively with the students to design their maths lessons. I am particularly interested in the impacts this has on low-attaining students, who are unable to conform (for various reasons) to the way of performing that is expected in contemporary English maths education. This is an exploratory project involving conscientisation and codesign. 

Jane Goodland

Exploring young-student-mothering through a feminist standpoint, using narrative inquiry, analyses of birth registrations, student enrolments, and legal herstory. Findings reveal contradictions in law, financial precarity, limited agency, and a reliance on  childhood wellness. I advocate for social justice reforms within and beyond higher education to ensure equitable access and success.   

Sandra Clare