The fear factor: Children’s post-lockdown maths anxiety

Maths anxiety (MA) plays a role in educational disparities and the gender pay gap, yet it is not often addressed at the chalkface. Covid-induced school disruption may have made learning for...

Teaching English when schools are closed: Experiences & lessons learned

Education & Covid-19: BERA Small Grants Fund research reports

Following their closure to most students in March 2020, schools in England addressed the pedagogical challenge of remote learning using approaches that varied according not only to school culture...

Thinking like a teacher: Is the early career framework the answer to early career teachers’ prayers?

It’s a declaration that every teacher educator has heard from their trainees: ‘I’ve passed all the teaching standards so now I am a teacher!’ The current structure of teacher education...

Scientism, creationism and teaching about the nature of knowledge in schools

Given the harm associated with misinformation and the difficulties of working with complex real-life problems, are young people getting enough help in school with how to handle apparently...

High standards, not high stakes

An alternative to SATs that will transform England’s testing & school accountability system in primary education & beyond

Room to grow: Teachers, physical education and physical literacy

A quality physical education (QPE) programme is unlike the stereotypes of a ‘gym’ class often seen in popular culture. So, what should a QPE programme look like? QPE includes well-planned...

Classical subjects in English schools: Confronting inequalities of access

Public enthusiasm for classics and ancient history is currently high thanks to a number of high-profile classicists on TV and radio: Mary Beard, Edith Hall, Natalie Haynes, Tom Holland and Bettany...

‘We are the most researched people in the world’: Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith speaks at Cambridge on the project of decolonising education

On Thursday 3 June, Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith addressed the University of Cambridge’s annual conference at the Faculty of Education. Smith is ending her time as professor of education and...

The new model music curriculum: A step far enough?

In the foreword to the new model music curriculum, schools minister Nick Gibb states that it ‘is designed to assist rather than to prescribe’ (DfE, 2021, p. 2). Notably, there is much detail...

Improving the connectivity of research on teaching assistants: Creating a new space for researchers

The international drive towards the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools has become contingent on the creation and utilisation of a paraprofessional...

The reawakening of the old idea of children doing AI programming

Artificial Intelligence in educational research and practice

In the recently published British Journal of Educational Technology article, ‘Constructionism and AI: A history and possible futures’, Niall Winters and I examine the 50-year history of...

Environmental protest & education: ‘Something’s gone wrong somewhere’

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the combustion of fossil fuels is the main contributor to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. Young people in England...