Authors
- Dr. Vicky Sharley (University of Bristol)
- Hayley Clark (NSPCC)
- May Gresdahl (NTNU)
- Dr. Didier Reynaert (HOGENT University of Applied Sciences)
- Jo Coles (Bristol City Council)
Key Messages from the Practice-Research Panel Discussion at the International Child and Family Conference (ICFC), University of Bristol, June 2025
The inaugural ICFC (2025), which took place between the 17-19 June, brought together more than 220 speakers, panellists and delegates from 28 different countries. The conference convened a diversity of international experts in childhood and family across the three rich and thought-provoking days.
A key conference theme was the need to ensure that continuous dialogue is maintained between academics and practitioners on the critical issues facing children around the globe.
As a result, the first day of the conference assembled a practice-research panel that reflected upon the relationship between practice and research contexts in relation to children’s social work. The panel, which comprised four expert speakers, was chaired by Dr Vicky Sharley, who is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work with Children and Families, in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. Panellists included:
- Hayley Clark, Head of Development and Implementation at the NSPCC, UK;
- Didier Reynaert, Lecturer in Social Work, and Senior Researcher at the EQUALITY//ResearchCollective of HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium;
- May Gresdahl, a PhD Scholar at the Department of Social Work, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway;
- Jo Coles, Principal Social Worker, Children and Families Services, Bristol City Council, UK.
Panellists were presented with six core questions which required them to reflect upon their knowledge, past and current practices, and experiential successes in their diverse roles in practice, policy and academia. These included a question about whether or not panellists felt there is a disconnect between the contexts of research and practice, and if so, what factors and challenges are most commonly encountered. In response to this question Hayley Clark, Head of Development and Implementation at the NSPCC remarked:
There can be a disconnect between practice and research…my role at the NSPCC is to design services …something we have really struggled with is thinking about the practical application of something that you have researched and you have an evidence base for, which is why when we design things, we have a very robust and comprehensive design process in place… that takes into account evidence already available – otherwise it’s not going to work in practice. … is it teachable? learnable? doable?. Is this going to work in a real-world context?
The potential ‘disconnect’ between social work research and social work practice continues to draw commentary and debate, particularly in the wake of the growing recruitment and retention challenges in the profession. A number of causes cited include the lack of access to research (which can sit behind a paywall or subscription) and competing demands on practitioners’ time and focus within frontline roles (Lonbay & Lesley; 2022).
A recent Community Care Inform research study cited high caseloads in practice and high vacancy levels as the biggest reasons for reduced learning time (Mithran Samuel, 2025).
Panellist Jo Coles, Principal Social Worker, Children and Families Directorate, Bristol City Council, reflected upon her experiences within practice situated in the fast-paced and often crisis-driven field of child protection:
Thinking about this in terms of a social workers’ timelines and careers…thinking back to being a student at Bristol 17 years ago, at that time training to be a social worker, research was very much part of doing the training…and your first year of practice…then it’s interesting how that changes as you progress through your career… child protection is very fast paced…the timescales of the two areas of research and practice are very different
In relation to knowledge production within a social work research context, May Gresdahl, a PhD Scholar at NTNU, Norway, described some of the drivers for dissemination of research findings in academia, and the need for researchers to ensure clear pathways for communication of research findings to their key stakeholders, such as children and families:
As an early career researcher…there are some disparities I think…just the way we relate this to knowledge…we are so focused in the research world on how to disseminate our findings through publications…to write in a certain way…to promote the work, names, to be cited…instead of actually finding a way – my work is on child participation – so I need to find a way to make sure that the children understand – as that’s the reason we are doing this.
Dr. Didier Reynaert, Senior Researcher at the EQUALITY//ResearchCollective reflected on his work at a University of Applied Sciences and the strengths he feels his positioning within an applied institution of higher education can bring:
I think every research project we do …always starts from a practice organisation, is set up with a practice organisation…and has to end up with something that supports the organisation…so in the context I work I do not feel such a disconnect between the organisation/research and the field of practice…but I do feel some kind of disconnect…a kind of paradigmatic disconnect and I mean the sort of questions that are raised by some people in the field and those by researchers…and those are the things we try to open up…but those can be very inspiring and offer common ground.
The panel members concluded discussions by exploring the benefits to achieving a more unified collaborative approach across the two contexts, emphasising the importance of creating spaces for continuous dialogue with colleagues in each setting.
Panellists’ biographies
Panel Chair: Vicky Sharley
Dr. Vicky Sharley is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work with Children and Families in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. She is co-Director of the Research Centre for Childhoods & Social Justice in the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences at the University of Bristol.
Vicky is a registered Social Worker with a background in child and family social work. Her work aims to bring closer together the worlds of research and practice, translating knowledge for frontline practice and policy contents.https://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/news/2025/bristol-hosts-first-international-child-and-family-conference.html
In January 2025 Vicky was appointed as Regional Editor (UK and Europe) for Child and Family Social Work at Wiley.
Panel members
Hayley Clark
Hayley Clark started her 25-year career in third sector organisations as a support worker in youth homeless organisations. In her current role as Head of Development and Implementation at the NSPCC she has developed a methodology using implementation science to scale NSPCC evidence-based programmes across range of sectors in the UK.
Hayley is passionate about using the best evidence and research to inform practice and influence policy. She currently oversees development and scaling of services in the areas of prevention of abuse and neglect in the early years, child sexual abuse, sex and relationships education and child safety online.
Didier Reynaert
Dr. Didier Reynaert is lecturer Social Work and senior researcher at the EQUALITY//ResearchCollective of HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School of Social Welfare. His expertise lies in the field of social work theory, social justice, human rights, children’s rights and child poverty. He is the current chairperson of the Flemish Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre.
Didier Reynaert holds a Bachelor’s degree in Paediatric Nursing (Erasmus University College Brussels, 1998) and a Masters in Educational Sciences (special education, Ghent University, 2002). In 2012, he obtained his PhD in social work with a dissertation on children’s rights (Ghent University). Previously, he worked for the Flemish Children’s Rights Coalition, the Child Legal Centre and as a civil servant at the Ministry of the Flemish Community on youth protection. Didier Reynaert is also guest lecturer Children’s Rights at Odisee University of Applied Sciences.
May Gresdahl
May Gresdahl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Child Welfare and an MPhil in Childhood Studies and is currently pursuing a PhD in Social Work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) Department of Social Work. In her PhD, May investigates how child welfare professionals balance children’s rights to participation with the need for protection in emergency child welfare contexts.
May’s academic background includes a bachelor’s thesis on developmental trauma and a Masters’ project exploring youth perceptions of safety in Mexico City. With a solid foundation in mixed-methods research, her work focuses on advancing child welfare practices to safeguard and promote the well-being of children and families in vulnerable circumstances, with particular attention to complex, high-risk contexts.
Jo Coles
Jo Coles is the Principal Social Worker at Bristol City Council. After qualifying with an MSc in Social Work in 2009, Jo practised as a Social Worker, Senior Practitioner and Team Manager in Child Protection teams in South Bristol for 14 years, before taking on the role of Principal Social Worker in April 2023. Her current role involves a wide range of responsibilities, including overseeing the Children’s Workforce Development Team, who facilitate development opportunities for students, Newly Qualified Social Workers and the wider Children’s Services workforce.
Jo sits on the Research Governance Board and has an active interest in how research can be most usefully disseminated and implemented within the often highly pressurised environments across Children’s Social Care. Jo is currently seconded part-time to Bristol’s Families First transformation programme as Design Lead for Practice & Culture. As such, she is passionate about how research relating to best practice in social work informs local and national reforms in Children’s Social Care.