Personal profile
Biography
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and and senior lecturer School of Education and Sociology and leader for the Childhood and Youth Studies with Social Pedagogy undergraduate pathway degree.
I am also module leader on the MA Education degree and PhD supervisor. I am departmental ethics representative and member of the faculty ethics committe. My research and innovation projects include developing Beyond the School Gates, a youth work informed charity that trains former excluded students to draw on their own lived experiences in order to mentor current excluded students and their parents to re-engage their education.
Research Interests
- Youth work and Alternative Education
- Youth voice and advocacy
- Social Justice
- Social networking and social media
- Democratic citizenship
- Qualititative research including PAR methods
- Social Pedagogy
Education/Academic qualification
Ph.D., The social construction of pupil's cultural worlds: Negotiating viable selves from the margins, University of Sussex
1 Sept 2006 → 26 Feb 2013
Award Date: 26 Feb 2013
MA, MA. Education, University of Sussex
27 Sept 2004 → 14 Jul 2006
Award Date: 14 Jul 2006
BA (Hons), Youth and Community work and Applied Theology, Oxford Brookes University
27 Sept 1999 → 17 Jul 2002
Award Date: 17 Jul 2002
External positions
Equality and Diversity Advisory Group member, Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations
20 Sept 2020 → …
Founder and CEO , Beyond the School Gates
14 Apr 2020 → …
External Examiner, Kingston University
1 Sept 2018 → …
BERA Alternative Education Special Interest Group, British Educational Research Association
5 Sept 2017 → 30 Aug 2019
OCR Sociology Consultative Forum, Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations
22 Apr 2016 → …
Director, Electric Storm Youth Ltd
1 Sept 2014 → 2 Apr 2017
External Examiner, Liverpool John Moores University
1 Sept 2014 → 30 Sept 2018
Keywords
- LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools
- Education
- Relational pedagogy
- Youth
- Voice
- Justice
Fingerprint
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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BERA Special Issue Blog Series - Relationship centred pedagogies: The route to ‘Education for all’
Edwards, S., Evea, R., Atkins, Z., Brunton, P., Farouk, S., Jones, K., King, S. & Young Person, M., 16 Jan 2026, British Educational Research Association.Research output: Other contribution › Blog posts
Open Access -
Major education reforms in England unveiled - here's what the experts think
Huat See, B., Carroll, C., Edwards, S. & Gorard, S., 25 Feb 2026, The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
Open Access -
Resisting the professional turn: revisiting youth work as a covenantal process
Edwards, S. & Evea, R., 3 Sept 2025, In: International Journal of Social Pedagogy . 14, 1, 16 p., 9.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile6 Downloads (Pure) -
Youth Work rediscovered in a school context: understanding the needs of excluded young people and their families by seeing beyond the professional
Evea, R. & Edwards, S., 7 May 2025, (Accepted for publication) In: The Buckingham Journal of Education.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Boys Attainment and Engagement in Education: BAE0039
Edwards, S. & Farouk, S., 23 May 2024, Online source: House of Commons: UK Parliament. 6 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open Access
Datasets
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Data availability statement for 'Does absence makes the heart grow fonder? Students' perspectives of curriculum, absenteeism and their pursuit of the good life'.
Edwards, S. (Creator) & Parmar, E. (Creator), University of Portsmouth, 24 Jun 2020
Dataset
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Relational and Restorative Working Practices in Schools
Pycroft, A. (PI) & Edwards, S. (CoI)
1/09/25 → 31/08/27
Project: Research
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Inclusive Leadership
Hoskin, M. (PI), Bezuidenhout, A. (CoI), Edwards, S. (CoI), Mather, D. (CoI) & Ringrow, H. (CoI)
16/09/24 → 30/03/25
Project: Innovation
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Scoping the training and capacity building needs of Sussex Clubs for Young People: Towards the implementation of level 6 qualifications
Edwards, S. (PI)
15/05/23 → 31/07/23
Project: Innovation
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Analysing the behaviour and improving the driving experience of intelligent powered mobility platform users
Sanders, D. (PI), Haddad, M. (CoI), Helps, S. (CoI), Edwards, S. (CoI), Tewkesbury, G. (CoI), Yates, S. (CoI) & Langner, M. (CoI)
1/03/22 → 30/06/22
Project: Research
Activities
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Viva Voce
Edwards, S. (Examiner)
11 Mar 2026Activity: Examination and External Supervision types › Examination
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Conference presentation with Motiv8 on Training Young People as Researchers
Edwards, S. (Speaker)
13 Feb 2026Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
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Advisory ethics board member Portsmouth University
Edwards, S. (Consultant)
12 Feb 2026 → 30 Sept 2028Activity: Consultancy types › Consultancy
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Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (Organisational unit)
Edwards, S. (Chair)
1 Oct 2025 → 30 Sept 2028Activity: Membership types › Membership of committee or panel
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Presentation to Fr Charles Plater Trust 150th Anniversary conference, Oxford University
Edwards, S. (Speaker) & Pycroft, A. (Speaker)
2 Sept 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Prizes
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The Charles Plater Trust 2025 Award Holder for Outstanding Commitment to Social Justice in Action
Pycroft, A. (Recipient) & Edwards, S. (Recipient), 24 Jun 2025
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Press/Media
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What can be done to combat our spiralling rate of youth crime?
9/06/21
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research cited
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Why it might be time to exterminate exclusions Features
12/12/19
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert comment
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Why there is no such thing as an unteachable child
12/06/19 → 12/07/19
2 Media contributions
Press/Media: Expert comment