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The period when the British Educational Research Association (BERA) was founded was one in which there was an increasing recognition amongst the research community that a wind of change had stirred up the settled traditions of educational research. It was a time which celebrated the promise of alternative paradigms for research. Ten or so years on we are entering another era where the emphasis is not on the reconceptualisation of what research is but on how it is organised. I think one can discern at least two factors, not wholly separate from each other, that will increasingly influence how a substantial part of research will be organised. These two factors are the changes which have taken place in the composition of the research community and the direction of current Government policy concerning the school system. I aim to show how these are leading to a fruitful form of collaborative research at local level which should be encouraged and supported—not least by BERA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between education, parenting and family through the prism and particularities of family learning. Family learning is an example of an educational initiative, primarily aimed at parents and linked to wider policy concerns, which can be explored through a mapping of its social geographies; family learning is played out across and productive of different sites, spaces and identities. Based on qualitative research undertaken in West London, this paper draws on individual and group interviews with mothers participating in family learning classes and interviews with family learning providers. The key argument we extend is that focusing on the social geographies of family learning - of home, school, work, community and nation - allows us to see how educational initiatives extend the state's reach in family life, producing particular normative versions of family and 'good' parenting operating at a range of interconnecting scales. Education remains a cornerstone of family policy in the UK and detailed analyses of specific initiatives at the point of implementation - how they are practiced and received - is vital for better understanding their diverse and varied effects in contemporary society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the quality of early childhood education and care accessed by 3- and 4-year-olds in England varies by children's background. Focusing on the free entitlement to early education, the analysis combines information from three administrative datasets for 2010-2011, the Early Years Census, the Schools Census and the Ofsted inspections dataset, to obtain two main indicators of quality: staff qualification levels and Ofsted ratings. These data are combined with child-level indicators of area deprivation ( IDACI scores) as a proxy measure of children's background.The paper finds that children from more disadvantaged areas have access to better qualified staff, largely because they are more likely than children from richer areas to attend maintained nursery classes staffed by teachers, and less likely to attend services in the private, voluntary and independent ( PVI) sectors. However, within both maintained and PVI sectors, services catering for more disadvantaged children receive poorer quality ratings from Ofsted, with a higher concentration of children from disadvantaged areas itself appearing to reduce the likelihood of top Ofsted grades. This may be in part because Ofsted ratings reflect levels of child development, and therefore reward settings where children enter at a more advanced starting point, but it may also be that it is genuinely harder to deliver an outstanding service to a more disadvantaged intake. The results point to the need for funding to support better qualified staff in PVI settings in disadvantaged areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the international problem of 'early school leaving', this paper explores the issue of sustained participation in upper secondary education in England. It focuses in particular on the position of middle attainers, who constitute a large proportion of the cohort and whose progress will be vital in realising the government's goal of 'Raising the Participation Age' to 18 by 2015. The paper draws on evidence from national research undertaken as part of the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training in England and Wales and analysis of New Labour and Coalition policy between 2000-2012. It uses a three-year local study of 2400 14- and 16-year-olds in an established school/college consortium to illustrate the effects of policy and practice on middle attainers. We argue that this important group of young people was 'half-served' by New Labour, because of its incomplete and contradictory 14-19 reforms, and is now being 'overlooked' by Coalition policy because of its emphasis on high attainers. We conclude by suggesting a range of measures to support the 14+ participation, progression and transition of middle attainers in the English education and training system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that direct control of the early years literacy curriculum recently exercised by politicians in England has made the boundaries between research, policy and practice increasingly fragile. It describes how policy came to focus most effort on the use of synthetic phonics programmes in the early years. It examines why the Clackmannanshire phonics intervention became the study most frequently cited to justify government policy and suggests a phonics research agenda that could more usefully inform teaching. It argues that, whilst academics cannot control how their research is eventually used by policy-makers, learned societies can strengthen their ethics policies to set out clearer ground rules for academic researchers working across knowledge domains and with policy-makers. A stronger framework to guide the ethical interpretation of research evidence in complex education investigations would allow more meaningful conversations to take place within and across research communities, and with research users. The paper suggests some features for such a framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing the demand for higher education has been a major concern of successive UK governments over the last 30 years. While initially they sought to increase demand, latterly the emphasis has been on widening participation to include demographic groups among which it has traditionally been low. There had long been an academic and policy interest in the drivers of demand, but an appreciation of the contrasting patterns between different geographical areas was relatively late to emerge. Little research has thus far focused on the extent to which demand within an area is a function of background factors with a spatial dimension. For example, while it is known that demand tends to be lower in deprived areas, it is not well understood what specific features of deprivation cause this. This paper reports the findings of a quantitative study using linear regression modelling to determine which localised factors played a significant role in the demand for higher education between 2004 and 2009 in English local authority areas. It concludes that attainment at 16, the proportion of working-age graduates and the ethnic profile are major explanatory variables, but that the nature of the local employment market also plays a role in explaining changes over time. Coinciding with other significant changes in the education sector, the abolition of the Aimhigher initiative in July 2011 marked the return of demand management back to individual universities, so the importance of spatial patterns in higher education demand are likely to be of renewed importance in coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how knowledge, education and research interact as the institutional structures that support them change. Many efforts at large-scale education reform depend upon the proposition that what counts as useful knowledge can be easily defined, without reference to the specific contexts in which that knowledge will be set to work. Yet ?useful knowledge' as it appears to policymakers does not always translate into ?useful knowledge' from the perspective of practitioners. Distance and context matter. Based on studies of the development of literacy policy in England under successive governments, the paper assesses the dislocations and divisions of labour that characterise the contemporary knowledge landscape and asks how the research community can continue to act for the common good in an increasingly crowded and contested education field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Britain, the years since the Second World War tend to have been presented as a period of revolution in primary education, as a time of dramatic changes. These have apparently occurred not just in educational practices but in the design of school buildings deemed necessary to accommodate these practices. This paper is a review both of the part which central government has played in encouraging changes in design, and of the supposed alterations in teachers' and children's behaviour on which such changes were said to be based. Consequently, in the review attention is focused on the relationship of the politics of education to architectural design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the difficulties with which the novitiate fieldworker is faced is the relative lack of publicly available accounts detailing the interpersonal aspects of the participant observer activity. It is therefore particularly welcome that in a recent article Woods (1977) calls for a greater recognition of interpretative research as adding a further dimension to the study of user perceptions. The specific purpose of this paper is to focus upon and then develop one particular aspect of that argument based upon the experiences of the present writer. Such experiences caution against a too uncritical acceptance of the proposal made by Woods. Other constraints defining the role of a teacher returning to carry out research in his previously natural habitat mean that he will not necessarily become ‘the participant observer par excellence’. The assumption made by Woods is that such excellence arises as a consequence of the researcher's terms of participation in the first instance being exactly the same as that now experienced by the present participants. However, the present writer's own experience of using a somewhat similar procedure does make such an assumption problematic. Nevertheless the writer should make clear his own belief that there is sufficient force in the proposition to warrant a serious consideration of interpretative modes of research as offering a fresh insight-into an oft-studied phenomenon. The great strength of the method is that ‘complete’ participation on the part of the researcher anchors him within the particular realities of the school. It is the experiential dimension of the research activity that informs and illuminates the theory. Certainly, Woods' own example relating to knowledge about the defence mechanism of the teaching profession is mirrored in the writer's own study of the relationship between subject identity and pedagogic knowledge in the secondary school. One conclusion arising out of this study was precisely that the teacher's subject identity may indeed constitute just such an example of an ‘ingenious and rhetorical defence mechanism’. Certainly it is used to permit only a restricted access to the pedagogic performance by those others (that is, outsiders) not sharing the same identity. Moreover, it was also illustrative of the ways in which changes in the research perspective may be reflected in parallel changes in the defence mechanisms of the approached group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to articulate our dissatisfaction with current thinking about attainment, in the hope that this may help us to see more clearly what ways of conceptualising attainment would be more useful. Thus most of the paper is devoted to demonstrating the inadequacy of psychometric and taxonomic ways of thinking about attainment, but towards the end we shall very much more tentatively suggest an alternative approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the strengths and weaknesses of Lave and Wenger's concept of 'legitimate peripheral participation' as a means of understanding workplace learning. It draws on recent ESRC-funded research by the authors in contemporary workplace settings in the UK (manufacturing industry and secondary schools) to establish the extent to which Lave and Wenger's theories can adequately illuminate the nature and process of learning at work. The new research presented here, which was located in complex institutional settings, highlights the diverse nature of patterns and forms of participation. Case study evidence is used to identify individual and contextual factors which underpin and illuminate the ways in which employees learn. The paper argues that whilst Lave and Wenger's work continues to provide an important source of theoretical insight and inspiration for research in to learning at work, it has significant limitations. These limitations relate to the application of their perspective to contemporary workplaces in advanced industrial societies and to the institutional environments in which people work. These complex settings play a crucial role in the configuration of opportunities and barriers to learning that employees encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A theory of language is outlined which emphasises the interactive nature of linguistic communication, and it is hypothesised that such interaction forms the basis for the child's acquisition of control of the language system. It is further suggested that differences in quality and quantity of interaction, in which meaning is negotiated in the shared construction of social reality, may be largely responsible for the 'linguistic disadvantage' which is the putative cause of the educational under-achievement of many children. The paper describes the way in which these questions are being investigated in a longitudinal study of the language development of a representative sample of children, based on regular observations of the children's spontaneous linguistic interaction at home and at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raising the attractiveness of vocational education and training ( VET) has been on the UK as well as the European agenda for some time, primarily for economic and social development reasons. However, little is known about the role of skills competitions in improving the attractiveness of VET. This study uses data from 110 interviews with WorldSkills competitors and their associates to examine the potential contributions of skills competitions to revitalise VET in the UK. Adopting the enhancement strategy we propose that the experiences of young people who have been internationally recognised for excellence in their respective vocations are inspiring for others. Such experiences have the potential to refocus the attention from a deficit model of VET to the level of excellence that can be achieved through competitions. However, the enhancement strategy in and of itself is not enough to raise the attractiveness of VET. To do so requires consistent policy efforts oriented on spreading excellence throughout the entire VET sector. The ultimate disruption of the policy cycle that perpetuates the existing vocational/academic divide may be achieved through a systemic approach that builds upon the examples of vocational excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education and parenting are popular topics on social media. In China, it is now common practice for parents to discuss and share education‐related information in WeChat, a premier Chinese social media app. In order to understand parents' educational aspirations in WeChat and the way parents fulfil their parenting responsibilities, this research used virtual ethnography to study a WeChat parents group named Little MBA. Focusing on parents' textual conversations and posts shared in the group, this article demonstrates how Chinese parents constructed their own image of British education to express their views on and aspirations for the education their children received in China. In Little MBA, three features of British education were constructed, including emphasis on character building, cultivation of entrepreneurship and influence of aristocratic education. In the process of presenting their version of British education, these parents were using Chinese notions like fuyang (cultivation with abundance) and qiongyang (cultivation with deprivation) to understand and reproduce the meaning of British education in their own context. Their constructs of British education were understood as a way to fulfil their parenting responsibilities transferred from the state. The ambiguous image of British education parents constructed, one that emphasised both traditional and neoliberal values, reflected the conflicting nature of parents' educational aspirations in contemporary Chinese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being entered for exams and reaching key educational thresholds, for example 5 A* to C grades (including English and Mathematics) at GCSE, are important markers of participation and success in secondary education. However, little is known about the prevalence and make‐up of children in care reaching these thresholds. Using secondary data analysis, we compared the proportions of children in care, children 'in need' and children in the general population who achieved four key thresholds, including exam entry and 5 A* to C grades, including English and Mathematics. We then focused on children in care and examined factors that predicted exam entry and achieving 5 A* to C grades, including English and Mathematics. Children receiving social care interventions were less likely than children in the general population to be entered for exams or to reach important educational thresholds. For children in care, several socio‐demographic, care and educational factors predicted their likelihood of success. No children with an autistic spectrum disorder or who had ever been permanently excluded were recorded to have achieved 5 A* to C grades, including English and Mathematics. Children with poor attainment at Key Stage 2 were also at significant risk of not achieving this threshold. Practitioners and policymakers should consider the modifiable risk factors for poor educational performance and be aware of groups of children in care who are at significant risk of not achieving a minimum standard which could open doors for their future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the response given by Lesley Saunders, a member of the General Teaching Council for England to the editorial "Interesting Times, and Interested Research" that was previously published in "British Educational Research Journal." Idea on the content of the editorial which run counter to the current education policy in Great Britain; Question on whether the policy could really change in response to research evidence; Presentation of the issues raised by Saunders.

This article summarizes and reflects on the findings related to pedagogy of two closely associated Department for Education and Skills (DfES) funded research projects: the Effective Provision of Pre-school Education (EPPE) and the Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY) projects. 1 The EPPE research project was a five-year longitudinal study funded by the DfES to follow the progress of approximately 3000 children, aged three plus, in 141 pre-schools across England. In addition to the range of quantitative data collected about children, their families and their pre-school centres, 12 effective pre-school settings (selection based on child developmental outcomes) were identified in the EPPE multilevel analysis for intensive, in-depth qualitative case study. The REPEY study provided an opportunity to extend this qualitative analysis further with both naturalistic and systematic observations, interviews and focus group discussions, and allowed the addition of two reception classes (selection based on professional judgement). Together, the studies provide a large-scale, sequential and explanatory mixed method research design investigating pedagogy in 14 Foundation Stage (the key stage for children 3-5) settings. The REPEY research has shown that the most effective pre-school settings (in terms of intellectual, social and dispositional outcomes) achieve a balance between the opportunities provided for children to benefit from teacher-initiated group work, and in the provision of freely chosen yet potentially instructive play activities. The analysis also shows an association between curriculum differentiation and matching in terms of cognitive challenge, and 'sustained shared thinking'. The evidence suggests that the better a setting does on each of these dimensions of pedagogic practice the more effective it will be. The most effective settings also adopt social/behaviour policies that involve staff in supporting children in rationalizing and talking through their conflicts. Profile of centres selected for in-depth case studies (plus two reception classes) Centre no. Type of provision No. on roll Some under 3s 017 Nursery class approx. 50 - 106 Nursery class approx. 40 - 214 Local authority day care approx. 60 yes 219 Private day nursery approx. 50 yes 225 Early excellence centre approx. 120 yes 306 Private day nursery approx. 90 yes 324 Nursery school approx. 120 - 401 Play group approx. 40 - 413 Private day nursery approx. 120 yes 417 Nursery class approx. 50 - 421 Nursery school approx. 100 - 426 Early excellence centre approx. 200 yes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the impact of Great Britain's General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) English examination on the performance of ethnic minority pupils and how it interrelates with the achievements of girls and boys. Results of the study by the Brent local education authority; Hypotheses on the effect of the differences between the initial GCSE English examination and English language O level.

The article focuses on systematic analysis and research about the personal qualities of the teacher and educational policy in Great Britain. The essential themes which emerge from the research are that there is a significant proportion of poorly trained teachers within the schools and that the personal qualities of teachers are a decisive factor in accounting for their effectiveness. The personal qualities of teachers are a salient factor which shape good teaching. Moreover, the research undertaken by academic educationists shows that any attempt to legislate on the personal qualities of teachers is fraught with difficulties and must be treated with extreme circumspection.

Editorial. Discusses developments in the periodical 'British Educational Research Journal,' (BERJ) as of February 2002. Procedures involved in selecting articles to be published in the periodical; Steps to become a member of the BERJ editorial board; Issues and articles published in the periodical.

In this article, we examine a case of innovation in curriculum and pedagogy at a new school in the UK. We begin by outlining the 3 Futures model, which we use as a methodological heuristic in the case study of the school that appears to be both knowledge‐led and learner‐engaged; characteristics of the Future 3 scenario. In considering the school's curriculum, we also draw on a number of concepts from the work of Basil Bernstein: classification, framing and the idea of open schools, and a curriculum integration model developed by us to consider the degree of epistemic emphasis in the school's predominantly interdisciplinary curriculum. Together, these concepts provide the means to examine the organising principles of practice operating in the school, as links are drawn between the 3 Futures model, Bernstein's concepts and the data. We theorise this as a form of 'opening up', suggesting that even within the context of an interdisciplinary curriculum, access to powerful knowledge may be maintained in a whole‐school approach where the demands of both knowledge and knowers are brought into balance. The school's approach and the theorisation we offer may provide insights for other schools embarking on a futures model for education and for twenty‐first‐century educational discourses more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experiences of home education for Gypsy and Traveller groups in England, UK. We argue that home education is perceived in a particular historical 'moment' characterised in the media and more generally throughout society by 'risk'. Against this backdrop this article considers Gypsy and Traveller experiences of home education and their relationships with local education authorities. Drawing on case study data with 10 Gypsy and Traveller families living on the south coast of England we argue that the marginal status of Gypsy and Traveller families exposes them to particular vulnerabilities associated with failure, incompetence and lack of concern regarding the education of their children. This is further heightened in present day 'risk society'. Drawing on the work of Ulrich Beck, we suggest home education is both a reaction to the risks associated with modernisation and also a perceived risk in itself when equated with issues of child protection and welfare. Despite maintaining community networks and longstanding traditions of home education, Gypsy and Traveller lifestyles are still perceived as being at risk within a 'moment' in which home education is under scrutiny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the redefinition and distribution of powers between central governance and local actors in English independent state-funded schooling. Earlier research on governance confirms the importance of the local and the school level in reshaping national-level reforms and steering policies. The research draws on data from interviews with national-level policymakers and an ethnographic school case study, thereby yielding contrasting views and perceptions of governance at the national level, and the day-to-day reality at the local level. The empirical analysis gives mixed results in that the national visions of innovative local practices seem not to be manifest at the local level. Despite the legal and financial freedoms granted to academy schools, the case academy is constrained by the national policy of steering by evaluation, namely inspection and testing, and the managerial practices of the sponsor. The article concludes that the real effect of academies is still under construction and meanwhile their space for action is strongly restricted by the tools of evaluation. As a more theoretical conclusion the analysis suggests that future analysis should concentrate more on action rather than structures and on evaluation as an embedded practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the experiences of Traveller children in schools. It uses data from two studies (one in Scotland and the other in England) to examine Traveller children's views about attending school (particularly in relation to their values and ambitions), their experiences of racism and prejudice and their views on how teachers perceive them. In our research, we draw from case study data to argue that despite public policy discourse around citizenship, the reality is one in which Traveller children continue to be viewed as outsiders. Due to this positioning, they do not enjoy the same rights as other children and they are not regarded as full citizens in the school environment. We argue that in order for schools to consider issues of diversity and inclusion, they must address ways in which Traveller children can be included as full citizens in schools, particularly in relation to their marginalised position in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) indicates a White British–Black Caribbean achievement gap at age 14 which cannot be accounted for by socio‐economic variables or a wide range of contextual factors. This article uses the LSYPE to analyse patterns of entry to the different tiers of national mathematics and science tests at age 14. Each tier gives access to a limited range of outcomes with the highest test outcomes achievable only if students are entered by their teachers to the higher tiers. The results indicate that Black Caribbean students are systematically under‐represented in entry to the higher tiers relative to their White British peers. This gap persists after controls for prior attainment, socio‐economic variables and a wide range of pupil, family, school and neighbourhood factors. Differential entry to test tiers provides a window on teacher expectation effects which may contribute to the achievement gap. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study uses longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study to show the extent to which episodic and more persistent poverty in early childhood and the lack of other family resources disadvantage children at the start of their school careers in terms of whether they have achieved the target indicator of 'good level of achievement' on the Foundation Stage Profile. Positive parenting is shown to be an important contributor to school achievement that matters for children, regardless of poverty experience or family disadvantage. It is also shown to be an important mediator in redressing the effects of poverty and disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been numerous attempts in the past few years within education research - and social science research more generally - to alter the character of research practice(s). In particular, there has been a systematic effort to address perceived shortcomings in research practice through a series of 'research-capacity building' initiatives, aimed at the restructuring of professional learning. In this article the authors explore empirically the ways in which different modes of professional learning are implicated in the social practices of education research. These considerations lead to the conclusion that the currently dominant approaches to research-capacity building are based on an underestimation of the difficulties in influencing the professional learning of educational researchers significantly and, thereby, changing the practices of educational research. More realistic expectations of these forms of research-capacity building, in turn, suggest the need to develop alternative approaches that acknowledge the exigencies of the current social organisation of educational research more fully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to explore pupils' preferences for particular types of grouping practices, an area neglected in earlier research focusing on the personal and social outcomes of ability grouping. The sample comprised over 5000 Year 9 pupils (aged 13–14 years) in 45 mixed secondary comprehensive schools in England. The schools represented three levels of ability grouping in the lower school (Years 7 to 9). Pupils responded to a questionnaire which explored the types of grouping that they preferred and the reasons for their choices. The majority of pupils preferred setting, although this was mediated by their set placement, type of school, socio‐economic status and gender. The key reason given for this preference was that it enabled work to be matched to learning needs. The article considers whether there are other ways of achieving this, which avoid the negative social and personal outcomes of setting for some pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pupil observation and educator–pupil discourse have recognised relevance within early years practitioners' repertoires, with long traditions of practice in England and elsewhere. Observation is now enshrined within the Foundation Stage Curriculum for 3–5 year-olds (England) (soon to become part of the Early Years Foundation Stage for Birth–5) and is advocated in fulfilling the Foundation Stage Profiling (assessment) requirements for individual children. This article begins by drawing on research by the author and on related research and theory to illustrate some complexities in learning processes in young children. The research has led to the development of an observation-interpretation tool—the Social Play Continuum. The Continuum, a tool to support the formative dimensions of observation, details progression in learning whilst the broader research has illustrated factors impacting on progression. An example of researcher–pupil dialogue is then analysed to consider the related dilemmas and potential of discourse within formative assessment. The article considers whether current policy development and documentation sufficiently recognise and encompass learning complexities and learner potential in young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the rhetorical work done by discourses of professional development in education. In particular it outlines the ways in which the rhetoric of technical expertise, competence and reflective practice are deployed to mobilise professional practices and identities in particular ways and position certain practices and dispositions as specifically professional. The article explores the ways in which audiences are mobilised and the strategies to persuade educators that particular discourses of professionalism are about and for them. This is illustrated through an analysis of a particular discourse of professional development for academics in the UK. The authors argue for and illustrate the illuminating potential of rhetorical analysis to an understanding of different practices of professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the UK, estimated grades have long been provided to higher education establishments as part of their entry procedures. Since 1994 they have also been routinely collected by awarding bodies to facilitate the grade-awarding process. Analyses of required estimates to a British awarding body revealed that teachers' estimates of candidates' Curriculum 2000 A level grades in the first year of awarding demonstrated an unprecedented degree of accuracy. Estimates of AS level grades conversely showed relative imprecision. Accuracy of the A-level estimates was most likely bolstered by feedback inherent to the modularisation of the examination while the weakness of AS level estimates may have been a consequence of the comparatively unfamiliar standard at which this qualification was set. As in previous research, and for both GCE qualifications, when estimates were inaccurate they were more commonly optimistic than pessimistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A school, like a nation, is a complex system existing in discursive rather than physical geographical space (other than as a set of buildings). The meaning of 'school' is therefore dependent on actors' perceptions, and these are dependent on factors apparently beyond the school. Research evidence relating to such perceptions comes not as data or phenomena, in the sense of observable behaviour subject to mathematical laws, but rather as phenomenographic fragments: pieces of described experience. Although numbers can be included in such descriptions, they are thus used qualitatively. Overall evaluative judgements about school ('good school'; 'effective school') cannot validly be derived from statistical models, however sophisticated, as quantitative data alone cannot capture the indefinable range of experiences relating to any particular school, particularly given a lack of absolute consensus about educational values. Research into the effectiveness of schools can thus have limited predictive validity, although reductionist approaches can certainly reveal strong specific correlations that it is tempting to regard as causes and effects, and that might be seen to endure over a period. From this perspective, given the lack of a firm evidence base, policy-makers with only a researcher's interest in any institution are less well placed to make decisions about particular schools than those 'on the ground' with more sophisticated (though still inevitably incomplete) understandings of local complexity. What is important about a school is how it is imagined by those who imagine it, among whom the policy-makers are inevitably a tiny constituency with very limited terms of engagement. Thus, the methodological argument becomes a political argument for decentralisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence that the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) has led to a sustained increase in literacy attainment, especially in reading, although recent international comparisons also suggest some additional issues regarding pupil performance in England. The relative success of the NLS may at least partly lie in the policy application of several complementary areas of educational research, a suggestion disputed by Dominic Wyse (this issue). However, his critical commentary is marred by important omissions, particularly of reference to debates about the teaching of reading and to the statutory status of the National Curriculum for English. His alternative suggestions on the use of 'child development' evidence lack methodological detail and are only partly formulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the meanings involved in the development and implementation of learning and teaching policies in higher education through a single institution case study in an English university. It draws on interview data collected from middle manager-academics, located in Schools, who are charged with implementing learning and teaching policies. Tensions and contradictions of practice emerged from a detailed analysis of the data identified through three closely related themes: centre/periphery, time and temporality, and disciplinary locations. The central theme, which frames the discussion of the other two, concerns relations between centre and periphery. The manager-academics identify themselves with the interests of their colleagues within Schools and use their position to mediate between central pressures and practice on the ground. Rather than identifying with managerialist practices, they rely on projected ideals of collegiality in their relationships with School colleagues. At the core of these experiences are differing conceptions of time in the centre/periphery relationship. Different experiences of temporality, tempo, and timing are explored from the manager-academics' perspective. There is considerable tension between time understood on the ground and the time-scales of central learning and teaching initiatives. The final theme concerns the organising role of disciplinary identities in articulating meaning at the periphery. Innovations appear rooted in disciplinary practice and some tensions exist between these and perceptions of educational theory and development. The article suggests that these contradictions and tensions might be a source of strength to the institution rather than having negative effects. It concludes with some reflections on the importance of time to the development of educational theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines three areas that are of central importance to the pedagogy of the National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching (FFT) at primary level: inspection evidence; school effectiveness (SE) research; and child development evidence. Analysis of national inspection reports on the teaching of English illustrates that these cannot be used as a reliable source of evidence. A focus on the claims made in support of an objective-based framework in SE research shows that there is very little evidence to support the particular use of objectives in the FFT. A synthesis of child development research in relation to language and literacy finds that the FFT does not adequately reflect the evidence. It is concluded that there is an urgent need for a formal review of the FFT.|spagf|ro|epagf| [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of selective education systems on pupil performance has long been a contentious issue, but the advent of national value-added datasets linking performance across key stages for the majority of pupils in England has enabled detailed analysis to throw some light on the issues. The main finding has been a distinct difference in Key Stage 3 test levels for pupils on the 'borderline' between grammar school and secondary modern school, even when prior attainment is taken into account. Possible explanations for this apparent 'grammar school effect' are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an argument on the effective teaching of lessons about the Jewish Holocaust in England and Wales. Perception of the children of Jewish culture and identity; Extent of students' appreciation of the commonalities between Judaism and Christianity; Awareness of anti-Semitism.

Presents the responses of students and tutors to an evaluation of a one week compulsory unit on gender in a secondary postgraduate certificate in education course in Great Britain. Response to the lecture in terms of content and presentation; School-based activities; Cross-curricular tutorials; Professional concerns; Traditional stereotypes held by students.

The debate over democratised school government continues and is particularly pertinent at a time when legislation is proposed which aims to significantly alter the system in favour of the parent interest. This article describes a research project, undertaken in Birmingham from 1981-1985, which investigated how a system of democratised primary school government, in which parents were prominent, was functioning after three years experience. The findings suggest that reforming governing bodies in this manner is an effective, acceptable and practicable reform. These bodies were achieving some success in liaising with, monitoring and supporting the school, but administrative and structural factors were inhibiting their influence. The system in Birmingham provides a creditable exemplar of a policy of democratised school government in practice and is able to offer a number of strategies and guidelines for those currently concerned with developing and improving policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses key issues concerning the characteristics of research in education in Great Britain in 1979. Key issues discussed include key improvements in British educational research, the emergence of new estates and cultures that have influenced the methodology and the manner in which educational research projects are carried out and the technical and methodological issues to be resolved to establish conceptual and technical research norms based on the recognition of educational criteria.

The article discusses issues in teacher research in terms of two distinct but related research fields, the action research and case study, in Great Britain. The author defines action research as a response to the gap between theory and practice within the educational research process and case study as a response to the methodological bias inherent in that process. In action research, the question of control centered on the relation between teacher and researcher while it focused on the relative status of the various methods used by researcher in case study. According to the author, the link between action research and the case study approach may be a significant factor affecting the style of classroom research in the country.

The mathematics achievement scores of 28,274 students in 1443 Australian, Belgian, English, Finish, French, German, Israeli, Japanese, Dutch, Scotch, Swedish, and US. elementary schools were correlated with, and regressed on socioeconomic status, highest math course taken, weekly hours of homework, interest in mathematics, and several other variables with both individuals and schools within each country as units of analysis. The results corroborate recent syntheses of small- scale studies of productive factors in academic learning as well as regression analyses of large-scale surveys. Among directly alterable variables, the amount and the quality or vigour of instruction including homework most strongly influence achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a series of surveys on youth training scheme (YTS) curriculum in further education in Great Britain. It provides more descriptive discussion about the differences between employer based courses and college based, special needs courses. Factors taken into consideration when conducting the survey were geographical location, occupational area trained for, type of college and unemployment rate in local area. Provision of education and training for the Youth Opportunities Program was based on the premise that the young people involved were likely to be different from further education's usual clients and would need different treatment. The results also show that many YTS teachers do not share the assumptions that used to be made about Youth Opportunities Program

The authors' evaluation of their experience of in-service education leads to a re-consideration of educational theory, the impact of research on teachers, the interaction between educational institutions, the function of peer-group learning, the expansion of school-based in-service education and the networking of curriculum development agencies. This experience provides an empirical and ideological basis for justifying school-based curriculum research. It suggests that models of the teacher as researcher can generate theories of education that will impinge more strongly on teachers and teaching, providing they are genuinely 'school-based'. Action research, in the context of school-centred, problem-solving approaches to in-service education, is presented as a productive way forward providing that different educational agencies recognise the value of applied research and development, appreciate the importance of small scale and co-operative research and understand that research outcomes may have more to do with sensitising individual teachers than shaping educational policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Junior school teachers' own assessments of pupils with special educational needs were compared with the children's performance on standardised tests. On the basis of test score and teacher opinion a selection of children was chosen for observation using a schedule designed specifically for this purpose. There would appear to be a pattern of pupil behaviour in the classroom that teachers tend to regard as more typical of the slow-learning child, though not exclusive to him. Where there is a divergence between teacher assessment and standardised test scores this discrepancy may possibly be accounted for in terms of the `slow-learner behaviour pattern' influencing teacher opinion. Teachers do appear to be aware of the behaviour problems of quiet, withdrawn children and seem to make a clear distinction between behaviour that is problematic to the child and behaviour that creates a discipline problem for the teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of recent studies have questioned the conclusion that 'schools don't make a difference'. A brief review of earlier studies suggests a number of key questions which would result in significant increments to our knowledge and understanding of issues of school effectiveness. More recent studies are then examined in the light of these criteria and, in turn, suggest some further questions. It is argued that the research base for any conclusions about school effectiveness is weaker than previously thought but that, in general, the findings from all the studies are fairly consistent. Some suggestions for reanalysing existing studies and for extending the range of questions addressed are put forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the strategies and techniques used in teaching in junior high schools in Great Britain. In one of the styles, teachers are sorted into groups whose description are defined in terms of the relative frequency with which their numbers use the categories of the observable schedule. Teaching styles were described using interaction analysis and questionnaires. The organizational strategy is directed towards assuring that each pupil is allowed the maximum opportunity for learning. It will depend on whether to teach the class as a whole or to organize group work or provide for individualized instruction.

The article examines the development of teacher-based techniques for observational research and classroom learning assessment in primary schools in Great Britain. Key issues discussed include a series of inter-related projects involving the study of pupils in their primary schools and their transfer to the next stage of schooling and the impact of certain patterns of teacher interaction on the behavior of students in the classroom and the manner in which these behaviors are related to educational achievement.

Three exploratory studies are reported which extend the work on approaches to learning carried out by Marton and his colleagues in Gothenburg. The main aim of the studies was to develop a questionnaire to investigate the way students approach the task of reading an academic article. Marton had distinguished between 'deep' and 'surface' approaches, and a coding procedure has been developed to obtain similar categories from questionnaires. These exploratory studies, while not producing statistically convincing results, did confirm the pattern of findings reported by Marton and suggest ways in which his explanatory constructs could be elaborated to take account of the styles of learning adopted by students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of homework research in Great Britain that is intended to serve as a basis for the identification of several vital methodological and conceptual problems and the stimulation of some interest in what has been a somehow neglected area of educational research. Key issues discussed include the relationship between various homework practices and the achievement of children at the secondary and primary school levels, as well as the issues' implications for educational research and education.