Conceptual Framework for Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC)

Children living in contexts of conflict and protracted crisis are among the most educationally and developmentally disadvantaged in the world (UNESCO, 2015). As of 2023, an estimated 224 million school-aged children across 73 countries are affected by conflict and crisis, with more than 30% of them being (Education Cannot Wait, 2023). These staggering figures, along with the unique challenges and constraints posed by conflict and crisis to education systems, underscore the urgent need for a systematic approach to address the educational needs of such children.

To address these challenges, the field needs a systematic evidence base that can inform policy, practice and evidence. However, the field continues to face an overwhelming lack of evidence on how children learn and develop in contexts of conflict and protracted crises and how to effectively support them (Masten & Narayan, 2012; UNESCO, 2015; Burde et al., 2023). This limited knowledge base is further strained by a fragmented research landscape divided into disciplinary and sectoral silos.

To address these challenges, the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) Research Programme Consortium has developed a systematic conceptual framework to translate individual studies into an interconnected body of knowledge on effective educational practices in conflict contexts (Kim et al., forthcoming). Through this framework, we aim to synthesise the existing body of knowledge and build a systematic knowledge base that is comprehensive, context-sensitive and actionable for educational interventions and policy changes. This brief summarises the key components of the conceptual framework, which we hope will provide educational researchers, policymakers and practitioners with a holistic understanding of the field and how to advance effective policy development and educational practice in conflict and crisis contexts.

The ERICC framework is designed to organise existing evidence, challenges and needs, and innovative solutions for education systems in conflict and protracted crisis contexts across disciplines, sectors and regions. Through a comprehensive, transdisciplinary and sectoral approach, it aims to situate and incorporate educational research from conflict and crisis contexts within a global education research landscape. To do so, the ERICC framework situates pathways of education within a nested system of actors and stakeholders where key processes involved in education in conflict and crisis contexts take place:

• Educational experience pathways: At the child and local levels, children interact with and directly experience educational processes in households, schools and communities, characterised by their access to, quality of and continuity in education; 

• Education policy pathways: At the local, regional, national and global levels, education systems are operated and managed through policy, financing and accountability decisions and are influenced by (in)coherence in the political economy of education.