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This paper explores teachers' anxiety about work at 75 timepoints between October 2019 and July 2022, covering the period before, during and towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in England. We find the work-related anxiety of headteachers increased substantially throughout the pandemic – much more so than amongst more junior staff. Female teachers experienced a greater impact than men, particularly amongst those with young children. Differences were also observed in work-related anxiety between independent and state schoolteachers, though only during the first lockdown. We illustrate how providing onsite instruction, live online lessons and working longer hours were all associated with raised levels of work-related anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a detailed picture of how the on‐going challenge of teacher shortages in England and Wales is driving the deployment of teaching assistants (TAs) to cover classes in place of teachers. Analyses of data from a survey of nearly 6000 TAs in mainstream and special schools found that TAs cover classes for up to 4 h a week, with one in four covering classes because schools do not have enough teachers and/or are unable to get external supply teachers. The conditions under which TAs cover classes are challenging and a cause of stress and anxiety. Unlike teachers, TAs cover classes without a lesson plan or support from another TA. The majority of TAs said that covering classes inevitably involves them having to teach pupils – despite national guidance stipulating that cover by TAs should not involve ‘active teaching’. Three in four TAs report that their own role is not covered when they cover for teachers. Being deployed to cover classes disrupts and diverts TAs from carrying out their regular duties of delivering curriculum interventions and providing classroom support. Consequently, TAs feel that undertaking cover negatively impacts the quality of learning and provision for pupils with additional needs, as well as their workload, wellbeing, sense of effectiveness and job satisfaction. The conclusion that TAs actively teach lessons to whole classes has potentially significant real‐world consequences and implications for policy and practice. This paper calls for an urgent policy response to what is, in essence, a troubling symptom of the current teacher recruitment and retention crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom music teachers in England design their own music curricula for Key Stage 3 (11 − 14 year olds, 6th – 8th Grades). These curricula are designed in a context where policymakers define, regulate and legitimate curriculum formulations. This study traced curriculum development in England, where government has validated a policy driven approach. It explored programs of study, which music teachers in England design as summaries of musical learning for Key Stage 3. The research consisted of documentary analysis in a two-phase study of 13 secondary (high) schools in the English midlands, exploring musical knowledge for musical learning, which is analyzed utilizing qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The paper concludes with a discussion which explores the impacts of music education policy on classroom practices, and presents a proposed model which captures this interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a reflective piece on the thought processes individuals and teams have when engaging in decoloniality work in Teacher Training/Education. We argue that until the self is decolonized, the process of decolonialization becomes rhetoric. We also question how much we can decolonize whilst working in the academy whose very culture, symbols and practices are borne out of colonialism and the period of enlightenment; whose very raison d'être is to elevate some knowledge over others and to claim cultural and academic superiority. The current political landscape in England approaches anti-racism as a political ideology that must be avoided in schools and education and this ideological battlefield is evident in teacher education. We aim to recognize the tensions and resistance to decolonialize, which demonstrates the messy and contingent process of moving between shifting positions and subjectivities. It confronts the challenge of the teacher–practitioner who must balance their own moral and philosophical grounding whilst attending the political imperatives of the work. This can take the form of according with the policies and procedures of the institutions in which they are situated which can often be balkanizing and debilitating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the learning experiences of lower attaining boys attending Stone Acre, a non-selective state Secondary school in England, and how these were shaped by teachers' gendered beliefs and practices. It argues that despite changes in our theoretical understandings of gender, those found in the context of everyday practice in schools may continue to be rooted in biological understandings of masculinity that tend to reinforce rather than challenge assumptions of deficit. It argues that these interactions form part of a gender regime that also includes the lower-status learning spaces disproportionately occupied by lower attaining boys, with selective grouping practices and the curriculum both contributing to the limiting understandings of boys' educational potential that are ultimately reflected in persistently gendered patterns of attainment. The small number of boys who took part in this study clearly recognised the less favourable positioning of boys as a group. Despite this, they went on to achieve beyond expectations, suggesting that they maintained some agency as learners. Teachers at Stone Acre were also under pressure to ensure achievement against performance threshold levels, suggesting that there may have been some mitigating, trickle down effects. The paper concludes that there is a continuing need for teachers to develop more inclusive understandings of masculinities and of the effects of these on everyday practices in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher professionalism in England may be considered to have been shaped by the set of professional standards, and the accompanying statutory performance management system, introduced by the Labour government in 2007. More recently the coalition government’s 2010 White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, announced reforms that will potentially re-shape teacher professionalism. In this article I examine the ‘shape’ of teacher professionalism in England, as defined by the professional standards. I reveal it to be a lop-sided shape, indicating a professionalism that focuses predominantly on teachers’ behaviour, rather than on their attitudes and their intellectuality. Presenting my conceptual analysis of professionalism, and examination of its link with professional development, I consider whether—and to what extent—teacher professionalism may in fact be shaped by government-imposed reform. I conclude that ‘enacted’ professionalism may be quite different from ‘demanded’ professionalism, and shaping professionalism involves a complex and indecipherable process that is better understood by examining the process whereby individuals develop professionally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on life history interviews, this paper seeks to explore the lives of a group of eight teachers, all with working experience in England, who self-identify as committed to a more socially just education system. Drawing on Levitas' Utopia as method, this article examines these teachers' perspectives on and practices around social justice in education, such as aiming to eradicate exclusion policies and processes, and organising with like-minded colleagues. We also explore the significant professional and emotional labour that goes into such kinds of work towards a socially just education system, and the satisfaction that comes from 'making a difference'. Their perspectives also provide insight into what a vision of socially just education might look like for those in the teaching profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer‐Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is a class‐wide structured supplementary paired reading programme to support learners with their reading (Fuchs et al., 1997). What remains at the core of implementing PALS in any given location is the co‐creation with teachers to ensure PALS fits with that educational context. This paper discusses the involvement of teachers as co‐creators in the process of adapting PALS in England, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Taiwan and Iceland. The aim is to demonstrate the importance of careful adaptation when implementing a programme adopted from another country. Each adaption used a different methodological approach to co‐creation. For example, in England, field notes, informal conversations and interviews were utilised for co‐creation. In Iceland, preschool and elementary teachers were instrumental in translating and adapting the PALS materials to the Icelandic context. From each adaption, the teachers supported the development of a literacy programme that was suitable for classroom use. In England, teachers' involvement resulted in the removal of the motivational point system. For the UAE context, PALS began in English to support second language learning, but the instructional routines were a good 'fit' for the school culture and were developed in Arabic. For the Taiwan context, PALS provided an empirical basis for a model of differentiated instruction to enhance the reading literacy of Chinese‐speaking elementary students. In Iceland, teachers trained other teachers in PALS as a research‐based and efficient approach to meeting diverse learning needs of students, especially those with Icelandic as an additional language. Careful adaptation, piloting and the involvement of key stakeholders is important for the successful implementation of a reading programme. Highlights: What is already known about this topicPeer‐Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) for reading is an effective evidence‐based supplementary whole‐class paired reading programme to support children's reading skills.PALS follows principles of explicit and systematic instruction that are consistent with the science of reading.PALS is a culturally responsive practice that teaches children to take turns reading and listening, whilst providing each other with supportive and corrective feedback. What this paper addsAcknowledges that programmes need to be carefully adapted for each new context to ensure they are suitable.Describes cross‐cultural approaches to co‐creation with educators in the design and implementation of a reading programme.Describes approaches to expanding access to a successful reading programme by implementing PALS in a variety of languages and cultures, which may promote literacy skills for emerging bilinguals. Implications for theory, policy or practiceProgrammes will not always directly translate from one context to another; changes might be needed and thus consultation with educators in educational settings are important.Understanding the theoretical underpinnings of reading programmes can add to success but to be used in practice need to ensure it fits within the educational context without diluting the core elements.Effects of peer‐mediated learning conducted in a structured and systematic way show promise to be robust across languages and cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper was inspired by the author's fortunate acquisition of a copy of an original copy of "Muspratt's Chemistry" that was published in 1860. This raised, for the author, interesting and significant issues regarding the chemistry content and its presentation in the context of chemistry and education today. The paper is presented in two parts: Part 1 explores the content, structure and gives reactions to and insights into the original publication, whereas Part 2 provides a focus on the developments in chemistry education as experienced by the author during almost 70 years of learning and teaching chemistry in schools and in teacher education in England. James Sheridan Muspratt (1821–1871) is best remembered for this publication which is fully entitled "Chemistry, theoretical, practical and analytical as applied and relating to Arts and Manufactures". This was developed during the period 1852–1860 and ran into several editions as well as being translated into German and Russian. Earlier he had done chemistry research with Liebig and Hofmann, and in 1848 he founded the Liverpool College of Chemistry. It is clear that he corresponded extensively with many of the leading nineteenth century chemists in the UK and Europe, many of whose names are still familiar with us today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving mathematical skills is a priority in England, and a series of policy levers and government change projects have focused on improving mathematical outcomes in further education (FE) in recent years. Yet little is known about the mathematics teacher workforce that supports these students on vocational and technical programmes. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by examining important features of the mathematics teacher workforce in colleges and the implications for recruitment, initial training and ongoing professional development. We report findings from a national survey targeted at all mathematics teachers in around one-sixth (N = 31) of England's general FE colleges. Teachers have transitioned into FE from three main areas: another career, curriculum area, or educational context. We discuss the varied assets and training needs of these three subgroups and argue that the mathematics teacher cohort in FE should be seen as distinct from that in either primary or secondary education. We highlight the bimodal distribution of mathematics qualifications amongst this workforce; those having level 2 mathematics qualifications being more likely to be teaching functional skills mathematics courses than GCSEs. The rapid expansion of the mathematics teacher workforce that followed the changes to the condition of funding in 2014 has come disproportionately from teachers who were previously working in schools. This, together with a trend of funnelling increasing numbers of FE students into academic mathematics rather than functional skills courses, raises important questions about the nature of mathematical education for learners on vocational and technical programmes, and the teachers thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst the link between young people's well‐being and the creative arts is strengthening, there is a lack of research which focuses on the roles that artists play to help teachers and parents engage young people in the creative arts. This paper explores the benefits of and barriers to artists working in education in six European countries (England, Iceland, Germany, Greece, Italy and Austria). Using the '5A's model of creativity' and a view of professional development taking place within 'landscapes of practice', the data were analysed in order to explain how creativity is operationalised in the different contexts. Our study highlights the need for policy at a national and transnational level to value the creative arts in order to help teachers cross boundaries and utilise the full potential of the creative arts in schools. Our study also highlights that further research is needed into how artists shape teaching and curriculum and how schools engage parents in the creative arts in order to build an evidence‐base relating to young people's positive mental health that can affect policy at these levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploratory study of English and Swedish teachers' perspectives on the role of homework in year-one children's learning of number. In order to ensure cultural integrity, data were analysed independently by two colleagues in each context. Analyses yielded three broad but cross-culturally common themes reflecting culturally situated notions of common sense. These concerned the existence of homework, the purpose of homework and the role of parents in homework's completion. While homework was unproblematic for all English teachers, half the Swedish cohort spoke against it, arguing that variation in home background would compromise principles of equity. All teachers who set homework, whether English or Swedish, spoke of homework as a means of supporting children at risk of falling behind their peers, a process by which children practice routine skills. English teachers' homework-related justifications were located in a discourse of target setting that was invisible in the Swedish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The career progression of teachers of black, Asian and minority ethnic heritage is a matter of much debate and research. Over the past decade, a body of research has confirmed that race discrimination/race inequality is a factor in the progression of teachers of black, Asian and minority ethnic heritage in England. Although it has been argued that 'Britain is not a racist nation', it nonetheless has, as described by Phillips in 2016, a '...deep sensitivity to...ethnic and cultural difference'. According to Miller, this sensitivity remains at the heart of a 'deep-rooted and continuing struggle among black, Asian and minority ethnic teachers and academics for equality and mutual recognition'. Drawing on Miller's 2016 typology of educational institutions: engaged, experimenting, initiated and uninitiated, this paper presents evidence from three English headteachers of Multi-Academy Trusts who devise, implement and embed positive actions in the recruitment, development, retention and progression of staff of black, Asian and minority ethnic heritage. The objective of this study was to examine the work of school leaders/institutions in taking steps to improve black, Asian and minority ethnic teacher progression in England, by identifying and highlighting 'what works', and how. Furthermore, by treating each school/leader as a unique 'case', this paper shows their motivation (personal and professional), experiences of 'race', school contexts and the type/s of leadership required and used in these institutional contexts to change attitudes, cultures and behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on key findings from a mixed method study analysing how teachers in secondary schools (students aged 11–19) in London and South East England view and experience pastoral care provided to students with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. In England there is statistical evidence which shows schools are increasingly spending funding on support staff rather than teaching staff. The role of Pastoral Support Staff (PSS) who work with students with SEMH in some secondary schools is one such group of support staff. To date there has been limited research into how teachers perceive these changes and the effects on their role and responsibilities. The views of fifty-one respondents were gathered using an online semi-structured survey, followed by semi-structured interviews with six qualified teachers. Using a figured worlds conceptual framework, teachers' perceptions of the use of pastoral support staff and the delivery of pastoral care in their schools, and therefore their worlds, were analysed. The findings were analysed using Hoy's and Tschannen-Moran's work on trust in schools exploring the trust dynamic between PSS and teachers. Results show that the teachers who participated in this research felt there was a lack of information sharing between different PSS and teachers and have seen the separation of pastoral care from the role of teacher leading to confusion around their responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider educational populism on social media in England and Australia. In both contexts, academics are positioned as a key constituent of an unjust elite with previously voiceless teachers (UK) and students (Australia) framed as the 'just people'. While populism often speaks to nations and nationalism, as 'the people' against an 'unjust elite' or 'other', micropopulism concerns a particular community against an elite. Although educational micropopulism has been catalysed by social media, there is an underlying political project growing from the New Right coalition of economic liberals and social conservatives. New Right 2.0, a contemporary reformulation of New Right, has an agenda that goes beyond promoting free-market hegemony to promoting civic capitalism and exploits a hybridised media environment to set a policy agenda through provoking polarisation. While there are similarities in New Right 2.0 strategies in England and Australia, the key difference is the way in which micropopulism has emerged and how it plays a role in the hybridised media ecology. We develop a theoretical account of the phenomena of educational micropopulism and offer an understanding of contemporary forms of populism that reflect the sub-national as well as international dimensions of micropopulist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England, religious education (RE) is a part of the basic curriculum mandatory for all pupils in the compulsory years of schooling. This paper explores how RE and spirituality interact and whether one can contribute to the effective delivery of the other. It explores the experience of a small group of subject leaders working in schools in one local authority area in the West Midlands of England, drawn from schools with a religious affiliation and those without. Using in service training activities, questionnaires and reflective processes, it seeks to elicit their aspirations for the interaction between RE and spirituality (also referred to as meaning-making). The findings suggest the subject leaders have an intention to develop both activity to promote learning and activity to apply that learning to real life experience. This suggests that developing a spiritual dimension to religious education requires a move from the abstract or theoretical and from knowledge acquisition towards increased engagement, making a personal response and considering what difference can be made as a result. As such, a spiritual dimension to learning cannot be passive. The project has the potential to impact policy and practice on both national and international levels, given its focus on values and pedagogy rather than specific curriculum content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the theories of practice architectures and learning to teach to study in-service teachers' practice of learning to teaching within a further education (FE)-based initial teacher education (ITE) classes at one further education college (FEC) in England. It seeks to answer two research questions: How do in-service teachers learn how to teach within a teacher education classes at a general FE college in England? What site-based factors shape the in-service teachers' practice of learning to teach? Using an action research methodology, the researcher, a university-based teacher educator, worked with a team of six FE-based teacher educators and their 35 in-service teachers to answer these questions. Drawing on data from six 'teacher talk' meetings with the teacher educators and three focus groups with the in-service teachers, the paper builds on and adds to international maps of existing research and knowledge of their practice of learning to teach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two periods of compulsory school closure in England as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the adoption of virtual teaching and learning environments. Although such platforms had already been launched in English schools prior to March 2020, when schools closed, their usage by classroom teachers had not been established. Pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged students in English schools began in 2011, with the aim of narrowing the academic performance gap between these students and their peers. Less likely to do as well at school as their peers, the consequent narrative around these children at school is one of 'catch-up', a narrative which grew during the pandemic with debate around 'lost learning' amongst all children, but particularly, the disadvantaged. The enduring assumption that these children will do less well than their peers, rather than be less likely to, was thus further compounded. This paper considers one secondary school English department's provision of additionality to support equity during the pandemic, its success and lessons which might be applied in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines the processes of creating a 'Storymaker Wheel', a creativity evaluation tool conceptualised with input from a children's book author, a children's book illustrator, academics and teachers, for teachers and pupils to use to support and develop their creative writing. It documents the ways in which teachers and pupils engaged with the Wheel in three schools in England: a primary pupil referral unit, a primary school and a secondary school. Interviews with teachers and pupils about the Storymaker Wheel, and classroom observations of the Wheel in use, expose some challenges of teaching creative writing within the current English educational context, which we discuss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policies on inclusion are being increasingly embedded within education systems and teacher education across the world, with schools and teachers called upon to add 'inclusion' to their already large set of skills and tasks. There is, however, no consistent definition of what inclusion means or how it can be best promoted. The purpose of this paper is to explore the dilemmas that student teachers face when they encounter policy requirements to practice inclusion, and how they mediate the tensions. Drawing on two exploratory studies with science student teachers in two Initial Teacher Education programmes in England, we focus on the conceptions of inclusion held by the student teachers and the links between inclusion and teacher education. Our findings suggest that conventional understandings in relation to ability still dominate, with ability-based differentiation viewed as the key teaching strategy to promote inclusion. In addition, student teachers find themselves having to negotiate contradictory and often conflicting approaches to inclusion, diversity, and academic attainment. The discrepancies highlighted by this study have implications for how teacher education courses need to be organised to promote the practice of inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Where young people's upper-secondary education spans work and institutional domains, questions arise about learning across both spheres and its guidance. Theoretical accounts of 'boundary crossing' have explored how vocational teachers can integrate learning across domains by drawing on extended concepts and theoretical knowledge to solve workplace problems; whilst empirical accounts have validated the role of vocational educators by describing the workplace and schools as equally valid, complementary spheres. Different understandings, described here as 'integrative', 'complementary' and 'implicit', appear to reflect different national patterns of vocational education. The paper reports a qualitative study conducted around two case studies, located in Germany and England, of the way vocational teachers' understandings of facilitating learning across domains are constructed. Vocational teachers working in Germany's 'dual training' claimed to provide advanced knowledge that they compared to practical work skills, reflecting 'implicit' or 'complementary' approaches to learning across domains. Teachers in England, where workplace learning elements are more unevenly developed and lack institutional foundations, nevertheless described colleges and workplaces as distinctive, little-connected spheres. These differences suggest that teachers' approaches are less shaped by the potential or necessity for 'integrative' approaches than by the way different systems enable or constrain their conceptualisation of 'possible futures'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Rastafari smoking herbs (cannabis) and tobacco is central to spiritual practices, including grounding (the process of initiation into Rastafari) and reasoning (ritual discussions). This paper presents ethnographic research with Rastafari smokers in England. It shows that smoking is considered a 'professional' activity that communicates dedication to the movement, aids in learning different dialects, and facilitates experiences of communication with herbs 'herself'. Through rituals that 'professional' smokers engage in herbs becomes a 'plant teacher', which Tupper [2008. The Globalization of Ayahuasca: Harm Reduction or Benefit Maximization? International Journal of Drug Policy, 19:300] defines as 'a natural divinatory mechanism that can provide esoteric knowledge to adepts skilled in negotiating its remarkable effects'. Appreciation of smoking as a form of multispecies communication between 'professional' smokers and 'plant teachers' recasts the role of agency in anthropological studies of smoking and contributes to our understanding of consciousness and intentionality in both humans and plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performing female genital mutilation (FGM) is prohibited within the UK by the FGM Act of 2003. A mandatory reporting duty for FGM requires regulated health and social care professionals and teachers in England and Wales to report known cases of FGM in under 18-year-olds to the police. An application to the court for an FGM protection order (FGMPO) can be made to keep individual women and girls safe from FGM. This paper reveals the significant disconnect between the number of FGMPO applications and known recorded cases of FGM. The introduction of FGMPOs requires critical exploration as there is insufficient evidence to show that FGMPOs are effective in protecting women and girls from FGM. It is therefore unclear what impact, if any, FGMPOs are having upon the protection of women and girls at risk of FGM. The barriers to the implementation of FGMPOs and possible solutions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a year-long qualitative study of three primary schools in South-East England, focussing on the importance of leadership in changing the culture of a school. In each school, the aim was to embed nurturing principles across the whole school, not just run a nurture group as a specialist intervention. The underlying research question is: how did the head teacher and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) embed the decision to apply a nurturing culture to the whole school? Findings relate to the style of leadership and particularly the process by which the leaders set about introducing and embedding the change in culture. The impact on the schools was positive, with clear examples of the change in culture. However, the vital role played by the head and the SLT in bringing about a change in culture raises the question of whether such a change could survive the departure from the school of senior leaders who are personally committed to nurture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Teachers generally hold generically positive views towards multilingualism. • A close linguistic discourse analysis reveals an inert benevolence towards multilingualism in classrooms. • Inert benevolence entails conscious and subconscious barriers to enacting research-informed practice. • Research participants find interviews an important space to reflect on their practice. • Professional conversations as staff development could create valuable reflective spaces where staff can explore their beliefs and attitudes towards multilingualism. The UK, and perhaps particularly England, is often seen as a nation subscribing wholeheartedly to a monolingual mindset. The national curriculum remains resolutely monolingual, despite linguistic diversity in primary classrooms having increased rapidly. Current research and anecdotal evidence suggest that translanguaging in English schools is rare, despite the documented 'multilingual turn' in applied linguistics, and transnational practices are seen as being facilitated only within families. This study explores attitudes and practices towards supporting multilingualism and encouraging children's sense of transnationalism, rather than solely English language acquisition and assimilation into British culture. Forty semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers across England, and the resultant transcriptions were analysed thematically to explore the experiences and attitudes of participants. The data presented in this paper focuses on instances of what we have termed 'inert benevolence' and we identify a number of conscious and subconscious barriers to truly incorporating languages beyond English in classroom practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the English government’s vision for how research is proposed to lead to improvements in the system in the context of a school-led, self-improving system and rapid and sweeping legislative reforms. The debate about the role of research in the teaching profession has been sharpened by a large consultation effort in the academic community. The BERA-RSA inquiry suggests an empowering vision for teachers where research engagement informs practice and a role for schools in providing a ‘research-rich environment’. However, the government’s proposals offer a rather less empowering vision. The author of the paper contrasts a version of research-informed teaching and leadership with one where teachers are supposed to follow and be led by the evidence. The government’s education policy, especially as set out in the 2016 White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’ is analysed in relation to this position. Analysis of statements from the document are shown in the paper, and contextualised with examples from the English school system. The extent to which teacher agency is promoted through research evidence is explored. The article concludes that the government’s over emphasis on a ‘what works’/‘evidence-based practice’ model is unhelpful in achieving an improved education system. Suggestions for the role of universities and the College of Teaching in promoting research-informed practice are given. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper uses international data from a range of sources, principally the 2013 round of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2013), to provide new information on classroom disciplinary climate in secondary schools in England. The paper advances the literature in three distinct ways. Firstly, the data show that teachers in England perceive that there is considerable disruption in their classrooms. While some reports, especially from official sources, have suggested that classroom disruption is minimal in schools in England that does not seem plausible given these results from TALIS. Secondly, since TALIS contains comparable data for over 30 countries, the results for England can be set in a wider context. Reports in the media frequently highlight pupil disruption and suggest that classroom climate tends to be worse in England than in many other countries. In fact what emerges from the international comparison is that, on each of the items measuring classroom climate in TALIS 2013, the results for England were somewhat better than both the all-country average and the average for a group of European comparators. Thirdly, the survey also includes a range of information about the school in which the teacher worked, the pupils which they taught, and the teachers themselves. We draw on this data to investigate which school-level characteristics, teacher attributes, and characteristics of pupils in the classroom, were associated with favourable classroom climate in England. While some commentators have focused exclusively on school-level factors, we emphasise the importance of within-school variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in higher education institutions offering opportunities for interprofessional learning (IPL) to their students. The literature presents a number of factors that contribute to effective IPL, including having trained facilitators that help optimise the learning process. Many of these IPL facilitators are university teachers and the literature provides us with some insight into their views of IPL. However, little is known about university teachers' views about IPL and their role in supporting students in achieving outcomes linked to IPL during their own teaching; this paper explores these areas. University teachers, working with students in Norway and England who contribute to patients' care pathway were purposively invited to join focus groups. Data collected from the teachers' conversations during these focus groups were analysed to elicit the main themes. Findings show that university teachers have a wide range of views about IPL, its potential to enhance collaborative practice and care, and their role in helping students achieve outcomes linked to IPL. A key challenge appears to be whether IPL is "worth the struggle," which emphasises the need for strong leadership in order to align pedagogical approaches in education and practice that strive to achieve agreed outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of a process evaluation for understanding randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of complex teaching interventions in a classroom setting is discussed in relation to the evaluation of the Integrated Group Reading (IGR) programme trial. This process evaluation is based on realist principles and draws on different data sources. The findings indicate that the efficacy of a classroom-based complex intervention like IGR is hard to evaluate given the nature of the intervention and its context. These findings illustrate that a process evaluation should not be seen as a subsidiary study to the experimental trial, but as an independent study in its own right as it can shed light onto the setting up and running of the trial. The paper argues that RCTs by themselves do not necessarily provide the 'best evidence' and need to be supplemented by other evaluation perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recruitment of overseas trained teachers (OTTs) in England is a matter that has received as much attention inside the United Kingdom as outside. Education systems in small island and developing states, especially, were believed to have been placed 'at risk' following the departure of experienced and qualified teachers. Correspondingly, the presence of OTTs in England has contributed to, inter alia, workforce stability, behavioural management solutions and curriculum enhancement. Despite these contributions, however, very little is known about the career progression of OTTs in England. Through a tracer study of OTTs recruited between 2001 and 2008, in the first phase of teacher migration to the UK, this qualitative study explored the perceived factors that facilitate and/or hinder the progression of Caribbean OTTs in England. Drawing on postmodernism, critical and social identity theories, this paper examines how institutional racism and discrimination play a part in restricting the promotion and career progression of OTTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a tendency to construct the teaching profession through a narrative of 'crisis' which places particular emphasis on high rates of attrition and poor wellbeing driven by a demanding work culture. Drawing on qualitative data from a mixed-methods study, this paper examines teachers' responses to reforms to English secondary education. It presents evidence that supports a 'profession in crisis' narrative with many of the research participants expressing negative attitudes towards the reforms and concerns about staying in teaching. However, the paper also illuminates a counter-narrative that highlights teachers' job satisfaction and their desire to remain in the profession. • Dominant discourses of a 'profession in crisis' in England. • Majority of participants provide evidence of crisis. • A counter-narrative comprise teachers who have positive views of the profession. • Danger that education research reproduces and reinforces the 'crisis' narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an era of significant government involvement in schools in England, despite consistent rhetoric from the Department of Education to the contrary. In such a period, signs can be detected of the juncture between a postmodern identity and post-professional status, two models of teacher professionalism supposed in Hargreaves’ work on the fourth age of professionalism. This paper focuses on the former as the nature of the contemporary context. Defining features of postmodernity are considered through a focus on the broad issue of teacher professionalism. For this paper, this is embodied by teachers’ involvement with the development of the Primary National Curriculum for England. Evidence will be drawn from just before its 1988 introduction until 2013 in order to critique several of the key tenets of postmodernity as identified by Hargreaves. This is of particular importance in a context where a strong defence is necessary to enable the sustainment, and growth, of teachers’ professional autonomy. This paper aims to propose some strategies teachers could enact in the face of postmodern challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the circumstances in which individuals become secondary school teachers in England and France. Using a social constructivist theoretical framework, it specifically considers how national contexts play out in this decision. The findings presented in this paper draw on a corpus of 60 interviews with a sample of teachers based in English and French secondary schools. They show that national frameworks remain relevant to an exploration of teachers’ identities and cultures, as French and English interviewees draw on distinctive reasons to explain why they became secondary school teachers. While becoming a teacher is often thought of as a ‘vocation’ or as the result of ‘intrinsic’ factors, this paper highlights the role of national contexts, as well as of gender and social class, in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper addresses the question: How do teachers and school leaders respond to high stakes testing of pupils transitioning from primary to secondary school? It explores how a new test, the Level 6 test, operated with regard to primary/secondary school relationships in England. It draws on an analysis of qualitative interviews with teachers and school leaders in 20 primary schools that took part in the test, 40 school leaders that chose not to and 20 secondary-school leaders. Theoretical work on social boundaries is utilised to develop an argument that this test and its results acted as a boundary signifier, crystallising many of the tensions between primary and secondary schools. These tensions included the role of accountability regimes in requiring schools to demonstrate progress; narrowing of the curriculum and teaching to the test; and the extent to which test results can provide a true representation of pupil attainment. We conclude by suggesting the potential of the boundary signifier concept in relation to other tests at the primary/secondary boundary and other key transition points in education, and consider whether such tests can act as an ideal boundary object, serving to help overcome, rather than cement, barriers between schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Successive governments in England have regarded classroom observation as an essential tool for monitoring and improving teacher performance. Despite its importance in national policy for teacher development, the impact of classroom observation on individual teachers, and on improving quality and standards in teaching and learning, remain under-researched areas. Further education (FE) in general, and FE teachers in particular, have received sparse attention. This paper adopts a theoretical framework grounded in aspects of assessment theory to explore some of the consequences of using observation to assess, monitor and raise standards of classroom performance in the FE workforce. It draws on findings from a mixed-methods study, involving questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, conducted in 10 FE colleges situated across the West Midlands region of England. The paper concludes by situating the findings against the broader backdrop of research into teachers’ continuing professional development and, in so doing, raises questions about the fitness for purpose of prevailing observation assessment regimes in FE and the extent to which these systems are able to achieve their purported goals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, science and religious education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject areas. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils held religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the ‘coming out’ decisions at work of four lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) teachers in England. It argues that such decisions are complicated by heteronormative discursive practices within schools that render LGB sexualities silent while simultaneously demanding that they are spoken. This double bind for LGB teachers as well as the professional and personal implications of choosing to come out or not to come out within the workplace is examined. The paper demonstrates that three choices dominate participants' experiences of coming out at work: to speak to no one at work about the private world, to come out to colleagues and to come out to colleagues and students. The paper posits, however, that the narrative devices deployed within coming out (at work) stories are limited by linguistic techniques that constrain the telling of sexual selves to the binary categories of straight or gay/lesbian. The possibilities for teachers whose lives and experiences interrupted the dominant heteronormative discourse are also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Performance-based management is a recurring and controversial strategy for education reform. This paper examines a nineteenth-century English experiment in paying schools by results and uses concepts from personnel and behavioural economics to understand its decline. Like many recent education reforms, payment-by-results sought to bring schools and teachers under the ‘laws of supply and demand’. The unintended outcomes of the policy, which ultimately led to its end, included narrowing of the curriculum, cheating and manipulation by schoolteachers and managers, and increased risk and uncertainty in the teaching profession. The paper begins by exploring the role of economics principles in the drafting of the policy. It continues to explore how the programme unravelled, with special attention to issues of perverse incentives, teacher motivation, risk, and uncertainty. Building on recent studies of analogous modern experiments in performance-based management, this paper finds important parallels to current policy concerns. The lessons learned address the fundamental relationship between incentives and teacher motivation and the role of economic theory in education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Though there is a well-established body of research in the field of teacher professional development, it is characterised by a real dearth of any detailed historical analysis. This paper seeks to address this gap, by offering a new historical analysis of a case study of the evolution of organised teacher professional development in England and Wales during the twentieth century. Its approach is hoped to open up the wider debate and to contribute to a fuller understanding of the basis for those questions and dilemmas about teacher professional development that have long exercised teachers, professional educators and policy-makers – questions which turn on fundamental issues of priorities and purpose, funding, scale of teacher engagement, control and reach. The paper is in three main parts. Firstly, the scope of the case study is outlined with key stages in the evolution of teacher professional development in England and Wales identified. Secondly, four themes from the data which characterised this evolution are discussed. These include the restricted engagement of teachers relative to the whole teacher population; limited funding; the highly centralised control over provision for teacher professional development through Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI); and a highly selective and restrictive access to provision by teachers. It is argued that these key characteristics helped to shape a particular culture and ideology of teacher professional development which was dependent on a select cadre of elite teachers for the dissemination and modelling of what was regarded as good practice, so as to improve their colleagues’ performance – the elite excelled while the majority needed to be saved from mediocrity. The particular ideology underlying this model is conceptualised as one of ‘excellence and salvation’. Finally, it is argued that the key issues identified in this story (the restricted engagement of teachers; limited funding; highly centralised control; and ideologies of excellence) raise important generic questions for the field of teacher professional development more widely as well as framing future historical analysis of teacher professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Policy and practice responses to diversity and difference in pupil populations continue to challenge education systems around the world. This paper considers how teachers’ understandings of diversity and difference and their pedagogical responses at the local level are influenced by, and can be reconciled with, policy at the general level with its impulse for categorisation, normalcy and ‘ableness’. Two frameworks around orientations to diversity and types of pedagogic need are combined in order to examine this tension and develop possible responses. This is illustrated through the example of special educational needs as a type of difference. The paper argues that for critical, ethical and socially just pedagogies, policy needs to support teachers in acknowledging and troubling difference at the classroom level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an original examination of the well-being of early career secondary school teachers in England, which extends the evidence bases relating to early career teachers' working lives, teacher well-being, self-determination theory and performativity, respectively. Drawing on a secondary analysis of qualitative data generated for four separate empirical studies between 2005 and 2013, in a context in which teachers' work was subject to unparalleled external regulation, the authors examine the extent to which the well-being of early career teachers can be explained by self-determination theory, which posits that well-being is enhanced when innate psychological needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy are satisfied. The findings suggest that satisfaction of these three basic psychological needs is a necessary but not sufficient condition for optimising the well-being of early career teachers, which is dependent upon the interaction of a wider range of individual, relational and micro-, meso- and macro-environmental factors. Amongst the recommendations for policy and practice, policymakers and school leaders are urged to uphold their duty of care to newly and recently qualified teachers by doing their utmost to create conditions for the optimisation of such teachers' well-being. Several specific means of bringing this about are proposed, together with a checklist for those concerned to support the well-being of early career teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores research-focused reflective creative partnership at the heart of Dance Partners for Creativity (DPC), a qualitative, participatory research project located in secondary school creative partnership initiatives in England. It researched how dance artists and teachers partnered as ‘external’ and ‘school’ partners respectively, to nurture creativity in students aged 11–14. The wider educational context to the research was characterised by tension between striving for excellence harnessed to performativity as characterised by Ball on the one hand, and expanding opportunities for creativity in schools on the other; the two in tension with one another as discussed by the authors of the present article elsewhere. DPC sought to open space between creativity and performativity, enabling partners to co-research and to co-lead learning in the arts. The paper explores emergent practice applying McWilliam’s concept of ‘meddling in the middle’ originally proposed in relation to pedagogy in schools. The paper suggests research-focused partnerships in DPC were characterised by ‘meddling’. It discusses stretches and challenges documented in the study, revealing ways in which partnerships were dynamic and sometimes uncomfortable, whilst offering exciting potential for change. It suggests the retrogressive current policy frame in England may benefit from leaps made possible where partners in creative learning are curiosity-driven ‘meddlers in the middle’: a productive form of reflective practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on a national study, involving a mixed-method research design comprising a randomised controlled trial (RCT), text analysis, student and teacher interviews and lesson observations. It set out to investigate whether contextualised teaching of grammar, linked to the teaching of writing, would improve student outcomes in writing and in metalinguistic understanding. The RCT involved 744 students in 31 schools in the south-west and the Midlands of England, and was a blind randomisation study. Classes were randomly allocated to either a comparison or intervention group, after the sample had been matched for teacher linguistic subject knowledge (LSK). The statistical data were complemented by three interviews per teacher and three interviews with a focus student in each class, plus three lesson observations in each class, giving a data-set of 93 teacher interviews, 93 student interviews and 93 lesson observations. In addition, the final pieces of writing produced for each scheme of work were collected. The statistical results indicate a significant positive effect for the intervention, but they also indicate that this benefit was experienced more strongly by the more able writers in the sample. The regression modelling also indicates that teacher LSK was a significant mediating factor in the success of the intervention. The qualitative data provide further evidence of the impact of teacher knowledge on how the intervention was implemented and on students’ metalinguistic learning. It also reveals that teachers found the explicitness, the use of discussion and the emphasis on playful experimentation to be the most salient features of the intervention. The study is significant in providing robust evidence for the first time of a positive benefit derived from the teaching of grammar, and signals the potential of a pedagogy for a writing which includes a theorised role for grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the evidence relating to how primary schools are responding to the ‘gifted and talented’ initiative in England and Wales. A questionnaire survey which invited both closed and open-ended responses was carried out with a national sample of primary schools. The survey indicated an increasing proportion of coordinators, compared with a survey carried out in 1996, were identifying their gifted and talented children as well as having associated school policies. However, the survey also highlighted a number of issues which need addressing if the initiative is to achieve its objective of providing the best possible educational opportunities for children. For example, it was found that a significant number of practitioners were not aware of the existence of the National Quality Standards for gifted and talented education, provided by the UK government in 2007, and the subject-specific criteria provided by the UK’s Curriculum Authority for identification and provision have been largely ignored. The process of identifying children to be placed on the ‘gifted and talented’ register seems haphazard and based on pragmatic reasons. Analysis of teachers’ responses also revealed a range of views and theoretical positioning held by them, which have implications for classroom practice. As the ‘gifted and talented’ initiative in the UK is entering a second decade, and yet more significant changes in policy are introduced, pertinent questions need to be raised and given consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provision of customized black and minority ethnic (BME) leadership courses and programmes is one of the measures being employed to address the under-representation of teachers and school leaders from minority ethnic backgrounds. This strategy has always attracted controversy as opinions have been divided about its value and benefits. Yet there is paucity of literature on the content and impact of customized BME leadership programmes. This paper examines the perception and reported experiences of participants of Equal Access to Promotion (EAP) and Investing in Diversity (IiD), two BME leadership development programmes, for the benefits and value-added by customized BME leadership development programmes. The paper also draws attention to current statistics on the positioning of BME teachers and school leaders within the school system in England and the perceived impact of customized BME programmes in addressing the barriers faced by BME teachers in their drive for development and progression. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper considers influences on the contemporary school curriculum in England. It does so mainly through a critical analysis of one significant critique of the curriculum made by the think tank Civitas in their collection of essays asserting the 'corruption' of the curriculum, published in 2007. The paper places the Civitas position in a wider perspective. It then focuses on one subject critique in particular - geography - drawing from a wider selection of writings which attempt to show the distortion of school geography under pressure from 'good causes' such as global citizenship and sustainable development. The main conclusions of the paper are that whilst the Civitas position takes a rather restricted view of subjects which denies how the discipline has developed in recent years, there is nevertheless an important point for teachers, as curriculum-makers, to note. However, the role of the subject disciplines in the school curriculum continues to evolve. The disciplines, not least geography, are far less static than the Civitas position appears to suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the leisure narratives of three individual women who attended pole dancing classes once a week in a city in the North of England. The research was based on participant observation of pole dancing classes and individual interviews with 15 women, nine of whom were students and six were teachers. This paper uses the pole exercise classes as a departure point for an examination of how the women negotiated the time and cost, and how they motivated themselves to continue attending despite various difficulties which they faced such as childcare, pressures of work, unsupportive partners, or just general lethargy. A key part of the overall experience was the sense of achievement that they managed to attend at all. What added to the enjoyment of the experience was the sense of triumph that, yet again, they had overcome the odds and managed to attend, illustrating that for the women who somehow endeavour to find a way to attend, 'finding a way' is itself part of the pleasure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary modern schools form the focus for this paper, which explores an aspect of this topic that has received comparatively little attention: the role of external examinations in determining the character and fate of these schools during the 20-year period when they educated the 'large majority'1 of pupils in the 11 to 15 age range. Particular attention is paid to the pivotal role played by external examinations in secondary modern schools' quest for parity of esteem with grammar schools. Various functions performed by external examinations are considered and it is shown that, while some worked against the interests of secondary modern schools, individual schools were able to turn others to their own advantage. The paper ends by considering a darker side to examining, which was asserting itself as this brief period of history drew to a close. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explore how we may best understand the relationship between teacher identity and national culture. Using Raymond Williams' concept of 'structure of feeling' as a starting point, it is suggested that creative cultural forms of representation of teachers may complement social scientific studies to give a more complete and richer view of these matters. The paper focuses on England and Scotland, and has three substantive parts. First, consideration is given to the depictions of teachers in fictional literature from Scotland and England. Second, consideration is given to the range of methodologies that are deployed by sociologists in their consideration of teachers. Thirdly, the author draws on his own studies of teachers in both countries, to assess whether these throw any further light on questions of identity and culture. The concluding discussion argues that the complexities of the interplay between history, culture and identity are such that any single approach is unlikely to provide a broad understanding and therefore it is desirable to draw from different forms of enquiry in seeking to make sense of teacher identity in a national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]