Development Education Research Centre

One of the world’s leading centres for development education, global learning and global citizenship.

Co-Directors: Professor Douglas Bourn and Professor Massimiliano Tarozzi

The Development Education Research Centre (DERC) acts as the hub for knowledge generation, new thinking and quality output on development education, global learning and global citizenship.

Objectives

Promote the value of development education as part of essential learning in the twenty-first century
Promote and encourage critical reflective engagement with the meaning and effectiveness of development education and related areas by the educational community in the UK and internationally
Develop an international community of researchers engaged in development education, global learning and global citizenship
Develop a body of evidence through a series of published monographs, academic articles and seminars on the contribution that development education practice can make in building understanding of international development and global issues
Develop and embed development education principles and practices across teacher training and other educational courses and initiatives within the Institute of Education, and in turn to other similar institutions.

Our staff

Co-Directors

Professor Douglas Bourn
Professor Massimiliano Tarozzi

Associate Directors

Dr Clare Bentall
Dr Nicole Blum

Senior Research Officer

Dr Frances Hunt

DERC Administrator

Kester Muller

Find more about our researchers, publications, activities, groups and themes: UCL Research Portal, IRIS

Background

DERC was launched in November 2006 with funding and support from the UK Department for International Development. We draw funding from a number of different sources including the European Commission, UK government and a range of non-governmental organisations.
It acts as the hub of knowledge development on development education and related themes for policy-makers and practitioners across Europe.

About development education

Development education is an approach to learning about global and development issues through recognising the importance of linking people's lives throughout the world. It is also based on an understanding of the importance of critical thinking, the need to challenge stereotypes and to give people the skills and confidence to support change towards a more just and sustainable world. Development education is often used alongside terms such as global learning, global citizenship education and global education.

Arts Educators and Global Learning - who's answering whose question?

Will Essilfie, Researcher at IOE and freelance educator

An exploration of the role, nature and working practices of arts educators in Global Learning and Social Justice Education. This presentation will build on some of the preliminary findings and questions inspired by Will’s PhD research. His research is exploring the contribution of arts educators to how young people see their lives in a global context and learn about global issues.

Study with us

The Centre is responsible for running the Development Education and Global Learning MA.

We were the first to establish a Development Education MA programme in the UK and create a new academic journal for the field, the International Journal of Development Education and Global Learning, published by IOE Press.

Having the MA based in the Research Centre also means that our students have access to the wide range of materials it produces and opportunities to participate in its events, including seminars and conferences.

DERC currently has a team of doctoral students and we are keen to secure more students undertaking post-graduate research in the following areas:

Impact of the Global Dimension within Formal Education
Contribution and role of policy-makers and practitioners to building awareness and understanding of international development in UK and elsewhere in the world
How universities and colleges are interpreting global perspectives and internationalisation within their policies and practices.

Research

We are engaged in a range of research projects and programmes related to development education, global learning, education for sustainable development and global citizenship education in primary, secondary, further and higher education, as well as in informal education programmes.

DERC carries out research in a number of key areas, which include:

Policy and practice in development education and global learning
The theory and pedagogy of global learning
Global perspectives and global citizenship within higher education
Young people as global citizens
Global learning for teachers and trainee teachers
Global learning practices within schools
Policy and practice of global learning in Europe
Monitoring and evaluation of global learning and development education implementation projects
Volunteering and Global Citizenship

DERC research projects and programmes

Global Learning Programme in England (DFID, 2013-2017)
Schools for Future Youth (SFYouth) (EU Erasmus+, 2014-2017)
Global Learning for Global Colleges, (DFID, 2009-2012)
Global Dimension in Initial Teacher Education, (DFID, 2009-2012)
Students as Global Citizens (DFID, 2009-2012)
Makutano Junction: A Multi-media approach to effective development education (EuropeAid, 2013-2015)
Learning and skills for a global economy (LSIS, 2009-2010)
Returned Volunteers Engagement with Development (VSO, 2009-2010)

DERC research papers

Visit UCL Research Portal, IRIS to read full reports of our research and find more about our researchers, publications, activities, groups and themes.

What’s on

See our forthcoming events.

Conferences

Our popular annual conferences offer great opportunities to find out about recent developments, projects and publications in the field, as well as presenting a valuable opportunity for attendees to meet like-minded researchers and generally connect with their peers in an inspirational way.

Most recent conferences include:

Research, evidence and policy learning for global education (May 2017) - downloadable resources and presentations, as well as videos of plenary sessions.