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Education: An act of hope

Exhibition / conference

July 2026

Students walking outside our St John's Campus main reception
  • July 8, 2026
  • 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
  • The University of Worcester, Severn Campus

This years Annual research conference, hosted by the Institute of Education, invites you to explore how education can create a sense of hope in how it can support the development of agency, resilience, wellbeing and collective action.

The conference will feature a series of talks which discuss education primarily in relation to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, Quality Education, alongside other SDGs.

Dr Sue Roffey headshot
Keynote speaker: Dr Sue Roffey

Agenda

TimeTalkSpeakerLocation
9:00 amArrival and registrationThe Dukes Building (DB)- DB1005
9:15 amKeynote presentationDr Sue RoffeyDB1005
10:00 amWorkshopDr Sue RoffeyDB1005
11:15 amBreakDB1005
11:30 amParallel sessions 1See belowElizabeth Garrett Anderson (EGA) building - see below
12:25 pmIntroduction to photo exhibitionEGA G012
1:00 pmLunch - Poster presentation, Photo exhibition and research activity, book rescueEGA Atrium
1:50 pmParallel sessions 2See belowSee below
3:15 pmReflective plenaryElena LengthornDB1002
4:15 pmClose and thanksDB1002

Parallel sessions 1

EGA 1007
Chair: Carla Solvason
EGA 1008
Chair: Dan Whittaker
EGA 1009
Chair: Angela Hodgkins
Relational Recovery Leadership: Rethinking Community Responses to Collective Trauma
Speaker: Rich Holmes
Social Contracts in Schools: Power, Peers, and Pathways to Quality Education
Speakers: Isobel Dawes, Alison Kington, Ben Looker
Present, Compliant, and Struggling: Rethinking Student Wellbeing in High-Stakes Educational Contexts
Speaker: Nicola Sears
The Power of Positive Regard
Speaker: Carla Solvason
Exploring in-place Tourettic expression and experience: a pilot study
Speaker: Dan Whittaker
Education as a Pathway for Hope: A provocation on the Challenges of Cultivating Hope in Secondary Education (Ages 11-18) in England
Speaker: Nancy Abuchi Ajikere
Masters of Uncertainty: Coaching safeguarding leaders ambiguity and complexity
Speaker: Stuart Gallagher
Teaching Art and Crafts and its Impact on Cognitive Skills in Preschool Children
Speaker: Syeda Kainat Jillani
Education as an act of hope: compassion, sanctuary, and the power of human connection
Speakers: Angela Hodgkins & Alison Prowle

Parallel sessions 2

EGA 1007
Chair: Jo Smith
EGA 1008
Chair: Maddy Findon
EGA 1010
Chair: Elly Lengthorn
University Readiness: A creative, rhizomatic, narrative inquiry exploring multiple perceptions of transitions to Higher Education
Speaker: Jo Smith
Understanding how teachers be more effectively prepared to support neurodiverse children with sensory processing differences in mainstream settings
Speaker: Alison Double
What Lies Beneath Academic Judgement: Uncovering the Mechanisms Shaping Expectations in Post‑92 Universities
Speaker: Raquel Labella Jara
Contested and Neglected Stories of Art: An appreciative study of teachers’ perceptions of culturally responsive primary art
Speaker: Kaytie Holdstock
Safeguarding in Education: Micro-Processes of Sharing Responsibility
Speakers: Nicola Webster & Stuart Gallagher
What is a Primary Geographer? Hopeful messages from a Master's dissertation
Speaker: Jacqueline Hine
An exploration of teachers’ knowledge, confidence and readiness for teaching foundational digital accessibility awareness in schools
Speaker: Helen Wilson
Playful Communities: Universally Co-Designed Playful Spaces. reimagining Public Spaces and places with Children and Communities
Speaker: Michelle Malomo
Teaching Hope in Contexts of Difference: A Comparative Study of Secondary Education in Nigeria and the United Kingdom
Speaker: Abdulrahman Ibrahim
Sustainable development goals logo - colourful circle made up of segments with an icon representing the different goals inside