The 2024-25 British Council ELT Research Awards programme attracted 21 high-quality proposals on the theme of empowerment from universities across the UK with partner institutions based in ODA-eligible countries.
All submissions were reviewed by a panel of evaluators against the following criteria:
- contribution to the aims of the scheme, with particular reference to international research collaboration
- relevance to ELT professionals
- originality
- quality of research design
- qualifications and experience of researchers
- consideration of gender and EDI
- potential impact on ELT practice
- value for money
The following proposals have been selected to receive a grant this year:
- Professor Lizzi O. Milligan (University of Bath), Dr Bebwa Isingoma (Gulu University, Uganda) and Dr Bal Ram Adhikari (Tribhuvan University, Nepal)
Reparative learning and English language teaching in Nepal and Uganda
- Research summary
Secondary education can play a critical role in empowering learners to take actions for sustainable development and towards a culture of non-violence and peace (SDG 4.7). There are increasing calls for a focus on reparative learning to enable these outcomes, especially for children living in contexts of historical and contemporary violence and injustices. Reparative learning empowers learners to understand how their actions can help to repair these injustices by recognising learners’ everyday experiences and developing their empathy and critical thinking skills.
This project critically explores the potential contribution of English Language Teaching (ELT) to reparative learning in secondary education through two case studies - Gulu, Uganda and Kathmandu, Nepal. These contexts have distinct experiences of recent conflict, increasing threats of climate crises, significant socio-economic inequalities, and linguistic/cultural marginalisation. We identify dimensions of reparative learning contextualised to ELT and to the development priorities of Gulu and Kathmandu through a scoping literature review and participatory workshops with ELT teachers and teacher educators. We explore how far these dimensions are present in existing ELT secondary curricula through documentary analysis. We identify the challenges to reparative approaches in ELT classrooms through interviews with secondary ELT teachers. Key outputs include (1) teaching resources and a webinar for ELT teachers to implement reparative learning in their classrooms, (2) a video and blog for the wider education and development audience, and (3) four seminar presentations and at least one collaborative journal article.
- Dr Rafael Mitchell (University of Bristol) and Dr Nigusse Weldemariam Reda (Mekelle University, Ethiopia)
Recognising the ‘extended’ work of English teachers in a post-conflict context: Lessons from Tigray, Ethiopia
- Research summary
This project will explore the changing conditions of primary school English teachers’ work in Tigray, Ethiopia following the civil war (2020-2022) and ensuing humanitarian crisis. Hundreds of thousands of Tigrayan civilians died during the conflict, which was marked by sexual violence and other atrocities, and led to mass internal displacement, and the destruction of public services and infrastructure. The education system was devastated by the conflict: school buildings were destroyed or repurposed, and teachers’ salaries were suspended, forcing them to sell possessions and accrue debts. Following a ceasefire in 2022, schools in Tigray started to re-open in 2023, but with severely constrained capacities. Before the war, primary school enrolment in Tigray was over 90%, but is currently less than half of that figure. The situation remains unstable, with high inflation, food insecurity, and the threat of further violent conflict. There is a high prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the general population, and a recent survey of teachers found that ‘Depression, anxiety, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout were alarmingly high’ (Zerihun et al., 2024, p15).
Research from Uganda, South Sudan and elsewhere highlights the ‘extended role’ which teachers often take on in post-conflict contexts, including providing counselling and other forms of psychosocial support (Falk et al., 2022). While this involves an additional burden, it can also be a source of positive emotions, particularly if teachers feel they have a meaningful role in rebuilding their communities and contributing to the safety and success of their students (ibid.). Teachers in Tigray are charged with providing an inclusive and equitable education for young people affected by the conflict at a time of great instability. English teachers occupy a distinctly challenging position. The national-level adoption of English as the language of instruction for post-primary education makes English proficiency decisive for young people’s future educational opportunities and outcomes. In marginalised, conflict-affected areas, the adequacy of support for young people’s English language learning is questionable, which may leave English teachers feeling ill-equipped to meet the needs of their students and wider communities.
Through collaborative work with primary English teachers in three communities, this project will develop practitioner-led understandings of English teachers’ practice, as a basis for improved professional support for teachers in post-conflict Tigray.
- Dr Maksud Ali (University of Dundee) and Dr Shaila Sultana (BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Enhancing teacher agency to empower disadvantaged girls’ linguistic human capital development in Bangladesh
- Research summary
This project seeks to enhance the agency of English language teachers in empowering disadvantaged girl students by supporting their practical English proficiency development in Bangladesh. Disadvantaged girls are those from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. As English is considered a form of human capital, supporting these students in advancing their English proficiency will contribute to their employability development. Empowerment, in this sense, means creating the conditions in the pedagogical space which enable their proficiency development in relation to their social mobility and economic futures. While a growing body of research has highlighted the potential of teacher agency to empower disadvantaged students, there is a global research gap in how such agency can be augmented through teacher professional learning so that teachers can develop their professional skills to empower disadvantaged students.
The project addresses the practical research problem in two phases. The first phase employs an online survey for 200 disadvantaged girl students in secondary schools to identify the barriers they experience in English learning and how these relate to school, society, gender, pedagogy, and teacher capacity.
Based on this grounded understanding, the second phase is an intervention to explore how these barriers can be addressed by enabling teacher agency. Four tailored workshops target teacher perspectives on the barriers (Workshop 1), knowledge exchange aiming to develop teachers’ understanding of their ‘roles’ as educators, the concept of agency, and unpacking ways teachers may exercise their agency to plan and enact gender-responsive pedagogies (Workshop 2), lesson planning to address the barriers (Workshop 3), and discussion of constraints/opportunities and planning for implementation (Workshop 4). Workshops are followed by teacher interviews and a student survey to assess the impact of the intervention.
The project is expected to enable us to generate knowledge and share practical implications that will inform pedagogy and teacher education in relation to leveraging teacher agency to support disadvantaged girl students’ English proficiency development. The findings will be relevant to language teachers, teacher educators, and academics focusing on gender-responsive pedagogies and social justice in language education.