Values first, goals second
I have a certain disquiet about the way we in higher education so often relate success and failure to the attainment or otherwise of goals. This focus on goals is present at all levels of...
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The BERA Blog was established in 2015 to provide research-informed content on key educational issues in an accessible manner.
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Taking a year out? The ambitious teleology of higher education for cultivating a self-aware society
In the much-quoted Heraclitean aphorism, ‘the road up and down is one and the same’ (see for example Russell, 2004, p. 51), the pre-Socratic philosopher introduces a radical relativism and...
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Making the case for integrating sustainable development in the university language classroom
Many teachers and researchers reading this may be asking themselves: what is sustainable development (SD) and why should I care about it? Here I offer insights on the following three areas: what...
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Flattening the awarding gap through identity work
The awarding gap is starkest between the likelihood of White (domiciled) students and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) (domiciled) students being awarded a ‘good’ degree in the United...
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Digital equity: Learning in lockdown for the autistic student
Many of us in the higher education sector are frantically working to place our modules online. This digital transformation at pace can result in short-term decisions, so it is imperative that at...
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Understanding adult education in community contexts: The case of the homelessness sector
Third sector community organisations are important sites for learning, especially for the most excluded groups in society. However, little attention has been paid to the various factors shaping...
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Engaging international students in the UK: The experiences of Christian churches
International student mobility has been increasingly affected by politics, culture, economics, natural disasters and public health. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic this year, we have witnessed the...
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Only time will tell: Using temporal multimodal analysis to predict learning
By analysing the learning process, one can understand how student behaviours are related to learning outcomes. When assessing the learning process, researchers have shown multimodal learning...
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Avoiding the obvious: Crime and race in higher education
The #BlackLivesMatter protests sweeping across Europe have encouraged us to question just how far the criminal justice system labels ‘people of colour criminals and discriminates against them’...
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