The ambiguities of knowledge, expertise and purpose

In a recent BERA blog, ‘The neglect of practice’ (14 December 2018; see also Hordern 2018), Jim Hordern argued that we need to consider not just what teachers do when they teach, but what...

Invisible educators or connecting professionals? Post-compulsory teacher educators

Overall, teacher educators generally tend to be seen as ‘an ill-defined, under researched and sometimes beleaguered occupational group’ (Menter, Hulme, Elliott, & Lewin, 2010: 11). BERA and...

Faith-based education is (not) what we are talking about

Writings about faith and education tend to fall into particular longstanding debates about: the teaching of religious education in schools; the act (or not) of assembly; the use of religious texts...

Different schools, same problem: What value teacher research and inquiry?

Robust school leadership is seen as the most effective route by which schools and outcomes for students can be achieved (Greany, 2015). But how does a headteacher of a school graded...

Professional learning resources to contribute towards a more collaborative professional community of teacher educators

In England there are two distinct communities of teacher educators: institute-based teacher educators (IBTEs) employed by higher education institutions (HEIs), and school-based teacher educators...

BERA Blog highlights from 2018

BERA Blog end of year highlights

A seasonal welcome to all our BERA Blog readers in the UK and around the world in this, our third end-of-year-highlights special edition. And what a year this has turned out to be. (I really will...

Teaching as design: New research from technology-rich learning environments

  ‘We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment. Whether we permit chance environments to do the work, or whether we design environments for...

Arresting ‘epistemic violence’: Decolonising the national curriculum for history

A renewed call to ‘decolonise’ the curriculum has marked a shift in thinking about education and what should form the canon of curriculum content (le Grange, 2016). It has been amplified...

Can biology A-levels be trusted to look after the future teaching of high quality ecological science?

‘The primary place in which to work at ecology is necessarily in the field’ Tansley (1952/1987) Most contemporary ecologists could not envisage a world without fieldwork....

The challenge of researching dialogic interactions in digital classroom contexts

Language is the most ubiquitous and flexible of the meaning-making tools. As such, it is a teacher’s main pedagogic tool (Littleton & Mercer, 2013). ‘Classroom dialogue’ can be thought of as...

Supporting early-childhood teachers with integrating a humanoid robot to enhance learning

Anthropomorphic robots are increasingly being used as a technology in early childhood settings, and they have been found to enhance social interaction (Tanaka, Cicourel & Movellan, 2007), support...

Drawing a line in the sand: Reflective practice using ‘sandboxing’ with HE students

The future of educational research in Wales

The ability to reflect in and on practice (Schön, 1983; 1991) is an integral professional skill within the field of education. This metacognitive process develops effective practitioners and...