Strengthening teaching to create lasting change

The Science and Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub (SEERIH) at The University of Manchester shows that long-term, co-designed professional learning can lift teacher confidence, reshape classroom practice and inform science and engineering education policy. Using a research-informed model, SEERIH influences pedagogy and practice in science and engineering learning for 5–14 year olds across the UK, with global impact.

How the impact happens 

SEERIH delivers impact by embedding research directly into teachers’ working lives. Instead of producing findings and handing them over, the team works alongside in‑service teachers through long‑term subject leader networks, mentoring programmes and co‑designed projects that run over many months, sometimes years. Teachers help to define research questions, trial approaches in their own classrooms and feed evidence back into programme design. SEERIH has provided more than 40,000 hours of training and supported more than 1,000 science subject leaders with academic leads, specialist officers, data analysts and programme administrators working together to sustain delivery and evaluation at scale. 

Scientists and engineers were brought in early, not as guest speakers but as collaborators, learning how best to enhance the curriculum and to challenge the low status of primary science. As Professor Lynne Bianchi explains: “Scientists brought ambition, teachers brought reality and together they found a way forward.” That balance was intentional; teachers are experts in their field, so it was vital that SEERIH brokered collaboration with researchers, professional services staff, local authorities, funders and industry partners leading towards shared decision-making and responsibility for outcomes, working towards a common purpose.

Collaboration builds confidence, confidence builds continuity 

“SEERIH creates the conditions where people have the time and permission to work differently,” says Lynne, “Our ideas can start in quick conversations – a phone call, a late‑night message, a chat on a train – or longer-term ruminations about practice. Ultimately, they only become real when we get the right mix of voices around the table.”

Lynn Provoost, Assistant Head Teacher at The Derby High School (Bury), explains that the practical challenge is often creating that space in the first place: “Time is always the barrier,” she explains, “So, a lot of my role is bringing people – teachers, researchers, local partners – together and making sure they have the time and permission to work differently.” She has seen projects falter when collaboration is rushed and succeed when teachers are involved from the outset. “The most successful projects are always the ones where everybody is involved, collaborating and co-creating,” she reflects.

In practice, that means progress is judged through reflection, classroom evidence and teacher voice, rather than attendance figures alone. By working through local authorities, trusts and networks, SEERIH scales its approach while keeping it grounded in real classrooms ensuring that growth does not dilute relevance.

In this way, SEERIH acts as an innovator and broker, translating cutting‑edge education research into practical classroom contexts while protecting teacher agency and sustaining change over time, with different professional skillsets aligned around shared impact rather than operating in silos.

Moving forward 

SEERIH’s work continues through ongoing partnership rather than concluding at the end of a single project. Building evidence and changing professional practice takes time, trust between partners and confidence to experiment. The team continues to expand its professional learning networks and adapting proven models to new scientific contexts, enhancing awareness of the diversity of fields and interdisciplinary links across STEM, including: robotics, materials and quantum science.  

International partnerships are also deepening, with SEERIH’s approaches becoming embedded in collaborative programmes and funding bids across Europe and beyond. The team has secured UNESCO National Patronage for Great Science Share for Schools for a third year (2026), with more than 830,000 young people in 50 countries registering to ask, investigate and share science. 

At policy level, SEERIH continues to contribute evidence to teacher development strategy and national curriculum reform. As Lynne reflects: “Our role is often to lead thinking, broker debate and translate this into what a teacher can do in a classroom within the curriculum boundaries. We are proud to support scientists and engineers to work together with teachers, enhancing awareness of the fascinating innovations and research that is unfolding every day.” This long-term, collaborative approach ensures SEERIH’s research remains responsive, grounded and designed to last, reinforcing Manchester’s commitment to partnership-led impact.