Responding to disadvantage within English schools: a collaborative future

BERA Blog Special Issues: General Election 2017

For the last ten years, researchers in the Centre for Equity in Education have been asking why, despite continuous reforms, the most vulnerable children and young people in the English school...

Assessing the manifesto commitments on assessment: progress, improved accountability, or continuous assessment

BERA Blog Special Issues: General Election 2017

Educationists and teachers have long complained of policy overload, particularly during the Gove years when schools suffered a ‘policy epidemic’ with changes to assessment and the...

The Matthew effect at election time

BERA Blog Special Issues: General Election 2017

The Matthew effect is an expression that has been coined to summarise the parable of the talents found in Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 25:14-30), which suggests that the rich get richer while the...

Education Select Committee Review of Primary Assessment 2017: A Response

The Education Select Committee has concluded its review of assessment systems in Primary schools in England, with a brief to pay particular regard to changes rolled out in 2016. The report...

Why we need a new digital curriculum for schools

It’s never been a safer time to be a child, in statistical terms, yet the perception is often very different. One reason for this is that people aren’t always very clear about the function of...

Thinking about education policy research

Education policy studies has benefited greatly from work that interplays documents and interviews, where meanings and explanations are generated from the critical deployment of conceptual tools....

Can self-advocacy skills support young people to participate in person-centred planning? An example from research involving young people with dyslexia

As part of a radical reform of educational and health support for young people (YP) with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, the Code of Practice (DfE & DH, 2015) now advocates the use of...

Bridging the gap: Trainee and Teacher knowledge in Primary Maths and its impact on children’s understanding. How will the commitment to Maths Mastery fit in around this?

This article argues that the valid pursuit of Mastery style Maths teaching could lead to deeper understanding in children and is a worthy goal. However, it will not be achieved fully without...

Sexual harassment and abuse in schools: re-stating the case for comprehensive sex and relationships education

In September 2016, the Women and Equalities Committee reported on the high level of sexual violence routinely experienced by young women in schools and the need for urgent action. The report...

Standards in ITT mentoring: there to be embraced

Ever worked with a teacher trainee mentor who is not up for it? Or, even worse, is not up to it? They might be the colleague with a light timetable that year, or who is looking for professional...

Creative Workers: Types of working and learning

The fear of high unemployment resulting from the increasing encroachment of digital technologies in people’s working lives is a topical debate. One group of workers that may be immune to this...

Teaching a job or a profession?

“ Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions” According to Nelson Mandela “Education is the most powerful weapon which we can use to change the world” and Popik...