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Reflexivity in Educational Research: Challenges and Rewards for the Practitioner-Researcher

The growing popularity of the professional doctorate means that increasing numbers of practitioners are undertaking research in their own workplace. But what does it really mean to adopt this dual...

What younger children really think and understand about internet safety: The value of stories and role play as research methods

Younger children under the age of eight are increasingly embracing the digital world (Mekinc, Smailbegovic & Kokic, 2013). My intention at this year’s BERA conference is to consider younger...

Some Thoughts on the Popularity and Value of Educational Research

In view of the current popularity of educational research, it's easy to forget that this field of study has only gained academic approval relatively recently. In 1982 I  tried to register with...

The Parlous State of Educational Research

When Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, claimed during the recent presidential election campaign that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, ‘is the founder’ of...

Do our universities create the political elite?

The 2017 UK general election has thrown up many interesting aspects, but if he had been elected, Jeremy Corbyn would have been just the 4th prime minister since 1945 to not be an Oxbridge...

Group work in primary classrooms: No longer a waste of time

During the 50 years since the Plowden Report, policy with regard to small-group activity in English primary schools has undergone repeated change. However, images of practice remain constant: they...

Observing to Understand – Using the Tavistock Method of Observation to Support Reflective Practice

The Tavistock method of infant observation has developed and grown since its original use as a tool to train psychotherapists at the Tavistock clinic. It is now widely used across many...

Investigation of the potential for patient focus group meetings to be held in a virtual world

Figure 1: Two avatars meeting in the virtual world Second Life, in a virtual space owned by Imperial College London   Our study recently published in the British Journal of Educational...

Writing a world-leading (four star) publication

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

The idea that research could be described as ‘4*’ came from the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF). Four-star research is 'world-leading in terms of originality, significance and...

Investigating Group Work – Classroom Research as Genuine Enquiry

Why does group work seem to be falling out of favour?  There has been a rising volume of voices in the educational world suggesting that group work is ineffective and should no longer be viewed...

Assessing the impact of STEM initiatives in improving educational outcomes – have they worked?

The general trend for science and maths A-level entries as a percentage of all A-level entries has been downwards over the last 15 years. Research evidence from large scale national surveys...

Should we always welcome being cited?

Oscar Wilde is often quoted as suggesting that “there is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Perhaps a corollary is that the worse...