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 politics of mental wellbeing and education

BERA Blog Special Issues: General Election 2017

Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) in schools has, over the past decade, emerged as part of a broader mental health agenda, shaped and driven through versions of childhood located in notions of...

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...

Challenges to Eastern European Roma and their teachers in the UK

The Roma are amongst Europe’s most disadvantaged groups, facing high levels of prejudice and discrimination. The largest population of Roma is in Eastern Europe; particularly Romania and...

Collaborative Learning in a Blended-reality Environment

Offering students flexible and convenient access is a key driver for the use of technology in learning, with online technologies enabling students to continue their work out of the classroom,...

Why Do Privately Educated People in Britain Earn More?

Private schooling in Britain is unaffordable for the majority of families, but for those that can afford it what do their children get out of paying for education? There are some who say, not...

Pupil disruption in the classroom – what is the real picture?

A favourable classroom climate – essentially one in which there is a well-ordered and calm environment – is likely to be conducive to learning and therefore important for pupil progress....

Investigating Group Work – Classroom Research as Genuine Enquiry

Why does group work seem to be falling out of favour?  There has been a rising volume of voices in the educational world suggesting that group work is ineffective and should no longer be viewed...

“Proving others wrong”: how working class students defied the odds to attend an elite university

The proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds going to ‘elite’ universities in England has remained worryingly flat in the past decade, despite millions of pounds being invested...

Assessing the impact of STEM initiatives in improving educational outcomes – have they worked?

The general trend for science and maths A-level entries as a percentage of all A-level entries has been downwards over the last 15 years. Research evidence from large scale national surveys...

The Politics of the Canon: An exploration of the factors influencing teachers’ text choices for the new GCSE specification in English Literature

As English teachers in England are aware, the new GCSE specifications which will be examined for the first time in Summer 2017 mark a significant departure from previous practice in terms of...

The complementary use of audience response systems and online tests to implement repeat testing

Getting students to engage with subjects which have a reputation as being inaccessible or difficult is a constant challenge many teachers face, whether at school or in higher education. This...