The rise of the flexible and remote teacher: A primary school’s response to the Covid-19 context in London

Covid-19, education and educational research

On Friday 29 May 2020, ITV ran a story on the London regional news about a primary school whose pupils were reported to be ‘traveling the world’ through the adoption of video conferencing (VC)...

Curriculum reform and inequality: The challenges facing Wales

Wales is in the process of undertaking a major overhaul of its national curriculum. Until recently, the curriculum largely resembled that put in place by the 1988 Education Reform Act. The new...

The 10 books that made me a sociologist of education

Over a period of 45 years working in higher education I have accumulated a lot of books. I am now sorting through that accumulation and trying to decide which I will keep and which I will pass on...

Is there a tension between teaching and assessing critical-thinking skills?

The widely varying quality of responses to the global Coronavirus pandemic presents yet another example of the importance of critical-thinking skills among leaders and the public dealing with...

Semiotics, memory and augmented reality: History education with learner-generated augmentation

I recently had the privilege of collaborating with a student-teacher (a teacher-in-training) on a pedagogical approach which leverages some of the affordances of augmented reality (AR). As a...

‘Student voice’ in lockdown

In an article published in the British Educational Research Journal just before lockdown, ‘Student voice in higher education: Opening the loop’ (Young & Jerome, 2020), we explored some narrow...

Social constructivism and participative learning beyond bricks and mortar

Covid-19, education and educational research

As the world grapples with the short-to-longer-term imperative to identify distance- and remote-learning alternatives to previously face-to-face instruction, I am struck that some of the key...

School transition, socioeconomic inequalities in wellbeing and the Covid-19 pandemic

Covid-19, education and educational research

Children’s education and wellbeing are profoundly influenced by the circumstances into which they are born. Being from a wealthier family is associated with a range of positive outcomes. Poverty...

International students and Covid-19: What is the current advice?

The pandemic that has gripped the UK has meant that uncertainty becoming central to our way of life. With borders closed, migration curtailed and social distancing policies in place, this...