Applying the ERICC Conceptual Framework for Research in Education within Conflict and Protracted Crisis Contexts

There is a significant lack of research on how children in conflict and crisis environments learn and develop, as well as what strategies effectively improve their learning and wellbeing outcomes. The body of evidence that exists is fragmented and siloed by disciplines. The critical scholarship in this field helpfully highlights the geopolitics of education aid, colonial legacies of education in conflict-affected settings and lack of appreciation around politics of education in protracted conflict and crisis settings. The research studies that focus on access and quality of learning often describe low education outcomes in terms of lack of technical solutions, but too often, do not acknowledge how competing goals and normative assumptions of key actors can hinder or enable implementation of cost-effective solutions.

Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) Consortium is a multi-year, multi-country research consortium funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and is designed to expand and strengthen the evidence base for education in conflict-affected contexts. The ERICC conceptual framework serves as a tool for organising the existing body of research evidence in a coherent manner and for designing studies that help produce policy relevant and actionable research evidence that contribute to improving access, quality, and continuity of education and coherence among humanitarian, development, government, and civil society actors. The framework is underpinned by a political economy and system coherence thinking, including the importance of actors’ incentives, capacities and operations. These elements collectively contribute to social cohesion, peace with justice, economic prosperity and crisis preparedness and risk mitigation.

In this workshop, we will introduce the ERICC Conceptual Framework and invite participants to critically engage with the framework, reflecting on its relevance and application in their own work relating to education research, policy and practice in education in conflict and protracted crisis.

Facilitators:

Dr Tejendra Pherali is Professor of Education, Conflict and Peace at IOE, University College London and Co-Research Director of the ERICC Research Programme Consortium. His research and teaching focus on education in conflict-affected and politically contested contexts across the world.

Dr Silvia Diazgranados Ferrans is Director of Education Research at the International Rescue Committee, and Co-Director of the ERICC Research Programme Consortium. Her research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of education intervention to meet the needs of marginalised children in conflict and crisis settings across the world.

Dr Danni Falk is an education researcher at International Rescue Committee and specialises in issues of teachers and teaching in conflict-affected and refugee settings.

Dr Olha Homonchuck is a Research Fellow at ODI and a Policy Lead for ERICC Research Programme Consortium. Her work focuses on financing and political economy of education in conflict and protracted crisis.