Examining the representation of fundamental British values: What are the most prominent images used for display boards in the primary school?

It is observable that display boards are being applied widely by primary schools as visual representations for learning about the stated fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law,...

The Question of Knowledge in the Curriculum

In some ways, the recent controversy over Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, introduced in 2010, could be said to be going over a familiar knowledge versus skills debate. Not only is it banal...

Why might BERA wish to thank Margaret Thatcher?

What does BERA owe to Margaret Thatcher?  It sounds like a weird pub quiz question, and may have an even weirder answer.  When BERA’s inaugural conference met in Birmingham in April 1974,...

The value of Literacy as a Social Practice approach to exploring young children’s experience of being taught to read and write in school

Over the last thirty years in English and Welsh State primary education, successive governments have placed increasing emphasis on ‘raising standards’ in literacy. Children’s attainment or...

Critically Examining the Emergence of Teach First

In the latest issue of the British Educational Research Journal, Allen and Allnutt (2017) assess, using longitudinal data, the impact of Teach First teachers on secondary pupils’ outcomes. ...

School subjects – a missing piece in research on school governance?

In a recent study (Prytz 2017), I show that a standard narrative about Swedish school governance in the 20th century does not fit how the school subject mathematics (years 1–9) was governed in...

Hyper-governance and datafication in early years education: children as ‘abilities-machines’ or ‘like sausages in a factory’

The growing use of data in education has both been lauded as a revolution and criticized as detrimental to teachers and children; no wonder then that it is increasingly a focus for educational...

What is the impact of UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act on Muslim pupils in UK schools?

In July 2015, the UK Counter Terrorism and Security Act (CTS) made it a statutory duty for teaching staff to identify and prevent extremism. This policy was the expansion of the UK ‘Prevent...

Gender-related Violence (GRV) and Young People: Critical Responses in Research and Practice

GRV is a continuing issue in the lives of young people. Recent events include reporting widespread harassment in schools (Women and Equalities Report, 2016), the continued refusal to make PSHE...

Has business and accountability in education driven out creative curriculums leading to lack of provision of an inclusive broad-based social education for all?

The ever increasing presence of business and accountability in education at all levels to the point at which staff well-being and the real and true meaning of education has been severely damaged....

Clarifying accent standards for British teachers

The linguistic standards for British teachers within teacher training, and for teachers’ future careers, are clearly outlined by the DfE: ‘demonstrate an understanding of and take...

An Educational HS2 to Irrelevance?

Scotland: Reform, professionalism and delivery

Over at least the last 40 years education policies in the United Kingdom have been seeking to make schools become more effective in meeting increasingly demanding political expectations. We have,...