Publications by category
Journal articles
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G (In Press). Critically considering the ‘inclusive curriculum’ in higher education.
British Journal of Sociology of EducationAbstract:
Critically considering the ‘inclusive curriculum’ in higher education
This paper presents a critical interrogation of the recent drive towards the ‘inclusive curriculum’ in higher education (HE). Our arguments are grounded in the findings of a systematic scoping review that sought to understand how researchers have, to date, understood, conceptualised and theorised the inclusive curriculum in HE. The findings indicate that many researchers adopted largely ‘technicist’ understandings of inclusion as learning effectiveness and adapting current provision, seemingly prioritising a neo-liberal outcomes-driven approach to education. Given that universities worldwide are currently championing the use of certain strategies to facilitate an inclusive curriculum, it is questionable on what grounds these strategies are being promoted and what they might be ‘doing’ within educational spaces. We conclude that the importance of disciplinary context for understanding inclusion is currently under-appreciated, and that conceptualisations of inclusion and the inclusive curriculum mirror broader educational debates as to the very aims and purposes of education.
Abstract.
Norwich B, Moore D, Stentiford L, Hall D (2022). A critical consideration of ‘mental health and wellbeing’ in education: thinking about school aims in terms of wellbeing.
British Educational Research JournalAbstract:
A critical consideration of ‘mental health and wellbeing’ in education: thinking about school aims in terms of wellbeing.
This paper examines ideas about mental health, wellbeing and school education to illustrate important issues in the relationship between mental health and education. The Covid crisis has amplified the pre-existing mental health problems of children and young people in England and the recognition of the opportunities in schools’ to address these. The paper gives an overview of child and adolescent mental health services and how they position the role of schools. It examines prominent concepts of mental health and their relationship to wellbeing, setting this in a discussion of ‘mentally healthy’ schools, mental health in special educational needs (SEN) and whole school approaches. This analysis shows how the relationship between mental health and wellbeing has not been adequately worked out, using this as the basis for arguing for the dual factor mental health model which separates mental illness/disorder from wellbeing as two related dimensions. The paper then translates the dual factor model into a two-dimensional framework that represents the distinctive but related aims of school education (wellbeing promotion) and mental health services (preventing, coping, helping mental health difficulties). This framework involves a complex conception of wellbeing, with schools playing an important role in promoting wellbeing (beyond emotional wellbeing), tiered models and establishing school-wide social emotional learning. It is about a whole school curriculum approach that involves considering what is to be learned and how it is taught. It contributes to a more nuanced concept of wellbeing that has a place for meaningful learning and challenge.
Abstract.
Koutsouris G, Stentiford L, Norwich B (2022). A critical exploration of inclusion policies of elite UK universities. British Educational Research Journal
Koutsouris G, Stentiford L, Benham-Clarke S, Hall D (2021). Agonism in education: a systematic scoping review and discussion of its educational potential. Educational Review
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G, Allan A (2021). Girls, mental health and academic achievement: a qualitative systematic review. Educational Review
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G, Boyle C, Jindal-Snape D, Salazar Rivera J, Benham-Clarke S (2021). The structures and processes governing education research in the UK from 1990-2020: a systematic scoping review. Review of Education, 9(3).
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G (2021). What are Inclusive Pedagogies in Higher Education?: a Systematic Scoping Review. Studies in Higher Education, 46, 2245-2261.
Koutsouris G, Anglin-Jaffe H, Stentiford L (2020). How well do we understand social inclusion in education?.
British Journal of Educational StudiesAbstract:
How well do we understand social inclusion in education?
The paper draws on the findings of a small-scale empirical study to discuss why the project of inclusion, despite a long history of legislative efforts from the Salamanca Statement onwards, still appears to be troubling. The study used scenarios to explore tensions between inclusion and individual choice experienced by young people in the context of everyday social interaction with reference to the intersection between disability, ethnicity, gender and social class. Building on the findings, we argue that understanding inclusion at the level of social interaction has important implications for inclusive education. We employ ideas from theoretical work on inclusion to suggest that in order to achieve inclusion in education or in society, a top down approach influenced by national and international policy and a rights discourse might not be sufficient; this is because inclusion processes also operate at the level of everyday social interaction where policy has less influence. Such processes, for instance individual choice, are often less explored or even ignored by the inclusion literature, as they are seen as questioning or threatening the moral imperative of including all people. This argument, thus, raises the question of how well we understand social inclusion and provides directions for further research.
Abstract.
Finning K, Ukoumunne OC, Ford T, Danielson-Waters E, Shaw L, Romero De jager I, Stentiford L, Moore D (2019). Review: the association between anxiety and poor attendance at school – a systematic review.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health,
24(3), 205-2016.
Abstract:
Review: the association between anxiety and poor attendance at school – a systematic review
Background: Anxiety may be associated with poor attendance at school, which can lead to a range of adverse outcomes. We systematically reviewed the evidence for an association between anxiety and poor school attendance. Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched for quantitative studies that reported an estimate of association between anxiety and school attendance. Anxiety had to be assessed via standardised diagnostic measure or validated scale. Articles were screened independently by two reviewers. Meta-analyses were performed where possible, otherwise results were synthesised narratively. Results: a total of 4930 articles were screened. Eleven studies from six countries across North America, Europe and Asia, were included. School attendance was categorised into: (a) absenteeism (i.e. total absences), (b) excused/medical absences, (c) unexcused absences/truancy and (d) school refusal. Findings from eight studies suggested associations between truancy and any anxiety disorder, as well as social and generalised anxiety. Results also suggested cross-sectional associations between school refusal and separation, generalised and social anxiety disorders, as well as simple phobia. Few studies investigated associations with absenteeism or excused/medical absences. Conclusions: Findings suggest associations between anxiety and unexcused absences/truancy, and school refusal. Clinicians should consider the possibility of anxiety in children and adolescents with poor attendance. However, there is a lack of high quality evidence, little longitudinal research and limited evidence relating to overall absenteeism or excused/medical absences, despite the latter being the most common type of absence. These gaps should be a key priority for future research.
Abstract.
Stentiford LJ (2019). ‘You can tell which ones are the laddy lads’: young women’s accounts of the engineering classroom at a high-performing English university.
Journal of Gender Studies,
28(2), 218-230.
Abstract:
‘You can tell which ones are the laddy lads’: young women’s accounts of the engineering classroom at a high-performing English university
This paper explores how four young women narrated accounts of their interactions with their male peers in the engineering classroom. Drawing on data collected in a qualitative case study conducted at one high-performing English university, this paper details how the four women described two different versions of laddish masculinity evident within their engineering classroom; a hostile laddish masculinity, and a ‘friendly’ or ‘genial’ upper/middle-class laddish masculinity. Whilst the hostile lads were seemingly frowned upon and socially excluded, the ‘friendly’ or ‘genial’ upper/middle-class lads appeared largely liked and tolerated by the women. This paper thus adds to our understanding of women’s current experiences in engineering education, and works to extend research in the area of laddism in formalized learning contexts in higher education (HE). In particular, this paper draws attention to the existence of subtle or nuanced degrees of laddism in engineering at the university under study, and highlights a possible relationship between ‘lad’ discourses and gendered disciplinary discourses.
Abstract.
Stentiford LJ, Koutsouris G, Norwich B (2018). A systematic literature review of the organisational arrangements of primary school-based reading interventions for struggling readers. Journal of Research in Reading, 41(S1), 197-225.
Finning K, Ukoumunne O, Ford T, Danielsson-Waters E, Shaw L, Romero De Jager I, Stentiford L, Moore D (2018). The association between child and adolescent depression and poor attendance at school: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Journal of Affective Disorders,
245, 928-938.
Abstract:
The association between child and adolescent depression and poor attendance at school: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background
Depression in young people may lead to reduced school attendance through social withdrawal, loss of motivation, sleep disturbance and low energy. We systematically reviewed the evidence for an association between depression and poor school attendance.
Methods
Seven electronic databases were searched for quantitative studies with school-aged children and/or adolescents, reporting a measure of association between depression and school attendance. Articles were independently screened by two reviewers. Synthesis incorporated random-effects meta-analysis and narrative synthesis.
Results
Searches identified 4930 articles. Nineteen studies from eight countries across North America, Europe, and Asia, were included. School attendance was grouped into: 1) absenteeism (i.e. total absences), 2) excused/medical absences, 3) unexcused absences/truancy, and 4) school refusal. Meta-analyses demonstrated small-to-moderate positive cross-sectional associations between depression and absenteeism (correlation coefficient r=0.11, 95% confidence interval 0.07 to 0.15, p=0.005, I2= 63%); and depression and unexcused absences/truancy (r=0.15, 95% confidence interval 0.13 to 0.17, p
Abstract.
Reports
Boyle C, Stentiford L, Koutsouris G, Jindal-Snape D, Benham-Clarke S, Salazar Rivera J (2021). A systematic scoping review of the literature on the structures and processes that influence research activities in the UK. British Educational Research Association (BERA), https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/education-the-state-of-the-discipline-systematic-scoping-review.
Publications by year
In Press
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G (In Press). Critically considering the ‘inclusive curriculum’ in higher education.
British Journal of Sociology of EducationAbstract:
Critically considering the ‘inclusive curriculum’ in higher education
This paper presents a critical interrogation of the recent drive towards the ‘inclusive curriculum’ in higher education (HE). Our arguments are grounded in the findings of a systematic scoping review that sought to understand how researchers have, to date, understood, conceptualised and theorised the inclusive curriculum in HE. The findings indicate that many researchers adopted largely ‘technicist’ understandings of inclusion as learning effectiveness and adapting current provision, seemingly prioritising a neo-liberal outcomes-driven approach to education. Given that universities worldwide are currently championing the use of certain strategies to facilitate an inclusive curriculum, it is questionable on what grounds these strategies are being promoted and what they might be ‘doing’ within educational spaces. We conclude that the importance of disciplinary context for understanding inclusion is currently under-appreciated, and that conceptualisations of inclusion and the inclusive curriculum mirror broader educational debates as to the very aims and purposes of education.
Abstract.
2022
Norwich B, Moore D, Stentiford L, Hall D (2022). A critical consideration of ‘mental health and wellbeing’ in education: thinking about school aims in terms of wellbeing.
British Educational Research JournalAbstract:
A critical consideration of ‘mental health and wellbeing’ in education: thinking about school aims in terms of wellbeing.
This paper examines ideas about mental health, wellbeing and school education to illustrate important issues in the relationship between mental health and education. The Covid crisis has amplified the pre-existing mental health problems of children and young people in England and the recognition of the opportunities in schools’ to address these. The paper gives an overview of child and adolescent mental health services and how they position the role of schools. It examines prominent concepts of mental health and their relationship to wellbeing, setting this in a discussion of ‘mentally healthy’ schools, mental health in special educational needs (SEN) and whole school approaches. This analysis shows how the relationship between mental health and wellbeing has not been adequately worked out, using this as the basis for arguing for the dual factor mental health model which separates mental illness/disorder from wellbeing as two related dimensions. The paper then translates the dual factor model into a two-dimensional framework that represents the distinctive but related aims of school education (wellbeing promotion) and mental health services (preventing, coping, helping mental health difficulties). This framework involves a complex conception of wellbeing, with schools playing an important role in promoting wellbeing (beyond emotional wellbeing), tiered models and establishing school-wide social emotional learning. It is about a whole school curriculum approach that involves considering what is to be learned and how it is taught. It contributes to a more nuanced concept of wellbeing that has a place for meaningful learning and challenge.
Abstract.
Koutsouris G, Stentiford L, Norwich B (2022). A critical exploration of inclusion policies of elite UK universities. British Educational Research Journal
2021
Boyle C, Stentiford L, Koutsouris G, Jindal-Snape D, Benham-Clarke S, Salazar Rivera J (2021). A systematic scoping review of the literature on the structures and processes that influence research activities in the UK. British Educational Research Association (BERA), https://www.bera.ac.uk/publication/education-the-state-of-the-discipline-systematic-scoping-review.
Koutsouris G, Stentiford L, Benham-Clarke S, Hall D (2021). Agonism in education: a systematic scoping review and discussion of its educational potential. Educational Review
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G, Allan A (2021). Girls, mental health and academic achievement: a qualitative systematic review. Educational Review
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G, Boyle C, Jindal-Snape D, Salazar Rivera J, Benham-Clarke S (2021). The structures and processes governing education research in the UK from 1990-2020: a systematic scoping review. Review of Education, 9(3).
Stentiford L, Koutsouris G (2021). What are Inclusive Pedagogies in Higher Education?: a Systematic Scoping Review. Studies in Higher Education, 46, 2245-2261.
2020
Koutsouris G, Anglin-Jaffe H, Stentiford L (2020). How well do we understand social inclusion in education?.
British Journal of Educational StudiesAbstract:
How well do we understand social inclusion in education?
The paper draws on the findings of a small-scale empirical study to discuss why the project of inclusion, despite a long history of legislative efforts from the Salamanca Statement onwards, still appears to be troubling. The study used scenarios to explore tensions between inclusion and individual choice experienced by young people in the context of everyday social interaction with reference to the intersection between disability, ethnicity, gender and social class. Building on the findings, we argue that understanding inclusion at the level of social interaction has important implications for inclusive education. We employ ideas from theoretical work on inclusion to suggest that in order to achieve inclusion in education or in society, a top down approach influenced by national and international policy and a rights discourse might not be sufficient; this is because inclusion processes also operate at the level of everyday social interaction where policy has less influence. Such processes, for instance individual choice, are often less explored or even ignored by the inclusion literature, as they are seen as questioning or threatening the moral imperative of including all people. This argument, thus, raises the question of how well we understand social inclusion and provides directions for further research.
Abstract.
2019
Finning K, Ukoumunne OC, Ford T, Danielson-Waters E, Shaw L, Romero De jager I, Stentiford L, Moore D (2019). Review: the association between anxiety and poor attendance at school – a systematic review.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health,
24(3), 205-2016.
Abstract:
Review: the association between anxiety and poor attendance at school – a systematic review
Background: Anxiety may be associated with poor attendance at school, which can lead to a range of adverse outcomes. We systematically reviewed the evidence for an association between anxiety and poor school attendance. Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched for quantitative studies that reported an estimate of association between anxiety and school attendance. Anxiety had to be assessed via standardised diagnostic measure or validated scale. Articles were screened independently by two reviewers. Meta-analyses were performed where possible, otherwise results were synthesised narratively. Results: a total of 4930 articles were screened. Eleven studies from six countries across North America, Europe and Asia, were included. School attendance was categorised into: (a) absenteeism (i.e. total absences), (b) excused/medical absences, (c) unexcused absences/truancy and (d) school refusal. Findings from eight studies suggested associations between truancy and any anxiety disorder, as well as social and generalised anxiety. Results also suggested cross-sectional associations between school refusal and separation, generalised and social anxiety disorders, as well as simple phobia. Few studies investigated associations with absenteeism or excused/medical absences. Conclusions: Findings suggest associations between anxiety and unexcused absences/truancy, and school refusal. Clinicians should consider the possibility of anxiety in children and adolescents with poor attendance. However, there is a lack of high quality evidence, little longitudinal research and limited evidence relating to overall absenteeism or excused/medical absences, despite the latter being the most common type of absence. These gaps should be a key priority for future research.
Abstract.
Stentiford LJ (2019). ‘You can tell which ones are the laddy lads’: young women’s accounts of the engineering classroom at a high-performing English university.
Journal of Gender Studies,
28(2), 218-230.
Abstract:
‘You can tell which ones are the laddy lads’: young women’s accounts of the engineering classroom at a high-performing English university
This paper explores how four young women narrated accounts of their interactions with their male peers in the engineering classroom. Drawing on data collected in a qualitative case study conducted at one high-performing English university, this paper details how the four women described two different versions of laddish masculinity evident within their engineering classroom; a hostile laddish masculinity, and a ‘friendly’ or ‘genial’ upper/middle-class laddish masculinity. Whilst the hostile lads were seemingly frowned upon and socially excluded, the ‘friendly’ or ‘genial’ upper/middle-class lads appeared largely liked and tolerated by the women. This paper thus adds to our understanding of women’s current experiences in engineering education, and works to extend research in the area of laddism in formalized learning contexts in higher education (HE). In particular, this paper draws attention to the existence of subtle or nuanced degrees of laddism in engineering at the university under study, and highlights a possible relationship between ‘lad’ discourses and gendered disciplinary discourses.
Abstract.
2018
Stentiford LJ, Koutsouris G, Norwich B (2018). A systematic literature review of the organisational arrangements of primary school-based reading interventions for struggling readers. Journal of Research in Reading, 41(S1), 197-225.
Finning K, Ukoumunne O, Ford T, Danielsson-Waters E, Shaw L, Romero De Jager I, Stentiford L, Moore D (2018). The association between child and adolescent depression and poor attendance at school: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Journal of Affective Disorders,
245, 928-938.
Abstract:
The association between child and adolescent depression and poor attendance at school: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background
Depression in young people may lead to reduced school attendance through social withdrawal, loss of motivation, sleep disturbance and low energy. We systematically reviewed the evidence for an association between depression and poor school attendance.
Methods
Seven electronic databases were searched for quantitative studies with school-aged children and/or adolescents, reporting a measure of association between depression and school attendance. Articles were independently screened by two reviewers. Synthesis incorporated random-effects meta-analysis and narrative synthesis.
Results
Searches identified 4930 articles. Nineteen studies from eight countries across North America, Europe, and Asia, were included. School attendance was grouped into: 1) absenteeism (i.e. total absences), 2) excused/medical absences, 3) unexcused absences/truancy, and 4) school refusal. Meta-analyses demonstrated small-to-moderate positive cross-sectional associations between depression and absenteeism (correlation coefficient r=0.11, 95% confidence interval 0.07 to 0.15, p=0.005, I2= 63%); and depression and unexcused absences/truancy (r=0.15, 95% confidence interval 0.13 to 0.17, p
Abstract.
