Kurt Lewin’s maxim, ‘there is nothing more practical than a good theory’ has been applied to the social sciences and, in particular, interdisciplinary approaches in research. This paper borrows from Lewin and seeks to highlight a middle-road between theory and practice when it comes to delivering outcomes and impacts in education through the use of a Theory of Change (ToC) approach. A ToC is a methodology to promote social change through defining long-term goals and then mapping back to identify necessary preconditions. It has been used to explain how a project, programme, policy, and/or strategy, for instance targeting inequalities, is understood to contribute to intended or actual impacts. Drawing from the development, delivery and (e)valuation of a number of arts-based education activities across seven European countries this paper highlight how using a ToC approach to tell a ‘bottom-up’ story of how change is being created by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes, can provide useful ontological and epistemological entry points for advocacy and research in education.

Lewin, K. (1943). Psychology and the process of group living. Journal of Social Psychology, 17, 113–131. Reprinted in The complete social scientist: A Kurt Lewin reader, ( Martin Gold, Ed) (1999) (pp. 333–345). Reprinted (in part) in Cartwright, 1951, Chapter 7