Martyn Barrett

Martyn Barrett
FBPsS FAcSS FRSA
Martyn Barrett, portrait from 2023
Born
Martyn David Barrett

(1951-06-18) 18 June 1951 (age 75)
London Borough of Brent, London, England
EducationSt John's College, Cambridge (BA); University of Sussex (DPhil)
OccupationAcademic
Known forResearch on language acquisition, children’s drawings, social identity, intergroup relations, civic engagement, intercultural education, citizenship education

Martyn David Barrett (born 18 June 1951) is a British social scientist. He was educated at the St John's College, Cambridge and the University of Sussex, and originally specialised in developmental psychology. He taught at Roehampton Institute of Higher Education (1978-1987), Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London (1987-1993) and the University of Surrey (1993-2012). Since 2012, he has held the position of Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Surrey.

Academic career

Barrett began his academic career by studying Experimental Psychology as part of the Natural Science Tripos at the University of Cambridge (1970-1973). He subsequently conducted his doctoral research at the University of Sussex (1974-1979), focusing on language acquisition, including semantic development, pragmatic development and holophrasis (sentence words). He later published several books on the development of language in children.

In a secondary line of research, Barrett also worked on the development of children’s drawings, work that began with his undergraduate research project which was published in 1976. He subsequently researched the effects that verbal instructions have on the form and content of children’s drawings, the sequential developmental changes that occur in children's drawings of the human figure, and the impact of affective characterisations of topics to be drawn on the use of form and colour in children’s drawings.

In the early 1990s, Barrett began to work on the development of children's national identity, ethnic identity, the development of national, ethnic and racial attitudes and prejudice in children and adolescents, and at a later date he also started to work on the development of civic engagement and political participation in youth, ethnic minorities and migrants. He led three multinational research projects on these topics funded by the European Commission: Children’s Beliefs and Feelings about their Own and Other National Groups in Europe, The Development of National, Ethnolinguistic and Religious Identity in Children and Adolescents living in the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, and Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation (PIDOP).

Applying research to educational policy and practice

Since 2006, Barrett has been a consultant for the Council of Europe. In this role, he has participated in a number of intercultural education and citizenship education projects, including: developing the Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters; editing a book examining the similarities and the differences between interculturalism and multiculturalism; co-authoring a statement paper on Developing Intercultural Competence through Education; leading the development of the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture; and acting as the lead expert on assessment for the Education Policy Advisers Network.

Of these various activities undertaken by Barrett, the development of the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC) has had political and policy impact in the member states of the Council of Europe, due to the fact that it was endorsed unanimously by the Ministers of Education of the member states at their standing conference, which was took place in Brussels in April 2016. The RFCDC offers detailed information about the democratic and intercultural competences that should be promoted in school students through formal education, and it also provides detailed guidance to education policymakers and practitioners on how to harness curriculum design, pedagogical methods, assessment practices, teacher education, and the use of a whole-school approach, in order to promote the democratic and intercultural competences of school students. The Council of Europe’s Education Policy Advisers Network was established in 2018 to help education authorities in the member states implement the RFCDC in their national education systems. By 2022, the Framework was being implemented either in whole or in part in the education systems of 22 member states of the Council of Europe.

Barrett has also worked for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), helping to design the global competence assessments for use in PISA 2018. In addition, since 2023, he has served as a Trustee for AFS Intercultural Programs (an international non-profit organisation that provides a wide range of educational programs designed to promote the active global citizenship of participants). As a Trustee, he has particular responsibility for overseeing AFS’s research and assessment agenda.

In 2022, Barrett was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Psychology by the University of Chichester, in recognition of his contributions to the education of children and young people.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Surrey University Biography". Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  2. ↑ Barrett, M.D. (1979). Semantic Development during the Single-Word Stage of Language Acquisition (Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Sussex, UK).
  3. ↑ Barrett, M, ed. (1985). Children's Single-Word Speech. Chichester: John Wiley. ISBN 0471903744.
  4. ↑ Kuczaj, S.A.; Barrett, M., eds. (1986). The Development of Word Meaning. New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 3540961526.
  5. ↑ Barrett, M, ed. (1999). The Development of Language. Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN 0863778461.
  6. ↑ Barrett, Martyn D.; Light, Paul L. (1976). "Symbolism and intellectual realism in children's drawings". British Journal of Educational Psychology. 46 (2): 198-202. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1976.tb02312.x.
  7. ↑ Barrett, Martyn D.; Bridson, Anthony (1983). "The effect of instructions upon children's drawings". British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 1 (2): 175-178. doi:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1983.tb00555.x.
  8. ↑ Barrett, Martyn D.; Beaumont, Amanda V.; Jennett, Mark S. (1985). "Some children do sometimes do what they have been told to do: task demands and verbal instructions in children's drawing". In Freeman, Norman H.; Cox, Maureen V. (eds.). Visual Order: The Nature and Development of Pictorial Representation. Cambridge University Press. pp. 176–187.
  9. ↑ Barrett, Martyn; Eames, Kate (1996). "Sequential developments in children's human figure drawing". British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 14 (2): 219-236. doi:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1996.tb00703.x.
  10. ↑ Burkitt, Esther; Barrett, Martyn; Davis, Alyson (2003). "Children's colour choices for completing drawings of affectively characterised topics". Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 44 (3): 445-455. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00134.
  11. ↑ Burkitt, Esther; Barrett, Martyn; Davis, Alyson (2003). "The effect of affective characterisations on the size of children's drawings". British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 21 (4): 565-584. doi:10.1348/026151003322535228.
  12. ↑ Barrett, Martyn; Short, Janis (1992). "Images of European people in a group of 5-10 year old English school children". British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 10 (4): 339-363. doi:10.1111/j.2044-835X.1992.tb00582.x.
  13. ↑ "Children's beliefs and feelings about their own and other national groups in Europe". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  14. 1 2 Barrett, M. (2007). Children's Knowledge, Beliefs and Feelings about Nations and National Groups. Hove: Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1841693019.
  15. ↑ "The development of national, ethnolinguistic and religious identity in children and adolescents living in the NIS". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  16. ↑ Barrett, M.; Riazanova, T.; Volovikova, M., eds. (2001). Development of National, Ethnolinguistic and Religious Identities in Children and Adolescents. Moscow: Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences (IPRAS). ISBN 5927000223.
  17. ↑ "Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  18. ↑ Barrett, M.; Zani, B., eds. (2015). Political and Civic Engagement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. London: Routledge. ISBN 9780415704687.
  19. ↑ "Autobiography of Intercultural Encounters". Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  20. ↑ Barrett, M., ed. (2013). Interculturalism and Multiculturalism: Similarities and Differences. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. ISBN 9789287176929.
  21. ↑ Barrett, M.; Byram, M.; Lázár, I.; Mompoint-Gaillard, P.; Philippou, S (2013). Developing Intercultural Competence through Education. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.
  22. ↑ "Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture". Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  23. 1 2 Barrett, M. (2016). Competences for Democratic Culture: Living Together as Equals in Culturally Diverse Democratic Societies. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. ISBN 9789287182371.
  24. 1 2 Barrett, M.; de Bivar Black, L.; Byram, M.; Faltýn, J.; Gudmundson, L.; van’t Land, H.; Lenz, C.; Mompoint-Gaillard, P.; Popović, M.; Rus, C.; Sala, S.; Voskresenskaya, N.; Zgaga, P. (2018). Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, Volume 1: Context, Concepts and Model. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. ISBN 9789287185730.
  25. 1 2 "Education Policy Advisers Network (EPAN)". Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  26. ↑ Barrett, Martyn (2020). "The Council of Europe's Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture: Policy context, content and impact". London Review of Education. 18 (1). doi:10.18546/LRE.18.1.01.
  27. ↑ "Securing Democracy through Education: The development of a reference framework of competences for democratic culture". Council of Europe. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  28. ↑ Barrett, Martyn; de Bivar Black, Luisa; Byram, Michael; Faltýn, Jaroslav; Gudmundson, Lars; van’t Land, Hilligje; Lenz, Claudia; Mompoint-Gaillard, Pascale; Popović, Milica; Rus, Calin; Sala, Salvador; Voskresenskaya, Natalia; Zgaga, Pavel (2018). Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture, Volume 3: Guidance for Implementation. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing. ISBN 9789287185754.
  29. ↑ Barrett, Martyn (2022). "The Council of Europe's Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture: An introduction and overview". Convivenze Ambigue: Culture Differenti e Valori Comuni?. Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy: Fondazione Intercultura Onlus. pp. 401–422.
  30. ↑ Keating, Sarah (16 November 2021). Update on the State of the Implementation of the RFCDC. Ninth Meeting of the Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN) (Unpublished paper). Council of Europe, Strasbourg.
  31. ↑ Barrett, Martyn (2025). "Processes, influences and choices that impacted on the structure and contents of the Council of Europe's Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture". In Janmaat, J.G.; Dijkstra, A.B. (eds.). Research Handbook on Education and Democracy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. pp. 30–48.
  32. ↑ "PISA 2018 Global Competence". Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  33. ↑ Piacentini, M.; Barrett, M.; Boix Mansilla, V.; Deardorff, D.; Lee, H-W. (2018). "Preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world: The OECD PISA global competence framework" (PDF). Paris: OECD. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  34. ↑ "Who we are - Leadership at AFS Intercultural Programs". AFS Intercultural Programs. Retrieved 9 September 2026.
  35. ↑ "Honorary Awards". University of Chichester. Retrieved 2025-06-11.