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This paper reviews the research on successful school principalship carried out in England over the last 20 years. Drawing on evidence synthesized from the International Successful School Principalship Project (ISSPP) and related English school leadership research conducted by ISSPP scholars, this review aims to answer a conceptual research question: How do the principalship's moral purposes and contextual understanding shape the time-sensitive, informed adoption of combinations and accumulations of strategies that lead to sustained school success? This paper identifies five research insights derived from case studies in England and elaborates on the complex, values-led layered web of interactions between the school principal and key stakeholders within and outside the school in the context of frequent social changes and policy interventions in England. Whilst the pace has been greater and more intense than in many other countries, the direction has been, and remains, similar. The body of scholarship here reviewed engages with national policies as filtered and then enacted by successful principals. While 'effective' principals lead to students' success as measured by performance on national tests and examinations, our focus is upon an empirically founded definition of 'successful' school leadership that is located in complexity theory and encompasses the enactment of the core purposes of education that include but go beyond the functional. In doing so, it avoids 'what to do' formulae and the limitations of certain theoretical 'leadership' models, finding that successful school leaders' work embodies a broader humanistic view of student learning and achievement, which implies the preordinance of the personal over the functional. Taken together, these research insights contribute to the ISSPP's continued effort to refine and advance the knowledge base of successful school leadership within and across different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a national survey of over 3400 teachers across all phases of education in England, 10 weeks into school closure. In this paper we report on the teachers' experiences and their testimonies of the effects of the lockdown on their wellbeing as they navigate the situation, trying to cope with teaching and adjusting to the use of new technology to deliver lessons in the confines of their home. We present their voices as they related their experiences and emotions in real time as the event unfolded. Teachers reported an increased workload with a proportionately large amount of time spent on administrative duties and planning, but less on actual teaching. On average, these teachers spent 15 h a week marking during the lockdown. Under half of the respondents said they felt happy and cheerful often, while only 17% said they did not feel this way often. Almost all teachers said they felt that what they were doing was important and worthwhile. The most common emotions expressed by teachers were fear, isolation, neglect, anxiety, and confusion. The inconsistency and lack of clarity of government guidelines added to teachers' anxiety. The negative media portrayal of teachers did not help. The majority of teachers reported little previous experience in online teaching and only a quarter were confident in using edtech to deliver remote teaching. Only a third of teachers said they were adequately supported for online teaching. This has implications for future teacher development and initial teacher training. However, there were equally numerous positive experiences reported by teachers. Active support from parents and consistent school-home communication were seen as important in ensuring students' continued engagement with learning. These lessons are beneficial in supporting the long-term sick and school refusers post-lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England, there are proportionately more White British teachers than White British pupils, and so there is a mismatch between the proportion of teachers and pupils of each ethnic minority group. This mismatch may reduce the number of appropriate role models for some pupils and has been linked to differences in school processes and the behaviour and treatment of ethnic minority pupils. The evidence is weaker regarding any link between ethnic disproportionality and attainment. This paper uses school-level school workforce and pupil attainment data to assess this link. The results are presented as correlations between teacher/pupil characteristics and attainment scores at ages 11 and 16 and as regression models predicting attainment scores using teacher/pupil characteristics. There is no evidence here that ethnic (dis)proportionality is linked to discernible differences in pupil attainment once relative poverty is taken into account. However, as the data are linked at the school level rather than the individual level, we cannot separate the attainment of pupils of different ethnic origins, and the ethnic classification for teachers is simply binary. We are working to overcome these data limitations and hope to present future analyses based on individual data with more detailed ethnic groupings to provide a more definitive result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presenting the results from a mixed methods case-study, this paper draws together insight from the fields of 'BME attainment' and 'student transition' to explore how differential levels of degree attainment might be experienced within the context of a higher tariff university in England. Across a five-year period (2010/11–2014/2015) it compares the levels of degree attainment between UK-domiciled White and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students in relation to prior attainment, qualification type, and socioeconomic group (POLAR 3). A range of qualitative data then outlines a series of dynamic factors that can, when compounded, serve to constrain BME students' capability to negotiate their way through very particular university landscapes. These include: academic expectation and preparedness; the pedagogic terrain; pastoral engagement and sense of belonging finance; and, the lived experience of diversity and 'othering'. The paper argues that attainment gaps should not be viewed in terms of an individual deficit that needs to be 'fixed' or 'filled'. Instead, greater attention needs to be directed toward enhancing the capacity of higher tariff universities to respond positively to the needs of a changing demographic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home education is a phenomenon that has been increasing globally over the past decade, particularly for families of children with special educational needs or disabilities. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this phenomenon with many families continuing to home educate even after their children can officially return to school. This paper reports on a small-scale design-based research project that explored the needs of families who are home educating children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Working in partnership with educational settings, practitioners, and families during the second year of the pandemic, academic researchers in Malaysia and England designed, implemented and evaluated a home learning pack for children with ASD aged 6–12 years old. The findings emphasised the role of economic, social and cultural capital for the families involved and how this impacted their ability to work and educate their children successfully. This raises crucial questions in relation to the place of home education within the wider international inclusive education debate and matters of social equality whilst also highlighting key questions for future research in this field on how policy and provision might develop to meet a growing diversity of need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic caused fundamental shifts in schools' and teachers' practices. At the start of the pandemic, forty schools in England were in their second year of participation in a pilot initiative intended to understand what changes could be put in place by schools in order to implement an entitlement for teachers to high-quality, sustained professional development. This paper explores the impact of COVID-19 on the participating schools' approaches to professional development. Drawing on findings from the independent evaluation and school leaders' experiences of the initiative, it describes how, before the pandemic, school leaders constructed professional development plans in alignment with school improvement objectives and address individual teachers' professional learning needs. During the pandemic, after an initial de-prioritisation of professional development, plans were adapted to new professional development ecologies in schools. Professional learning activities moved to online, hybrid and blended environments and new activities were added in response to emerging teacher professional learning needs. This study demonstrates how schools' plans for teacher professional development can, even in the most extreme conditions, be reshaped and adapted to changing circumstances and adds to the growing body of knowledge of online and hybrid professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding people's perceptions of teaching as an occupation, and their motivation or otherwise to teach, can help identify which initiatives/policies are most promising in improving teacher recruitment. Previous studies have often sought only the views of teachers/teacher trainees to understand why people choose teaching as a career. Recruitment strategies based on evidence from such research are therefore only appealing to those who are already interested in teaching. It is the views of those who might otherwise have gone into teaching that can provide better clues to what we can do to get more people into teaching. This paper compares the views of 4469 undergraduate students and 788 trainee teachers in England. Our analysis goes beyond the usual approach by comparing young people completely uninterested in teaching, those who considered teaching but rejected it, those intending to be teachers, and those already in training. Our study found little or no difference between prospective teachers and others in terms of generic career drivers and the attraction of financial incentives, although prospective teachers tended to have lower levels of qualifications and to come from less prestigious occupational backgrounds. However, those not planning to be teachers are much less concerned about teachers' workload, suggesting that this is probably not a great deterrent for those considering teaching. Compared to those who intend to be teachers, those who have considered but rejected teaching are less likely to view teaching as intellectually stimulating. They are least likely to see teaching as a high-status profession, offering good promotion prospects and job security. Policies to improve recruitment need to make teaching more attractive to the second group by addressing these issues. Additionally, these policies should be distinct from policies to retain existing teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing efforts to improve their access, students facing socio-economic disadvantages are still underrepresented in UK higher education. In this paper, we study whether behavioural nudging with information provision through text messages, embedded within a larger programme of widening participation activities, can be effective at increasing higher education application rates. We conducted two randomised control trials in which final year students in schools and further education colleges in areas with low higher education participation rates in the East of England region received a series of text messages that prompted thinking and/or action regarding the process of applying to higher education. We find null and statistically insignificant effects on application outcomes, suggesting that behavioural nudging in a setting where it is implemented as part of a more intensive widening participation programme is not effective at increasing higher education application rates. These results add to recent evidence regarding the potential impact of nudging in education by studying such interventions within a busy intervention space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a global trend towards the use of market-driven approaches as a strategy for educational reform. However, this is creating new barriers to the promotion of equity in some countries. Focusing on England as an extreme example of this approach, this paper points to some possibilities for addressing this concern. It reports findings from a series of studies in high poverty contexts in England. These studies have typically involved local educational practitioners and university researchers working together in ways designed to support equitable developments. Lessons from these experiences are identified for market-driven systems internationally. They suggest that to create more equitable arrangements, schools need to work together, and with other organizations, both within and beyond their local areas. They also point to the value of surfacing and using the rich experiential and contextualized knowledge held by practitioners to inform these collaborative developments. Acting on these lessons would mark a significant shift for systems whose current emphasis is on schools working competitively and in isolation, often to the detriment of disadvantaged children and young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper charts the recent history of the STEM Learning UK contracts with local Science Learning Partnerships (SLPs) and identifies what leadership has been made available to support the Early Years and Primary school sector. A case study approach is taken using 'Super SLP' hubs in England. Curriculum Hubs exist in core subject areas such as maths, English, science and computing. They have recently been expanded to include Behaviour Hubs. This forms the current DfE strategy of Teaching School Hubs (TSHs), i.e., to offer system support and a full career-length support for all stages of teacher-career and leadership development. This paper charts the changes to the Early Years (EY) and Primary teacher support networks, in science particularly, and examines what they provide and how this can be improved, and discusses, through session evaluation and feedback, what teachers have appreciated the most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents and explores the experience of maths students studying in a context shaped by a core concept maths curriculum. The three vignettes that illuminate experience are drawn from a larger research project that worked with five teachers and 630 learners aged 16–18 in Further Education classrooms in England. Analysis involved distinguishing different understandings of being good at maths, different views of a good maths curriculum and identifying enablers and barriers to being a 'successful' maths student. Dewey's ideas about focused experience and collateral learning were used to deepen this analysis. The paper reports a surprising finding. In some cases, students recognize the positive impact learning maths had on developing their wider human capabilities. Maths teachers in England, working in the context of 'new public management', may find reasons to take heart from the accounts of teaching and learning presented. For the international reader who is grappling with the challenge of reengaging maths students, the accounts of what matters to students could spur a reconsideration of priorities and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a summative editorial from the journal Education Sciences. It discusses the concept of human capabilities development as a means to promote educational opportunity and social well-being within democratic and authoritarian nations. The editorial compares different contexts for human capabilities development, examines policy developments and outcomes, and proposes university practices and partnerships to promote capabilities development. The document also explores the use of databases to inform policy development and highlights the importance of equitable data collection. The editorial includes case studies from various countries, including Brazil, England, China, and the US, to illustrate the potential of the human capabilities framework. [Extracted from the article]

We developed and trained a prototype AI-based object-recognition app, blockplay.ai, to recognise Cuisenaire rods placed on a tabletop, and speak the rods' lengths. We challenged 6-year-olds in a primary school in England to play a 'game': can you make the app say the two times table? Drawing methodologically on theories of embodiment, we analyse two videoclips, each of a child interacting with rods, the app and the task set by the researchers, as a dynamic, complex child-rods-app-task body-artefact system. Theoretically we draw on Davydovian concepts of learning as a concrete-to-abstract-to-new-concrete cycle, using abstract artefacts such as mathematical language to coordinate new perceptually-guided actions on concrete objects. In one videoclip the child's pattern of actions are consistent with a change, within a few minutes, from perceiving and acting on rods as counters, to perceiving and acting on rods as lengths; in the other videoclip, this does not happen. We analyse the changes in patterns of interactions as shifts to new stable attractors in a dynamic child-rods-app-task body-artefact system, driven by tensions generated by unexpected concrete-to-abstract relationships. We end by looking forward to the range of possible uses of object-recognition technology in the learning of mathematics, for example, provoking algebraic awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A priority area identified by the Department of Education (England) and the Economic Social and Research Council is the development of teachers, especially in primary music education where the limited opportunities for training offered by teacher training providers have raised concerns. This paper reports on an evaluation of a collaborative partnership training of non-specialist teachers, using a Kodály-inspired pedagogy to teach music in a classroom setting. Participants included 54 teachers (and 1492 pupils, aged 5–6), selected from 55 schools, as part of a large randomised control trial (RCT) in the north of England. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that was conducted alongside the RCT, but which was not part of the RCT itself or the RCT's implementation and process evaluation. Results from the study, which include a pre-post survey of teachers, focus group interviews and reflective journals, suggest promising effects on teachers' pedagogical skills, their self-efficacy and competence, and children's self-confidence and disposition for learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent quantitative research on bilingual education suggests beneficial academic outcomes for pupils regardless of socio-economic status (SES). Bilingual education in England, a relatively novel phenomenon, may be better understood from teachers' perspectives; however, there is a paucity of qualitative research in this area. To fill the gap, the present study explores the unique perspective of a sample of bilingual schoolteachers regarding the children who attend bilingual schools and the effects of bilingual education on children's academic and non-academic development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six bilingual schoolteachers, and thematic analysis was adopted to interpret their experiences in greater depth. A thematic analysis revealed four superordinate themes: Academic and Socio-Cultural Effects, Privilege in Bilingual Education, Bilingual Education Takes Time, and Special Educational Needs. These results highlight academic, socio-cultural, and linguistic benefits with important implications for promoting equity in bilingual education. Further research should focus on schools with a higher proportion of students from lower socio-economic status backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rurality is rarely integrated into analyses of educational inequalities and this article presents an alternative perspective on rural–urban attainment and highlights the impact of rurality on educational outcomes. The traditional narrative of urban–rural educational disadvantage is that urban pupils do less well in the English exam system. Decontextualised data across different English exam performance measures demonstrate how rural pupils outperform their urban counterparts. Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has the most significant impact on attainment and this analysis explores the rural–urban attainment gap through this SED lens. An analysis of the Department for Education (DfE) data explores possible factors that might explain the emerging rural educational gap and presents an argument that rurality is another limiting factor that intersects with SED. This article demonstrates how rural underachievement in England has been hidden by the relative sizes and SED distribution of rural and urban populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High quality Physical Education should instigate and support all learners to develop into a lifelong participant in a way which upkeeps their own health, fitness, and well-being. There are, however, an ever-increasing number of children who drop out of participating in physical activities at the earliest opportunity, leading to an increase in sedentary lifestyles and a rise in childhood obesity. It is evidence such as this which indicates Physical Education, specifically in England, is not currently appropriate for all and requires change. To attempt to make the subject a more positive experience for all and to inspire lifelong involvement, varying the curriculum and including alternative activities for pupils might tap into useful wider cultures. This paper discusses the emergence of alternative sports, the challenges and synergies of implementation, and focuses on what could work and why. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Less than 20% of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff members working in British early childhood centres agree that the inclusion of all children is an essential part of their working agenda, as they feel unqualified to take care of children with complex SEN or disabilities. This study makes a novel contribution by drawing on data compiled from a one-year ethnographic study which addressed the in-service learning experiences of seven teaching staff members that work inclusively. The participants included 2 classroom teachers, 1 SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator), and 4 teaching assistants from a preschool class that teaches 92 children between the ages of 3 and 4, located in a primary school in England. We explore what professional learning means for the participants' role, which professional learning opportunities are meaningful to them, and under which circumstances had been offered. This study not only does consider their opportunities for professional development on the job but also outside of work. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, artifact analysis, and ongoing participant observation over one academic year. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The results demonstrate that this case study offers a unique perspective of a microsystem that could be at risk due to a lack of awareness by leaders and administration. The study is divided into four themes that directly impact inclusive professional service-development practices: (1) challenges posed to continuous professional development by differing professional roles, (2) motives for in-service training: combining career, school, and authorities' interests, (3) promotion of meaningful professional development experiences by school, and (4) self-determined classroom motivated by respect and recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses data from students in England to pilot and validate an 'Attitudes to Science and Religion' instrument which explores secondary school students' perceptions of the relationship between science and religion, as well as their attitudes towards science and towards religion. This instrument was developed in part from previous studies and is intended for educators and researchers for both pedagogical and research purposes. The post-pilot questionnaire was then used with 1102 Year 9/10 students from 18 schools in England to answer two research questions: (1) Is there a relationship between students' attitudes towards science and their perceptions as to whether science and religion are compatible? (2) What are the characteristics of students who report that science and religion are compatible? Students who reported that science and religion were compatible had more positive perceptions of science and of their ability in science, were more likely to have future aspirations in science and showed more positive attitudes towards science education. There was no statistically significant difference between Christian and Muslim students in their responses about the compatibility of science and religion, nor about whether evolution and creationism should be taught in the science classroom. Muslim students were as positive as were Christian students about their science education and the benefits of science; however, they were less positive about the role of science in explaining the world. Students who reported science and religion as being compatible were more likely to hold religious beliefs than a belief in scientism. Implications of this research are that there ought to be a place for discussion about the relationship between science and religion within school lessons and that high quality discussion is likely to be fostered by developing students' critical thinking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English as a subject used to be assessed using course-based or portfolio assessments but now it is increasingly examined through terminal tests. Canada is an exception to this rule. This paper compares the way English is assessed in England and Canada and looks to the ways in which the kind of assessment undertaken affects the practices of English teachers both in the teaching of summative and formative assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are significant concerns for student mental health in higher education. New factors affect student mental health, and campus counselling services are overwhelmed. Struggling students turn to ideally placed familiar teaching staff for support. This qualitative study, conducted in an East of England university, aimed to explore student and staff perceptions of support offered by teaching staff to students grappling with their mental health. It is unique, combining both staff and student perceptions, many of which overlapped. Methods: A thematic analysis was conducted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a small number of self-selecting staff/students. Findings (results): Staff felt inadequate in several aspects, and students agreed to give useful suggestions for their preferred support. Conclusions: It was cautiously established that staff training in mental health literacy (knowledge, skills, attributes, and understanding) was required. Specific training was recommended in pastoral care for personal tutors and for staff pedagogy on health professional programmes. Finally, teaching staff needed support when supporting students with poor mental health. Such training and support can be integrated into a preventative, university-wide, holistic policy for student mental health commensurate with the University Mental Health Charter. Embedding such supportive practice into the curriculum is preferable to add-on services and/or interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Mastery' is central to current policy in mathematics education in England, influenced by East Asian success in transnational assessments. We scrutinise the prospects for mastery pedagogies to improve pupil attainment in English primary schools. The Mathematics Teacher Exchange (MTE)—an element of the mastery innovation—involves teachers visiting Shanghai and then hosting Shanghai teachers in their schools. Informed by programme evaluation, core component practices are analysed, which were implemented by schools belonging to the first cohort of MTE schools. These consist of: varied and interactive teaching; meaningful and coherent mathematical activity; and full curriculum access for all. These elements are supported, optimally, by collaborative, embedded, and mathematically focused professional development. Details of the implemented pedagogy and forms of professional development are reported. Differences from prevailing practice in primary mathematics in England are highlighted. Evidence is reviewed from quasi-experimental trials, reviews and meta-analyses, and rigorous observational studies of the efficacy of practices similar to the MTE mastery pedagogy components in order to assess the prospects for increases in pupil attainment. The analysis suggests that many of the specific practices, if considered individually, have the potential to improve attainment, though overall policy ambitions may not be realised. Based on the review, component practices are identified for which existing evidence justifies immediate implementation by schools and teachers. In addition, practices that would benefit from further testing and evaluation are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we compare interrelations between institutional settings and regional provision structures of continuing higher education (CHE) in England and Spain. The aim of the qualitative analysis is to identify and to compare country-specific linkages between national and regional policies, legal and financial regulations and their impact on providers, types of provision and target groups of CHE at the regional level. Theoretical assumptions of educational governance, environmental neo-institutionalism, and the sociology of conventions guide the analysis, based on expert interviews in England and Spain. Our research questions are: What modes of coordination of action to provide CHE are caused by national and regional regulations in England and Spain? How are these actions justified, and how do they influence regional CHE provision types and target groups in both countries? Interview-based findings show that national and regional regulations embrace hybrid modes of coordination of action regarding CHE provision in both countries. Specifically, centralised national policies in England and a mixture of centralised and decentralised legal frameworks in Spain impact regional CHE provision by universities, as does the scope of university autonomy in both countries. However, national frameworks only explain regional disparities in CHE provision to a limited extent. Less formal normative dimensions and social orders of university orientations and labour market demands also influence regional types of provision, concepts, provider cooperation, and adult CHE learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how digital spaces focused on whole school improvement combined with supportive leadership may be mobilised towards building collective capacity for evidence-informed practice and organisational learning. This topic originated from a qualitative, multi-method design-based research (DBR) project that studied practitioners' use of an online resource for primary school practitioners called Pathways for school improvement, designed by Oxford University Press (OUP). Semi-structured interviews, participant observations and a documentary analysis were conducted with teachers and senior leaders in five primary schools across England between 2014 and 2016. Connections were made with the dynamic approach to school improvement (DASI) that encourages practitioners to systematically engage with a variety of evidence in their reflections and efforts to design school and classroom improvement strategies. Pathways' four-step system and series of systematised tasks under each step seemed to provide opportunities for practitioners to explore elements of theory and practice in conjunction with empirical and pupil performance data, and potentially guide them through how to collaborate with others in developing specific whole school approaches to improvement. Opportunities and challenges in developing collective capacity for improvement are also explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the potential for a one-to-one coaching tool used by adults other than teachers to be able to deliver greater mathematics progress for primary school children without adding significantly to school costs. Plus 1 and Power of 2 (+1 and Po2) are workbooks designed to be used by adults other than teachers working on a one-to-one basis with children to develop numeracy skills. This quantitative study seeks to examine the impact of +1 and Po2 by considering performance data aggregated at the school level. The attainment of children at 1071 English schools which use the +1 and Po2 products was compared with that of peers in other schools using a quasi-experimental research design based on England's national performance measures. Statistical analysis suggests that schools using +1 and Po2 show higher levels of mathematics attainment than those who may have used other resources. Furthermore, there is an important finding that assessment attendance is higher, and disapplication from the curriculum lower, in schools using +1 and Po2. This indicates that use of this one-to-one intervention improves access to national tests for children and represents an opportunity for school leaders to maximise the cost effectiveness of existing non-teaching staff or volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism affects over 2% of the school population in England. Education has proven to be an effective intervention strategy that improves the quality of life of children with autism and their families. However, governmental austerity policies have increased disadvantage in coastal areas of England with a detrimental impact on people with disabilities. This qualitative study explored the lives of families living with autism in rural coastal England. Mothers, fathers, grandparents and young people from 21 families living with autism in West Norfolk and Cornwall shared their experience through semi-structured interviews that were conducted in early 2019. Families identified positive and negative aspects of living in these areas, including barriers preventing access to and inclusion in education. Barriers were related to poor infrastructure, sparse specialised services (resulting in diagnostic delay and difficulties), limited autism awareness, lack of trained professionals, and the impact of austerity across health, social care and education. Families' struggles are amplified by the intersectionality of (a) autism-specific needs, (b) physical distance and small-community life related to rurality and (c) the seasonal and peripheral nature of coastal life. Access to education for children with autism in rural coastal areas of England could be improved by acknowledging and addressing the intersecting factors intensifying their marginalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article centres upon experiences of supervising practitioner-researchers engaged in the first year of a Customised Master of Philosophy (MPhil) programme of study. This pathway resides within a larger collaboration between the University of Sunderland's Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT) and the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) delivering a National Practitioner Research Programme (PRP) in England. It takes as its starting point how non-traditional research students from the further adult and vocational education (FAVE) sector experience entry into the programme and their subsequent development of scholarship and research skills as they pursue their studies at research degree level in higher education (HE). Using six guiding principles underpinning the PRP as a framework for analysis, illustrative stories of the experiences of supervisors and research students provide insights into ways in which supervision is enacted. Some key characteristics of supervision practice are described. These often bring to light differences between supervision on the Customised MPhil with that of conventional MPhil programmes. The most striking finding supports how the development of collaborative and cooperative practice helps to shift the customary dynamic of research degree study away from isolation towards a shared experience as members of an inclusive and active research community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the background to and rationale for a practice-focused model of educational change and improvement. In contrast to autocratic top-down models, this democratic and pragmatic approach begins with the educational concerns of teachers. In this model, responsibility and accountability for educational improvement is shared between policy professionals, the university team and sector practitioners. Contributions from the literature explore the question of the nature and purpose of educational practice; how concepts of educational practice influence curriculum design and content in programmes for the initial and continuing professional development for teachers of vocational education; and how these can enhance or inhibit the improvement of educational practice. Drawing upon case study examples from a national programme of university-supported practitioner research in England, results illustrate how this model offers insights into ways of increasing research capacity and achieving sustainable improvements in educational practice. It concludes that programmes of university-supported practitioner research, which encourage and enable teachers to engage in the systematic investigation of educational practice, can realize educational improvements which other approaches to educational evaluation and improvement (including external inspection regimes) struggle to do. It invites politicians and policy professionals to consider potential applications of this approach in other national systems of vocational education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]