Glossary
Key terms
Education setting – An education setting is any place where learning takes place, including formal institutions like nurseries, schools and colleges as well as informal contexts such as community centres.
Educational inequality / inequity – The unequal distribution of academic and financial resources which leads to disparities in educational outcomes and opportunities between groups.
Mental models - The phrase “mental model” is an overarching term for any sort of concept, framework, or worldview that you carry around in your mind.
Systems change – There are a number of definitions of systems change. The one that we use describes systems change as shifting the conditions that hold a problem in place.
https://www.fsg.org/resource/water_of_systems_change/
Community-centred approaches - Community-centred approaches mobilise assets within communities, encourage equity and social connectedness and increase people's control over their health and lives. It is a phrase that has been used in the healthcare space for decades and is increasingly used in relation to other social issues.
Collective impact - Collective impact is the commitment of a group of actors from different sectors to a common agenda for solving a complex social problem. Successful collective impact initiatives typically have five conditions that together produce true alignment and lead to powerful results: a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support organisations.
https://collectiveimpactforum.org/what-is-collective-impact/
Social justice – There are a number of definitions of social justice. What they all have in common is equal rights, equal opportunity and equal treatment for everyone. It can also be described as the objective of creating a fair and equal society.
Social mobility - A person experiences social mobility when they have different life outcomes from their parents. This could mean a different income level, a different occupational class, or other differences, such as housing or education. Mobility can be upwards or downwards.
https://socialmobility.independent-commission.uk/
Infrastructure organisation - A third sector organisation whose main purpose is to provide support and services to other organisations. Infrastructure organisations may offer support, training, information and advice, act as advocates, promote communication and collaboration between other organisations, or seek to influence policy on behalf of them, among other activities.
Socioeconomic background – A term that refers to the particular set of social and economic circumstances that an individual has come from. It encompasses a range of different factors which can include education, income and occupation.
Education system – This refers to five stages of education in the UK: early years, primary, secondary, Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE).