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A case study of Self Directed Education

The role of self motivation (Gopalan et al, 2017)and self direction (Biesta, 2010) has long been recognised in children’s learning.  However, in tightly managed and timetabled state run...

Intergenerational Learning and Challenge in Informal Places

Intergenerational practice has seen a growth in popularity in recent years due to societal changes and in an aim to reconnect the generations (Vanderven, 2011; Vieira and Sousa, 2016). Although...

Spirituality and the Outdoor Space

The notion of spirituality as an ontological priority for children has become more prominent in academic literature in the past decade, not least due to its inclusion in the National Curriculum as...

Rejuvinating art-making as a site for education: The legitimacy of children’s participation

Engaging in arts practices is recognised as having potential benefit in terms of fostering self-esteem, well-being and happiness, social cohesion, creativity, agility as well as promoting academic...

Within and beyond the mainstream: realising alternative possibilities across educational stages

https://youtu.be/u2yEoiAF2bs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOtc4Ofrpfw&t=3467s   Across the global context of disrupted schooling during the pandemic, interest in alternative methods,...

Finding a new path: Building affective online learning spaces for creative writing and arts practice

While we have seen a justified focus upon schools during the Covid-19 crisis, relatively little attention has been paid to how teacher-educators are adjusting their practice. In the UK in...

Covid-19 and schooling for uncertainty

Covid-19 reveals an urgent need to focus on an area of worldwide educational significance: the importance for schools of engaging with uncertainty as a key facet of education. In recent decades, a...

Alternative Education & Arts Based Educational Research SIG Event

This event has now been postponed. To be kept updated on when this will be reschedule for, please email events@bera.ac.uk.

Video art as digital play for young children

In the 21st century, it seems that digital play is an inevitable experience for young children. Studies have claimed that digital devices can support children’s learning (Falloon, 2013) in...

Should arts learning be ‘left to the community’? How the experiences of homeschoolers are shining a light on classroom arts learning

Although there exists a significant body of empirical evidence that demonstrates the value of the arts in education (Bamford, 2006; Ewing, 2010; Unesco, 2010), they nevertheless continue to be...

Pedagogies for the ‘dis-engaged’: Who gets what from arts education?

Not all young people get to access arts programmes. For those who do, the benefits have been widely recognised (de Roeper & Savelsberg, 2009; Catterall, 2012). However not all young people...

Amber Fensham-Smith

Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies

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...