Research
Joel Dunn’s Research on the School-to-Prison Pipeline
The school-to-prison pipeline is not just a metaphor; it is a lived reality for too many young people in the UK.
For decades, educational inequality has been measured in data points. But what happens when you listen to lived experience?
Overview
Joel Dunn, Founder of Paradigm Project, completed a master’s at the University of Cambridge exploring this issue through the lens of lived experience. His research, based in the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, foregrounded the voices of excluded students, their parents, and school leaders to understand how exclusion functions not as a disciplinary tool, but as a form of systemic abandonment.
Using a multi-layered framework grounded in Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, and ecological systems theory, the research revealed how structural violence, misrecognition, and inequality are embedded in the very fabric of the education system. Joel employed creative and participatory methods, including poetry workshops and focus groups, to ensure that the stories of those most impacted were not just represented, but centred.
This work surfaced three urgent truths:
- A system that makes children highly visible for punishment but invisible when it comes to support
- A shared understanding that the system is functioning as it was designed to, by reproducing inequality
- A collective vision for an education system rooted in empathy, recognition, and justice
“Exclusion functions not as a disciplinary tool, but as a form of systemic abandonment.”
– Joel Dunn
Why It Matters
This research challenges us to move beyond surface-level solutions and towards radical, upstream reform. It offers not only critique but also practical, systemic recommendations – from embedding relational safeguarding to making mattering a measurable goal in schools.
For The Paradigm Project, Joel’s research is more than an academic exercise. It shapes how we think, act, and respond as an organisation. The insights from this work continue to guide the direction of our programmes, our advocacy, and our future research agenda.
We believe that centering the lived experiences of those too often overlooked – children, families, and communities – is essential if we are to build a system where every child is not only safe, but able to thrive.
Looking Ahead
In October 2025, Joel will begin a PhD at the University of Cambridge to expand this research on a national scale. This next phase will deepen the work, developing a preventative framework to disrupt exclusion and early criminalisation. The aim is to produce evidence that is bold in analysis, practical in application, and transformational in impact.
As Joel’s research develops, so too does Paradigm Project. The learning, partnerships, and credibility gained through this work are helping us grow as an organisation, strengthening our ability to influence policy, improve practice, and work upstream.
Join Us
If you are a funder, policymaker, school leader, or researcher interested in collaborating on this work, we would love to hear from you.