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

Ian Hughes, Sarah Rochford, Maggie O'Neill, Brian Ó Gallachóir, Ariel Macaspac Hernandez, Gerard Mullally and Edmond Byrne
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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

Social Inclusion, 2026, vol. 14

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 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:socinc:v14:y:2026:a:12038

DOI: 10.17645/si.12038

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