"Education on the Margins" is a podcast series dedicated to exploring the diverse and often overlooked aspects of the education system that serve individuals on the fringes of mainstream education. This podcast will delve into non-linear education pathways, for example Youthreach, prison education, further education institutions, the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), and other relevant organizations. By bringing to light the unique challenges and triumphs within these educational settings, the podcast aims to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the innovative approaches being taken to educate and empower marginalized populations.

The Journal of Education on the Margins exists to illuminate the often overlooked spaces where education unfolds beyond the boundaries of mainstream systems. Its core purpose is to centre the voices, experiences, and practices of learners, educators, and communities who navigate exclusion, inequality, and structural barriers in their educational journeys. By foregrounding perspectives from groups such as early school leavers, Travellers, incarcerated learners, adult literacy participants, and others who have been historically marginalised, the journal challenges dominant narratives that too often render these experiences invisible.

The journal aims to reposition the periphery not as a site of deficit, but as a site of deep insight one where innovation, relational practice, and transformative approaches to inclusion frequently originate. It brings together rigorous academic scholarship and community led research, treating both as equally valuable forms of knowledge that can shape educational policy and practice.

By bridging theory and lived experience, the journal fosters empathy driven, relational approaches to education that highlight belonging, emotional literacy, and social change. Ultimately, its purpose is to create a platform where meaningful, equity centred educational research can flourish, influence policy, and inspire more inclusive futures.

See a video explainer of the content of our first issue below.

Our 2024 conference focused on empathy building pedagogies such as Story Exchange and Restorative Practice. This year we want to focus on put more of a focus on Educational Disadvantage so we are keeping the general theme about narrative and how being informed about where your students are coming from and their lived experience can influence your interactions and interpersonal relationships within the classroom. The conference is aimed at the whole spectrum of educators whether they work in Primary, Post Primary, Youthreach, Prisons or other non traditional sites of education that might be judged "On the Margins" of society. 

To view proceedings from our 2024 conference please click here https://sites.google.com/view/transformativenarratives/home

Registion is now closed for the launch of the inaugural issue of On the Margins: The Journal of Education on the Margins, a new space dedicated to the voices, stories, and research that too often go unheard in mainstream education. This first volume brings together powerful academic writing, community‑led research, and lived experiences that reimagine empathy, identity, and inclusion across diverse educational settings.

Procedings from our 2026 Webinar will issue in the near future.