News and Blog

Professor David Blackaby comments on Joseph Rowntree Foundation Poverty Report

Professor David Blackaby comments on the recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation Report on Poverty and the implications for Wales (in particular Port Talbort) for BBC Radio Wales Good Morning Wales. The recent report found that there are currently 13 million people living in poverty in Britain and claims more government intervention is needed for communities like…

WISERD Education and Cardiff University’s Schools Partnership Project

Dr Kevin Smith discusses how the WISERDEducation project has benefited from Cardiff University’s School Partnership Project. The project is a Research Councils UK initiative that support researchers’ direct engagement with students and brings contemporary and inspirational research contexts into formal and informal learning to enhance and enrich the curriculum. Dr Smith has run a series…

WISERD at the 2016 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference

WISERD research was given prominent attention at the 2016 Voluntary Sector and Volunteering Research Conference. This is one of the UK’s foremost forums for research on civil society and the third sector, with diverse presentations from academics and practitioners. It was jointly hosted by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Voluntary Sector Studies…

Girls may perform better at school than boys – but their experience is much less happy

Using recent findings from the WISERD Education project, Dr Kevin Smith not only compares how boys and girls perform at school but how they feel when at school. ‘For the past three years, our research group has been analysing the difference in boys’ and girls’ perceptions of their school experiences. Our study, involving approximately 1,500 pupils…

Girls may perform better at school than boys – but their experience is much less happy

The usual discussions about children’s schooling experiences often focus on academic achievement, personal development and school evaluation. Ask a teacher, parent or policy maker what is the most important thing a school should offer and many will say it is education: they want children to develop the knowledge and skills that will help them build…