The origins of further education in England and Wales

There is a lack of historical accounts of the further education (FE) sector in England and Wales, which is reflective of its broader historical-cultural positioning. FE sits between secondary...

The Future of Educational Research in Wales

This report, published by BERA in partnership with the Welsh Government, presents the proceedings of and lessons from the Future of Educational Research in Wales conference. Held in Cardiff on 14...

Linking school teachers’ practice with research in educational technology: A call to action

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET), Melissa Bond (University of Oldenburg), Dr Olaf Zawacki-Richter (University of Oldenburg) and Dr Mark...

Invisible educators or connecting professionals? Post-compulsory teacher educators

Overall, teacher educators generally tend to be seen as ‘an ill-defined, under researched and sometimes beleaguered occupational group’ (Menter, Hulme, Elliott, & Lewin, 2010: 11). BERA and...

As an academic, how do you self-assess quality?

The question that vexes an old-school academic like myself is, ‘Am I doing a good job?’ Too often as academics we are asked to assess ourselves against statistics rather than conscience:...

BERA Blog highlights from 2018

BERA Blog end of year highlights

A seasonal welcome to all our BERA Blog readers in the UK and around the world in this, our third end-of-year-highlights special edition. And what a year this has turned out to be. (I really will...

The battle against being educated

I have been publicly exploring the issue of disruption, violence and students’ challenging behaviour in post-school classrooms since 2000 (Lebor, 2000). Susan Wallace has also carried out...

Performative education policy and the challenges for teachers with specific learning differences

Presently there are gaps in the body of research on teachers with specific learning differences (SpLDs). Where research on the matter does exist, it tends to focus on resilience strategies in...

Promoting effective curriculum research: Linking the theoretic to the practical in FE teacher education programmes

This article is part of the BERA Blog special issue ‘Researching the Curriculum in schools and colleges: Practice, Professionalism and Innovation’ (read more). Perhaps one of the few...

Education, employment and youth: Contemporary attitudes towards post-16 and post-18 education access

Providing opportunities for young people leaving compulsory schooling to pursue world-class further and higher education is a global concern. Post-compulsory education is constructed as a panacea...

Transformational Further Education: Empowering People & Communities

Transformational Further Education: Empowering People & Communities

The Further Education in England: Transforming lives & Communities research project, is commissioned by UCU and aims to understand and provide evidence of how the further education (FE) sector is...

The transformative nature of adult working-class education and its relevance today

Transformational Further Education: Empowering People & Communities

The historical theme of adult working class education in relation to contemporary post school sector, now referred to as the Lifelong Learning Sector, has to some extent been overlooked. Since the...