English instrumental music teaching: A model for authentic learning

Covid-19, education and educational research

At the time of writing, UK schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is not known when, or in what form, they will reopen; public examinations have been cancelled; and technology is...

Post Covid-19 – A ‘brave new world’?

Covid-19, education and educational research

Globally, the impact of Covid-19 has been truly unprecedented and unforeseen. In all sectors of society, in all nations, the almost immediate, total suspension of everything we know has left many...

The increasing need to educate children about their rights: An outcome of lockdown measures

Many children in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in the world, have been away from their regular school and early year settings, spending lengthy periods of time at home since the beginning of...

Children’s reflections on home education during the Covid-19 pandemic: Implications for the return to school

As school leaders plan the return to school following the global pandemic, it is crucial that their educational decisions are informed by research into the everyday realities of enforced home...

This is not a one-year blip: If we have to have a national assessment system, it shouldn’t be this one

This is not a one-year blip: If we have to have a national assessment system, it shouldn’t be this one Although calls for root-and-branch reform of our national examinations systems aren’t...

The emerging blind spot of computer science provision in secondary schools?

Recent times have seen a high level of support for the introduction of computer science (CS) in secondary schools (schools catering for students 12 to 18 years of age approximately). However, the...

BERA funds £12,000 of school based research

The BCF Curriculum Investigation Grant is intended to support research with a focus on curriculum inquiry and investigation. The grant acknowledges the importance of research led by schools and...

Students’ anxiety about the allocations of grades for cancelled high-stakes public examinations

‘My main anxiety at the moment is how I am going to be graded.’

Lost in translation: The translation of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into educational legislation

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (UN, 1989) includes 54 articles outlining rights and freedoms for children. The UNCRC provides formal acknowledgement of the rights...

As “PE With Joe Wicks” comes to an end, a BERA Blog highlights the marginalisation of PE within the Curriculum

In a BERA Blog this week,Julie Stirrup, Oliver Hooper, Rachel Sandford, Jo Harris,Ash Casey and Lorraine Cale from Loughborough University argue that the marginalisation of PE within the...

The thin line between gaming and learning

Covid-19, education and educational research

When we went into ‘lockdown’ because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and were denied access to face-to-face education, educators had to swiftly improvise. By transferring existing educational...

‘PE’ with Joe (Bloggs): The rise and risks of celebrity ‘teachers’

Covid-19, education and educational research

Long before Covid-19 altered the way learning and teaching takes place, the subject of physical education (PE) was somewhat marginalised in the school curriculum. Within the UK, as elsewhere,...