Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts
This series celebrates our one-thousandth BERA Blog post by republishing some of our favourites from among the posts that have proven most popular since the blog began in 2015. The collection both...
BERA Blog
Has Athena Swan lost its way?
The Athena Swan charter was established in 2005 to advance the careers of female academics in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM). Yet it now discourages academic...
Covid-19 school closures, working from home and family challenges: A novel solution
Covid-19 presented a set of challenges for UK universities, and where ‘business as usual’ was expected, staff working practices intensified. The impact of this has not been equal, with the...
Learning to be alone: How positive solitude can benefit international students
International students experience loneliness regularly when living and studying abroad (Wawera & MacCamley, 2020), and the situation appears to have worsened during the pandemic. Since loneliness...
A moment to breathe: How reflection can reduce teacher maths anxiety
This post explores the need for professional learning development to reduce teacher maths anxiety, and follows up on a recent blog post about reducing pupil maths anxiety. Worldwide demand for...
Music teachers are curriculum designers
It is fair to say that the model music curriculum has caused quite a stir in music classrooms in England. A national curriculum already exists for music, and while it is only statutory for around...
‘To fit in at school, you have to be a robot’: Do care farms offer a viable alternative?
In a recent and yet-to-be-published qualitative study, I explored the possible contribution of care farming (the therapeutic use of farming practices) to young people’s engagement with learning....
Mobilising critique through Twitter: Exploring the ITE sector response during the ITT market review
The initial teacher education (ITE) sector has experienced significant change over the last few years, with the introduction of the core content framework (CCF), the early career framework (ECF)...