Can we get generalist teachers to teach music? Yes we can!

Teachers in the UK need better professional development, especially in music education where the limited opportunities for training offered by teacher training providers have raised concerns (see...

Relative age and the early years foundation stage profile

Who is attributed a ‘good level of development’ – and what might this tell us about how ‘good’ the EYFSP is?

Free school meals: What can the UK learn from Portugal’s model?

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, over 4.2 million children in Britain were living in relative poverty. Since then, this figure has increased by 200,000 (McNeil et al., 2020). Rising levels of food...

Rethinking how we can improve the diversity of the teaching workforce in England

The lack of black and minority ethnic (BAME) teachers and headteachers in English schools is a growing concern facing policymakers in England. In a recent conference of school leaders, Nadhim...

Playful creativity

The playful academic

‘Intelligence is what you use when you don’t know what to do.’ (Attributed to Jean Piaget) Learning is often compromised by competitiveness (Brown & Vaughan, 2009). Bred from the...

A moment to breathe: How reflection can reduce teacher maths anxiety

This post explores the need for professional learning development to reduce teacher maths anxiety, and follows up on a recent blog post about reducing pupil maths anxiety. Worldwide demand for...

New series of the BERA podcast

This autumn we have launched a new series of the BERA podcast. Over the next few weeks we will continue to feature emerging research which connects to policy and practice.  Already we have...

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

This series celebrates our one-thousandth BERA Blog post by republishing some of our favourites from among the posts that have proven most popular since the blog began in 2015. The collection both...

BERA Blog post #1,000

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

It hardly seems possible, six years after its creation of the BERA Blog, that this is its one-thousandth post. The brainchild of BERA CEO Nick Johnson, in 2015 the BB set out to provide...

Considering teacher wellbeing and commitment to teaching in the event of a ‘firebreak’ lockdown this autumn

Covid-19, education and educational research

There are reports that an October lockdown might be used as a ‘firebreak’ if cases of the Covid-19 virus rise too high with the return of schools and universities (Mason & Davis, 2021). As...

BERA funds over £40,000 of research on race and ethnicity

We are delighted to announce new funding looking at aspects of race and ethnicity across the education sector. There are five recipients of the new round of small grant funding: Melissa Jogie...

A matter of inclusion: Schools continue to navigate government advice in support of students

Covid-19, education and educational research

As the school year in England begins once again against an evolving Covid-19 backdrop, we ask what this latest set of circumstances means for issues of inclusion, including which students will...