Covid-19 research in the School of Education

Academics from the School of Education are taking a prominent role in researching the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19) on education.

Impact of COVID-19 on Early Years Transition to School
Dr Ioanna Bakopoulou investigates the impact of COVID-19 and early years settings/school closures on early years transition practices by gathering data on the perspectives, experiences and decisions of educational professionals in the way they support transition of children into primary school.
Impact of COVID-19 & distance learning on undergraduate students’ resilience & psycho-social
Led by Dr Felicity Sedgewick, the research team will work with undergraduate students to understand how their resilience and wellbeing has been both bolstered and challenged during the first wave of COVID-19 changes to academic life.
Impact of COVID-19 on school students’ mental health
Led by Dr Lucy Wenham, this research aims to investigate impacts on student mental health by: monitoring and recording the realities of ‘home-schooling’ in the midst of school closures; and listening to students voice their concerns, hopes and fears.
Impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Centres & the implications for educational opportunities
Led by Dr Will Baker and Dr Ioanna Bakopoulou, the goal of the project is to investigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Children’s Centres in Bristol and how they respond to it.
Transforming Education for Sustainable Futures international research programme
Led by Prof. Leon Tikly, this GCRF-funded programme is operating in India, Rwanda, Somalia, Somaliland and South Africa and has been extended to explore formal education systems’ responses to COVID-19, and the outcomes of this.
Learning from our Partners project
Dr Helen Manchester and colleagues from across the University, will carry out interviews with local partners on their experiences of COVID-19 recovery and their relationships with the University.
Bristol's Community Hubs
Led by Dr Helen Manchester, this research involves interviews with community partners on their work through COVID-19 to help inform the University’s response to the crisis. Questions will include: What should be the role for the university(ies) in this present time?
Capturing and profiling academic lives-in-transition as a result of the pandemic
Prof. Richard Watermeyer conducts a large-scale international attitudinal survey coinciding with universities’ mass online-migration.
Autistic adolescent friendship experiences during COVID
COVID has meant changes to how everyone socialises. But for autistic young people, who often find making and keeping friends difficult, these changes may have been even more difficult than for most people. However, they may equally have reduced pressures of uncomfortable social expectations and allowed young people's friendships to flourish. This study seeks to explore how autistic teenagers friendships have changed over the last year, and how they feel about these changes, in their own words. If you or someone you know are interested in taking part, please click on the link.

Media and event recordings