Special Interest Group
The Alternative Education SIG takes the broadest approach to ‘alternative’ that we can. We are interested in all forms of out of school educational provision and with ‘alternative’ approaches within schools. We will facilitate debate, discussion and exploration around the many issues, philosophical, political, pedagogical and ethical, that surround alternative education from PRUs to home education. We aspire for this SIG to be a meeting ground for the education which takes place in museums, libraries, homes and open spaces as well as in alternative schools, democratic schools and flexi schools, and to give a voice to those who realize education and learning differently. We aim to promote network of critical discussion and supportive resources for researchers, practitioners, writers and thinkers. We aim to be lively in our debate and in our SIG activity and to represent a vibrant forum of voices in this important and growing area. Research interests within the SIG are widespread and include, but are not restricted to:
Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies at The Open University
Amber is a lecturer in childhood and youth studies at the Open University and co-convenor of the Alternative Education special interest group. A sociologist by training, her research seeks to give voice to marginalised and excluded communities in...
PhD student at University of Bath
Fadoua Govaerts is a PhD researcher at the University of Bath, in the Department of Education. Her doctoral research project explores the experience of home-educated adolescents, with a special focus on their educational outcomes and social...
Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at University of Leeds
Stefania is the Educational Leader for the Centre for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Studies (CEES); she is a Fellow of Higher Education, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). She is also a Certified Management and Business Educator (CABS)....
Senior Lecturer at University of the West of England
Sarah Gillie is a former primary school teacher whose research interests relate to inclusion in education across and beyond ‘compulsory’ schooling. Family diagnoses of neurodivergence have only strengthened her conviction that inclusive...
Assistant Head of Teaching & Learning: Outcomes at Tute, VL and Research Associate at University of Chester
Sharon Smith is a Visiting Lecturer and Associate Researcher at the University of Chester. Sharon completed her PGCE (2006) and MA in Teaching and Learning (2010) at Manchester Metropolitan University, before completing her Doctorate at The...
The editors of the Review of Education (RoE) intend to publish a number of ‘State-of-Play' (SoP) special issues during their tenure, which commenced in January 2024. They are therefore seeking...
The fifth edition of BERA’s Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research has been revised and updated to enable researchers to conduct their work to the highest ethical standards in any and all...
Education and democracy
Research Intelligence issue 158: Unheard voices: Language education outside the mainstream
This opportunity is now closed. The incoming editors of the British Educational Research Journal (BERJ) intend to publish a number of special issues during their tenure, which commences in...
The Alternative Education SIG takes the broadest approach to ‘alternative’ that we can. We are interested in all forms of out of school educational provision and with ‘alternative’...
The future of academic publishing
The BERA Conference 2023 was held at the Conference Aston/ Aston University, 12-14 September 2023. We are pleased to announce the conference award winners. Please click below to view the ECR Best...
