Reflections on a conference: Sociology, PedRes, and educational intention

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to combine my prior disciplinary research with the pedagogical research (PedRes) we’re known for at LITE at the British Sociological Association Conference 2025: Social Transformations. In this post, I wanted to share a short reflection on what this looked and felt like, and ask what this might say about educational inquiry.

As part of my attendance, I delivered a parallel session under the ‘Social identities/divisions’ stream. There, I introduced pedagogical practices raised during my study on educator visions for contesting the spatial, intellectual, and psychosocial reproduction of social divisions in a particular educational context. While the research context was several steps removed from UK higher education, many of the challenges translate across, or provide a new lens for looking at familiar problems. This gave me the confidence to encourage those in the room to consider how they might re-interpret these practices in their own educational work (and perhaps evidence them, as we do in PedRes).

Reflecting on this now, I can see how the lines between sociological discussion and pedagogical inquiry blurred, and even started to multiply. As I was speaking, I realised I was drawing upon both my disciplinary background in sociology and international education, and my knowledge and experience in PedRes, to tell a particular educational story. In the process of trying to elevate the value of the latter to an audience mostly belonging to the former, new thoughts, ideas, and feelings began to emerge.

The two are, of course, closely connected. This is true on an objective level: there are overlaps with methods, theories, and concepts employed in both sociology and PedRes. I think it’s also true on a subjective level: taken in isolation, in both cases I draw upon my values, normative stances, relationships, ideas, passions, lived experiences, and so on. But as with any discipline, there are also differences to be recognised, navigated, and re-constituted. It is these interwoven threads of (un)evenness that made attending this conference a reflective and affective educational experience. One that, I think, says something about the multi-dimensional beauty of being involved in pedagogical research, as LITE Fellow Claudia Rogers reflected recently. You can read Claudia’s LITE blog here.

The other thread this experience left me with is loosely related to what Paul Ashwin describes as ‘educational intention’ (you can watch Paul Ashwin’s SEC 2024 keynote via our Rewind here). Bringing my PedRes ‘hat’ to the day, I often found myself wondering how presenters understood the implicit and explicit relationships between research they were presenting and their educational approaches (and occasionally asking them!). And to go a step further: the aims, values, and intentions that help constitute these approaches.

It was enriching to see fragments of this unfold in micro-moments. I wonder if anyone reading this has shared a similar experience? And if so, what did this say to you about PedRes and its possibilities? Is there something multi-dimensional at play here (a twiLITE zone, anyone?)? Or am I getting carried away?

In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing how my ideas develop. I’m currently working on research in this area and, as someone who tries to operate as a reflexive educational thinker, this was an encouraging place to start (or, in the spirit of this post, to continue?).