The Social Theory and Education SIG aims to support and develop theoretically informed educational research, to engage with and facilitate new social theory and to explore the relationships between theory-work and research. Social theory here refers to the use of theoretical frameworks to explain and analyse social action, social meanings and large-scale social structures. The field is interdisciplinary, drawing ideas from a range of contributing disciplines but particularly from politics, philosophy and sociology. Social theory aims to develop concepts and ontologies that can provide social research with conceptual and methodological tools for analytical and interpretational work. The SIG plans to accommodate and encourage work which applies and develops ideas and concepts from social theory to education research, as well as exploring and critiquing the contributions to education of major social theorists. Our primary focus is substantive research applications of social theory, but we will also seek to support the development of new theoretical work and reflexively consider the role of theory in relation to research and the analysis of data.
Some decades ago, several studies advanced an unexpected answer to an age-old question: schools do not help students improve their social positions (see for example Coleman et al., 1966). This shocked the educational community. If schools were... [...]
Many BERA members will be very familiar with terms such as evidence-informed practice, evidence-based practice and research-engaged teaching. The recent BERA close-to-practice research project is the latest in a flurry of work focussing on the... [...]
In 1973, at the beginning of the 1970s international oil crisis, and amid emergent Watergate revelations, Paul Simon sang ‘we come in the age’s most uncertain hour...’. At around the same time in England, an impetus arose within the fragile... [...]
‘It’s not fair!’ is a common phrase heard in schools. But what is ‘fair’ in the eyes of pupils? Our recently published study in the British Educational Research Journal explored how children of lower primary school grades perceive due... [...]
In 2014, when I started my PhD at the University of Huddersfield about globalisation and higher education in Vietnam, I found myself thinking, ‘Why do I need to go halfway around the world to do research on my country’s higher education? Why... [...]
Unpleasant experiences, like hurting oneself, missing parents, or being excluded from play, are evident parts of early childhood education (ECE). Although we cannot (and sometimes should not) totally prevent such situations from occurring, we –... [...]
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