The Covid-19 pandemic and the early years workforce

Covid-19, education and educational research

The evidence is clear that motivated, knowledgeable and experienced staff are key to supporting children’s development in early years settings (see for example Melhuish, Ereky-Stevens, &...

Teacher agency in enacting physical education in a period of curriculum change and reform in Ireland

This blog pulls on elements of a larger study which aims to understand the enactment of curriculum policy through different curriculum policy stakeholders’ perspectives – such as curriculum...

Curriculum making as relational practice: A qualitative ego-network approach

Teacher networks have been identified as an essential element for the improvement of education reforms and consequently have attracted increased interest from educational researchers (Daly,...

Bubble, toil and trouble: School leadership as Shakespearean tragedy in and after Covid-19

Covid-19, education and educational research

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the witches exacerbate divisions, push ambition through brute force, hierarchy and power; their interventions end in the wicked destruction of leadership potential and...

Spring 2021

Research Intelligence issue 146: Contemporary issues in mental health and wellbeing in education

England’s teaching school ‘super-hub’ policy: Policy meets practice

On 10 February 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the creation of 81 ‘super-hubs’, properly known as teaching school hubs (TSHs). These, in addition to the six ‘test and...

How has Covid-19 affected the way in which teacher educators engage their students with learning?

Covid-19, education and educational research

In this blog we seek to understand the impact that the sudden and enforced move to online teaching due to the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the perceptions of teacher educators in initial teacher...

Doing data differently

As various studies of teachers’ lives and work have explored, using attainment data in schools goes over and above what that data are designed to do. The datafication of schooling in England and...

The BERA Blog: Highlights of 2020

BERA Blog end of year highlights

A warm and wintery ‘welcome’ to all our readers, wherever you may be. This time last year I wished all of you a seasonal ‘yo-ho-ho’, blissfully unaware of how 2020 would play out. Today,...

Rethinking class size: The complex story of impact on teaching and learning

The enduring argument over class size is one of the most contested in education. The argument is between many teachers and practitioners who feel that class size makes a big difference to teaching...

Reimaging mentoring and coaching for teacher trainees and newly qualified teachers post-Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic affected the development of initial teacher trainees (ITT) and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in a variety of different ways. Teacher educators had to think of new ways to...

Reflections on building rapport with university students in an online context

Uncharted terrain: Teaching and learning in higher education for times of uncertainty

As with other educators, the rapid shift to online delivery during lockdown has led to self-reflection on my teaching skills, how they transfer online, and my ability to use online tools...