Social Inclusion

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2183-2803

Article | Open Access

Transformative Research and Social Inclusion: An Educational Research‐Policy Dialogue

  • Ian Hughes Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Ireland / Department of Education and Youth, Government of Ireland, Ireland
  • Sarah Rochford Department of Education and Youth, Government of Ireland, Ireland
  • Maggie O'Neill Department of Sociology and Criminology, University College Cork, Ireland / Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21) and UCC Futures: Collective Social Futures, University College Cork, Ireland
  • Brian Ó Gallachóir Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Ireland
  • Ariel Macaspac Hernandez German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • Gerard Mullally Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Ireland / Department of Sociology and Criminology, University College Cork, Ireland / Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century (ISS21) and UCC Futures: Collective Social Futures, University College Cork, Ireland
  • Edmond Byrne Sustainability Institute, University College Cork, Ireland / School of Engineering and Architecture, University College Cork, Ireland
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Abstract:  This article presents the outcome of an interdisciplinary co‐creative research‐policy dialogue between senior policymakers in education and scholars in transformative research about what it means to create a caring society in the face of persistent inequalities. The article is based on an innovative collaboration between policymakers in the Department of Education and Youth in Ireland and researchers working on deep whole‐of‐society transformation. The participating policymakers within the Department of Education and Youth cover a wide range of issues across the Department’s policy portfolio, including quality, wellbeing, workforce planning, inclusion, curriculum development, and teacher education. Three key future‐oriented ideas with potentially transformative potential were presented by the research group to the policymakers and responses were gathered through a follow‐up questionnaire and in‐depth conversations. The ideas presented were (a) the idea of the polycrisis, (b) a generative framework for transformation, and (c) social duality and the “sacred ordinary.” The article presents the findings of this dialogue, focusing on the challenges and opportunities of implementing such far‐reaching ideas in practice, including the deep structural changes needed to address issues of social inclusion in education.

Keywords:  education policy; futures thinking; human flourishing; polycrisis; research‐policy dialogue; social inclusion; societal transformation

Published:  

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.12038

Issue:   Vol 14 (2026): Compassionate Futures for Collective Well-Being (In Progress)


© Ian Hughes, Sarah Rochford, Maggie O’Neill, Brian Ó Gallachóir, Ariel Macaspac Hernandez, Gerard Mullally, Edmond Byrne. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction of the work without further permission provided the original author(s) and source are credited.

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