In October 2024 I started my PhD at University College London in collaboration with Evolve, who are co-funding the position alongside the European Social Research Council. Over the course of the next few years, I will work with Evolve to evaluate their child-centred interventions and build on work undertaken by Astrid Bowen, who was previously supporting Evolve in a similar capacity. Astrid’s work centred on the Project HE:RO programme and the impact this had on self-efficacy in primary school children. I will expand on these findings, focusing on secondary aged pupils (11-13 years old) in mainstream schools, youth justice settings and virtual schools.
It is an exciting time to commence working together, as at the start of this academic year Evolve launched their updated data collection tool – the Evolve Development Tracker (or EDT, for short). The EDT is a digital platform that consists of several tools that collect quantitative data about the wellbeing, mindset and performance of young people in schools.
One of these tools is the Wellbeing Compass survey that tracks the six important wellbeing domains are: sleep, physical activity, diet, emotional wellbeing, self-efficacy and personal development. This information is integrated with data collected from teachers and school management information systems. Data is gathered throughout the year, starting with a baseline measure in September, and then again at the end of each term. This enables every child’s development to be monitored over time. At the moment, I am working with Evolve to map out how the great quantity of data they are collecting using the EDT can be used in the most impactful way.
Before any data analysis can be conducted though, time must be spent engaging in the body of literature surrounding this topic. This is a fundamental stage in all research projects, irrespective of discipline, as it ensures the researcher has a firm grasp of the evidence-base, methodological approaches, gaps and contentions within their field. Over the coming months, I’ll be reading and synthesising many peer-reviewed articles, policy papers and more. A quick search of the term ‘school-based intervention’ in PsychInfo (one of the databases commonly used to explore Psychology research) returns more than 25,000 items, for example. One key focus of the literature review process will be on the six domains of the Wellbeing Compass, all critical factors contributing to each young person’s development.
My learnings and sources will be shared here, in a series of blog posts. I hope to answer questions, such as: Why do teenagers struggle to wake up before school? How important is breakfast for focus in the classroom? Does wellbeing impact academic performance?
I hope you’ll read along.
