Towards a Coherent, Rigorous and Comprehensive Body of Education Research Evidence for Uptake in Conflict and Crisis Settings

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

In order to improve learning and development in conflict-affected settings it is critical to have a coherent and robust body of high-quality actionable evidence to inform decision-making for education policy and practice. However, there is a dearth of research evidence about what works to improve education outcomes in conflict-affected settings, and the scarce research evidence that exists typically is disjoined, lacks rigor, and is rarely used for decision-making. As a result, the ability of policymakers, donors, and educators to most effectively use scarce resources to improve access, quality, and continuity of education for children in conflict and crisis settings is compromised. In this panel, we will discuss research efforts conducted as part of the Education Research in Conflict and Crises (ERICC) Programme, a large-scale multi-country research program funded by FCDO, which aims to generate new, rigorous research evidence on the most effective approaches to education provision in conflict and protracted crisis contexts, with the aim to expand and deepen operational and policy-relevant evidence that can support bold reform in education delivery in these settings.
Three presentations -a global endeavor and three country-level efforts- all use similar principles to support the development of demand-driven policy-relevant education research agendas for conflict and crisis settings:
• A conceptual framework to organize evidence from research in multiple disciplines, contexts, and focal areas and levels (Kim et al, 2022).
• A systematic research methods framework, to generate relevant and rigorous education research agendas and studies that fill evidence gaps for children in conflict-affected settings in ways that are fit for purpose.
• A political economy lens to situate all evidence and research work in the context of a deep contextual understanding of the factors that affect coherence in the political economy of education provision for children in a diverse set of conflict-affected settings.
• A stakeholder engagement approach: Unlike traditional research endeavors which identify problems based on evidence gaps, the ERICC programme engages local stakeholders in the identification of the research questions that should be prioritized because they are critical to them, to ensure that the research is demand-driven and that the evidence generated will be used to inform policy and practice in ways that are relevant and that respond to the needs of local actors affected by conflict and crises.
In the first presentation, Dr. Silvia Diazgranados, Bernard Thuo and Ismael Hammoudi will discuss ERICC’s research approach, and the process the International Rescue Committee followed to conduct 1) a global evidence review that organizes our knowledge about what works, how, for whom, at what cost, and under what conditions, in conflict and protracted crisis according to ERICC’s conceptual and methods framework, and 2) to develop a global-level research agenda that identifies the key questions for which the field of education in conflict and crises settings requires urgent answers. The next three presentations will focus on how researchers from Osman Consulting in Syria, Forcier Consulting and the International Rescue Committee in South Sudan, and the Center for Lebanese Studies in Lebanon, followed to generate country-level research agendas that address existing local needs and priorities, which will guide upcoming ERICC research efforts in these countries. Specifically, Dr. Rabi Nasser, Dr. Bassel Akar and Claudia Basselli will discuss how conflict has affected education opportunities of children in Syria, and the process they followed to identify evidence gaps, map and engage key local stakeholders, and identify key education research priorities in Syria. Similarly, Dr. Ioanna Wagner Tsoni, Nicholas Wilson, and Ceaser Taban from Forcier Consulting and Thomas Fedlu Hussien and Elifrida Japhet from the International Rescue Committee will discuss the education challenges experienced by children affected by conflict and crisis in South Sudan, and share the process they followed to generate a country-level research agenda, reviewing evidence, mapping and interviewing local key stakeholders and inviting them to workshops, to identify policy-relevant research priorities in the country. Dr. Maha Shuayb and Dr. Cathrine Brun from Center of Lebanese Studies will discuss how they engaged with the evidence and the local priorities of key stakeholders to generate a research agenda to address the needs of children in a context affected by compounded crisis. Finally, Dr. Tejendra Pherali, Professor of Education, Peace and Conflict at University College London, will discuss the presentations, drawing on years of research experience working to conflict and crisis settings.
The panel is connected to the conference theme "Power of Protest" because the work recognizes the need to situate the knowledge about 'what works' in the available evidence within the complex political economy of education in diverse contexts. Additionally, the processes used to build research agendas highlight participatory processes of co-construction and collective action that are grounded in a deep contextual understanding of the systemic weaknesses that affect access, quality, and continuity of education for children in conflict-affected settings, which aim to harness the power of grassroots resistance against political oppression and education marginalization. The work uses rigorous and participatory processes to identify priorities about the evidence needed to develop feasible, cost-effective and scalable strategies to inform policymakers and practitioners in their efforts to improve education outcomes and strengthen education systems in conflict-affected settings, in ways that aspire to build allyship with communities that bear the burden of these conflicts such that research agendas are built around 'what matters' to them.

Sub Unit

• Education in Conflict and Emergencies SIG

Organizer

• Silvia Diazgranados, International Rescue Committee

Chair

• Susan Nicolai, Save the Children

Individual Presentations

• Taking Stock of What We Know and Identifying Evidence Gaps in Education Research in Conflict and Crisis Settings - Silvia Diazgranados, International Rescue Committee; Bernard Thuo, International Rescue Committee; Ismael L Hammoudi, International Rescue Committee

• Learning in Crisis: A Research Agenda to Identify Challenges, Opportunities, and a Path towards Resilience in South Sudan - Ioanna Wagner Tsoni, Forcier Consulting; Nicholas James Wilson, Forcier Consulting; Elifrida Japhet Twalihi, International Rescue Committee; Thomas Fedlu Hussien, International Rescue Committee

• Formulating an education research agenda in the context of compounded crises: the role of knowledge production to inform policies in Lebanon - Cathrine Brun, Centre for Lebanese Studies; Maha shuayb, Centre for Lebanese Studies; Rachel Saliba, Centre for Lebanese Studies, LAU

• Potential collective resistance to weaponization of education during the conflict in Northwest Syria - Rabie Nasser, Osman Consulting; Bassel Akar, Lebanese Association for Educational Studies; Ann Marie Carter, Osman Consulting

Discussant

• Tejendra Pherali, UCL Institute of Education