What next for curriculum?
People are talking about curriculum again. Not just literacy and maths, but the whole curriculum. What’s more, there seems to be a real appetite for these discussions: organisations as diverse...
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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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Between a hard place and a hard place: A study of ethical dilemmas experienced by student teachers while on practicum
Drawing attention to the types of ethical challenges faced by experienced teachers has been an internationally common teaching approach in pre-service teacher education when exploring the ethical...
Continue reading blog postExploring senior leaders’ experiences of off-rolling in mainstream secondary schools in England
Ofsted defines off-rolling as ‘the practice of removing a pupil from the school roll without a formal, permanent exclusion or by encouraging a parent to remove their child from the...
Continue reading blog postThe thinking school: Why we need teachers and children who can think
Context The thinking school is one in which staff learning is seen to be as significant as pupil learning. The simple premise for the development of this dynamic learning community is my belief...
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Is the ‘attainment gap’ fit for purpose?
In 2011 the UK government announced that it would introduce a new stream of funding to support ‘disadvantaged students’, and ultimately aim to close the attainment gap between these students...
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Having a secure and safe place to conduct the fieldwork: Further anecdotal tales in pursuit of the elusive doctorate
In this blog we consider the more logistical aspects of completing a PhD – namely, ensuring that you have a secure and safe place in which to conduct the fieldwork. We both feel strongly about...
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Do trainee teachers harm pupil attainment?
A school considering involvement with initial teacher training is likely to ask whether hosting trainee teachers will bring benefits to, or disadvantage, their pupils. This is an empirical...
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Changing culture, changing early childhood curriculum in China
School-based curriculum development (SBCD) has been advocated in order to enhance the quality of early childhood education within the context of modernisation and globalisation (Li, 2005)....
Continue reading blog postBridging existing teen engagement in social media with academic will
Teens are engaged. The challenge educators face is influencing, not controlling, the direction of teen engagement. One way for educators to tackle this challenge is to understand the existing...
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