The impact of a UNICEF Rights Respecting School (RRS) approach on feelings of inclusion experienced by pupils in schools (NPF project across UK schools)

The overarching aim is to address the current gap in knowledge and understanding about the impact of a Rights Respecting School (RRS) approach to support children to develop a sense of inclusion and belonging in school.
The project aims to develop new insights into:

(i) the impact of UNICEF’s RRS approach in schools, on feelings of inclusion and belonging* experienced by pupils, with a specific focus on pupils identified as marginalised** within the education system;

(ii) challenges associated with ensuring all pupils, including those identified as marginalised within the education system, develop a sense of inclusion and belonging in school.

Within both of these aims, consideration will be given to whether, and if so how, knowledge and understanding about children’s rights plays a role in supporting children to feel included in the education system.

NOTE: * The terms ‘inclusion’ and ‘belonging’ will be used interchangeably. ‘Inclusion captures the area on which the study is focusing, however, the term ‘belonging’ will be used in children and young people’s participant information sheets and survey questions.

** There is no agreed definition relating to the concept of marginalisation; however, it is known that various groups of children labelled as marginalised from education including, but not limited to, those with additional support needs, a recognised disability, refugees, and ethnic minority groups, experience difficulty in accessing education (Corcoran & Kaneva, 2023). To prevent placing limitations on how ‘marginalisation’ is defined within this study, definitions of marginalised individuals and groups will be determined by the study participants, with the potential for this definition to vary from one participant group to another.

Study participants
Staff and pupils from a purposive sample of UNICEF RRS have been invited to participate in the study as they are well-placed to have insights into impact of a RRS approach. Study participants include pupils aged 9-16 years, and staff, drawn from schools within England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, which have been registered as RRS for a minimum of one year. UNICEF RRS Professional Advisers in each of these nations will also participate in the study.

The overarching purpose of this study is to address the current gap in knowledge and understanding about the impact of developing a rights-respecting school approach to support children’s sense of inclusion in the education system.

The study aims are twofold:
1. to explore the impact of adopting a rights-respecting approach on feelings of inclusion and belonging experienced by all children in schools, including children identified as marginalised in the education system.
2. to explore the challenges associated with ensuring all children develop a sense of inclusion in school.

The study also focuses on whether (and if so how) children’s rights play a role in supporting children to feel included in the education system.

The research includes schools across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales that are registered for the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School Award.