Research Findings
Each year, ICGS research fellows explore a theme relevant to teaching and learning in girls’ schools.
They review the literature on the theme and design an intervention to implement in their classrooms. After analyzing the results, fellows identify findings that highlight effective ways teachers can strengthen learning and support girls’ growth and development.
Topics have included feedback, student agency, and collaboration, with findings that offer actionable strategies educators can apply in their own classrooms. Fellows’ research reports highlight specific approaches that enhance teaching and learning around each year’s theme. Explore some of the common themes below.
![two students smiling at the camera, sitting together at an assembly]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1773225175/ncgsorg/jsndy7is32hbuznly1lk/card_twostudentssmilingatanassembly.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1773225175/ncgsorg/jsndy7is32hbuznly1lk/card_twostudentssmilingatanassembly.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1773225175/ncgsorg/jsndy7is32hbuznly1lk/card_twostudentssmilingatanassembly.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1773225175/ncgsorg/jsndy7is32hbuznly1lk/card_twostudentssmilingatanassembly.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1773225175/ncgsorg/jsndy7is32hbuznly1lk/card_twostudentssmilingatanassembly.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1773225175/ncgsorg/jsndy7is32hbuznly1lk/card_twostudentssmilingatanassembly.jpg","width":2200}])
How giving girls greater agency in their learning increases engagement, builds confidence, and strengthens leadership skills
![The Power of Many Voices: Collaboration in Girls’ Schools (23-24)]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1747325472/ncgsorg/xg0z0sin1dssda8xsamz/QW-landscape-extra-curricular-drama.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1747325472/ncgsorg/xg0z0sin1dssda8xsamz/QW-landscape-extra-curricular-drama.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1747325472/ncgsorg/xg0z0sin1dssda8xsamz/QW-landscape-extra-curricular-drama.jpg","width":720}])
How anxiety, fear of judgment, and perfectionism can limit collaboration among girls, and strategies that support collaborative learning
![The Global Reset: New Opportunities for Educating Girls (22-23)]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1747325469/ncgsorg/jlv3qe93bpvvzdxelcbz/IMG_6941-2-767x575.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1747325469/ncgsorg/jlv3qe93bpvvzdxelcbz/IMG_6941-2-767x575.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1747325469/ncgsorg/jlv3qe93bpvvzdxelcbz/IMG_6941-2-767x575.jpg","width":767}])
How co-designing learning and fostering independence and ownership build confidence and engagement
![Building Problem-Solving Capacity, Confidence, and Skills in Girls (21-22)]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1747325469/ncgsorg/w9xpkgfdz8lljgw8t2pj/MCP_3770-e1742914286542-767x575.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1747325469/ncgsorg/w9xpkgfdz8lljgw8t2pj/MCP_3770-e1742914286542-767x575.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1747325469/ncgsorg/w9xpkgfdz8lljgw8t2pj/MCP_3770-e1742914286542-767x575.jpg","width":767}])
How collaborative strategies and explicit instruction strengthen girls’ problem-solving capacity and confidence
![Feedback to Move Forward, Thrive, and Grow (20-21)]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1747325469/ncgsorg/g1hnbrcmselzvkebdklq/Screenshot-2024-11-21-at-122753PM.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1747325469/ncgsorg/g1hnbrcmselzvkebdklq/Screenshot-2024-11-21-at-122753PM.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1747325469/ncgsorg/g1hnbrcmselzvkebdklq/Screenshot-2024-11-21-at-122753PM.png","width":742}])
How effective feedback practices help girls grow in their learning
Research in Progress
2025-2026: Navigating the AI Frontier in Girls’ Schools
Fellows are exploring the efficacy and potential impact of AI on the teaching and learning of girls in areas such as student engagement, academic performance, and educational outcomes amongst many others. Ultimately, research projects for this cycle will provide evidence-based insights and guidelines for leveraging AI to its fullest potential in girls’ schools, while mitigating potential risks and ensuring equitable access to high-quality education for all students.
The 2025-2026 cohort will present their findings exploring AI within a girls' school context at the ICGS Global Forum on Girls’ Education, June 24-26, 2026. After the conference, their findings will be posted to our Research Library.
2026-2027: Creativity as Catalyst: Teaching for Possibility in Girls’ Schools
Fellows will explore how creativity can serve as both a teaching approach and a vital outcome of girls’ education. They will investigate how creative thinking is encouraged—or sometimes constrained—within their classrooms and how learning experiences can be designed to foster curiosity, originality, and thoughtful risk-taking. Through this research, the cohort aims to deepen understanding of how girls’ schools can cultivate the imagination, agency, and confidence students need to navigate a rapidly changing world.
The 2026-2027 cohort is just beginning their action research journey and will finish their work in June 2027, presenting at the ICGS Educating Girls Symposium in Brisbane.
Launching Soon
2027-2028: Educating Changemakers: Global Citizenship & Leadership in Girls’ Schools
Fellows will investigate how girls’ schools cultivate global citizenship and leadership as both essential educational outcomes and lived experiences. Research will explore how curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and school culture shape students’ ability to engage thoughtfully with the world, act with ethical responsibility, and lead with purpose. In the context of today’s global challenges, this work will deepen understanding of how girls’ schools prepare students not only to succeed, but to contribute meaningfully and drive positive change.
The 2027–2028 cohort is now accepting applications and will begin their action research journey in 2027, with fellows presenting their findings at the ICGS Educating Girls Symposium in Sydney in 2028.