English instrumental music teaching: A model for authentic learning

Covid-19, education and educational research

At the time of writing, UK schools are closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is not known when, or in what form, they will reopen; public examinations have been cancelled; and technology is...

The increasing need to educate children about their rights: An outcome of lockdown measures

Many children in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere in the world, have been away from their regular school and early year settings, spending lengthy periods of time at home since the beginning of...

This is not a one-year blip: If we have to have a national assessment system, it shouldn’t be this one

This is not a one-year blip: If we have to have a national assessment system, it shouldn’t be this one Although calls for root-and-branch reform of our national examinations systems aren’t...

Deaf children and social wellbeing: The evolution of the special school for the deaf

Research has shown that deaf children experience disadvantage in the education system (Berry, 2017). This disadvantage is associated with a lack of tailored pedagogy, being educated in...

Students’ anxiety about the allocations of grades for cancelled high-stakes public examinations

‘My main anxiety at the moment is how I am going to be graded.’

Typing aloud

In common with most teacher educators, I am a big fan of classroom talk. I continually stress to my English subject trainee teachers the huge value of the spoken word and invite them to be...

Positioning children with a vision impairment as knowledge producers and change agents

Framing research: Theories, concepts and reflexivity in educational research

‘The ability to collaborate on both a small- and large-scale is becoming one of the core requisites of postmodern society’ (Fullan, 1993, p.5). Yet it is ‘still relatively rare for children...

BERA ECR Network symposium: A personal reflection on constructive feedback

Framing research: Theories, concepts and reflexivity in educational research

In October 2019 I travelled to the US to explore the benefits of oracy-centred teaching strategies and expeditionary learning for the development of the speaking, listening, reading and writing...

Problematising resilience during times of change

As we move into the post-pandemic world, one word is becoming increasingly prevalent as a measure of people’s preparedness: resilience. Within a populist paradigm, the ability to ‘bounce...

As “PE With Joe Wicks” comes to an end, a BERA Blog highlights the marginalisation of PE within the Curriculum

In a BERA Blog this week,Julie Stirrup, Oliver Hooper, Rachel Sandford, Jo Harris,Ash Casey and Lorraine Cale from Loughborough University argue that the marginalisation of PE within the...

‘PE’ with Joe (Bloggs): The rise and risks of celebrity ‘teachers’

Covid-19, education and educational research

Long before Covid-19 altered the way learning and teaching takes place, the subject of physical education (PE) was somewhat marginalised in the school curriculum. Within the UK, as elsewhere,...

Online education: What will we keep as lockdown ends?

Covid-19, education and educational research

Teachers across the world have never had to work so hard or so creatively. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, professional development that would otherwise have taken years has been crammed...