School of Advanced Study Taking Research Into Schools Dr Peter TA Jones (Institute of Historical Research) This talk draws upon my experience of working with the ‘Brilliant Club’ in placements in ‘low participation’ secondary schools. I will reflect upon the most effective methods to meet the challenges of taking research into schools. Current models of impact and engagement have tended to place too much emphasis on the social worth that academics can generate by ‘reaching out’ of their intellectual comfort zone into some abstract space populated with intractable young minds. In contrast, I have been surprised to find that teaching pupils from Key Stages 3-5 (12 to 18-year-olds) has meant reaching inward and re-evaluating the shortcomings of my own research and the Higher Education sector more broadly. These insights will be brought into relief by turning to the example of courses that I developed with the aim of exploring the cultural histories of two sites–Peckham Rye and the Great North Road–delivered at Harris Girls Academy in East Dulwich and St Thomas Moore School in Wood Green. The Social Scholar seminar series