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This research set out to compare the quality, length and nature of (1) exam responses in combined question and answer booklets, with (2) responses in separate answer booklets in order to inform choices about response format. Combined booklets are thought to support candidates by giving more information on what is expected of them. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the use of combined booklets may encourage students to attempt an answer rather than write nothing. However, candidates may be wasting time if they write more in order to fill the space but this extra response is not worth extra credit. Questions from a geography AS-level past paper were arranged to form two subtests. Over 400 students each attempted one part of the test in a combined paper and one part in a separate booklet. Six students were interviewed after taking the test. Four examiners marked the scripts and completed coding sheets to record the length of responses and which of a number of options about the nature of the responses applied (e.g. Not enough depth, Evidence of 'gap-filling'/irrelevance). On both parts of the test, the mean total scores were found to be significantly higher with the combined paper than the separate booklet. The combined format often prompted longer answers and for most items elicited many more full-length answers. The combined format tended to encourage students to show their depth of knowledge and understanding, elicit fewer incidences of irrelevance (or gap-filling), reduce the frequency of good answers that were not concise and increase the occurrence of full, concise responses. The combined format gave students better information on what was needed and encouraged them to show their knowledge, understanding and skills more fully. This confirms the view that this format is preferable for exam papers requiring short to medium-length responses. (Contains 2 endnotes and 7 figures.)

The higher skills policy of the UK New Labour Government emerged from the recommendations of the Leitch Review of Skills, and was implemented in England between 2007 and 2010. The policy aimed to encourage higher education (HE) institutions to engage with employers and employer representative bodies to design and deliver HE provision that reflected the needs of employers. Using key policy documents and evidence submitted to a select committee inquiry, aspects of ambiguity and conflict in the implementation of this policy are explored. This focuses on three specific areas where disagreements amongst parties, or with government, were observed, and ambiguities of policy means and objectives. Although conflict amongst interested parties is evident, this was not extensive within the HE sector as the policy was not seen as relevant to all institutions. The demonstrable ambiguity enables the policy to be absorbed and made appropriate to the norms and culture of the HE sector. The experimental structure of the policy, while always ambiguous, lost its rationale with the change of UK government in 2010.

Framed within the fields of applied linguistics and language play, the writing of three attainment groups of 9-11-year-old children was used to investigate their use of ludic (playful) punctuation in the composition of an imaginative narrative. The scripts were from a larger repeat-design study of writing development that addressed a range of linguistic features. It became apparent that the scripts contained a range of language play features, including the use of ludic punctuation, and these were then systematically studied. A total of 71 stories were analysed to identify and categorise the playful punctuation that the children used in this writing task. A range of ludic punctuation was found, most notably in the use of quotation marks, exclamation marks and question marks. In contrast, the asterisk, interrobang, underlining, brackets and dash were used infrequently. There were clear differences between the attainment groups in the content and range of these uses. The findings indicate that 10-11 year-old children find that narrative writing offers a range of opportunities for creative and playful uses of punctuation, even though they were not prompted to do this. The findings also suggest that such uses -- like language play as a whole -- warrant further investigation.

This study aims to identify the literacy skills of individuals whose highest level of education was in the field 'teacher training and educational sciences'. The study sample comprised 10,618 individuals in the field of teacher training and educational sciences, selected from 31 countries (participating in the International Adult Skills Assessment Programme during the 2014-2015 survey) using a multi-stage sampling method. The study employed multi-level latent class analysis and three-step analysis in order to determine both the number of multi-level latent classes of educators' literacy scores as well as the selected independent variables' success in predicting those latent classes. The analysis revealed that educators in Germany constituted the group with the highest literacy skills while educators from Singapore comprised the group with the lowest literacy skills. [This study was presented at the 9th International Congress of Educational Research. Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey.]

This paper is a critical systematic literature review of empirical work on creative pedagogies from 1990 to 2018. It responds to the increased international attention being afforded creativity and creative pedagogies in research, policy and practice and examines the evidence regarding creative pedagogical practices and the potential impact of these on students' creativity. The methodology encompassed four stages. Firstly, an educational database keyword search was undertaken and 801 papers identified, manual searches added 12 further papers. Secondly, through applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 89 papers were identified for closer scrutiny; these papers focused on students aged 0-18 years in formal educational settings and were peer-reviewed reports of empirical work. Thirdly, these papers were subjected to in-depth review and rating, this reduced the included selection to 35 papers. Finally, these papers were subject to further analysis and synthesis. The findings reveal that seven interrelated features characterise creative pedagogical practice, namely generating and exploring ideas; encouraging autonomy and agency; playfulness; problem-solving; risk-taking; co-constructing and collaborating; and teacher creativity. The paper also reveals that the evidence for the impact of these pedagogical practices on students' creativity is inconclusive. It highlights the complexities and challenges of documenting creative pedagogies in the years of formal schooling and concludes with key recommendations and implications for research, policy and practice.

The purpose of this review study was to conduct a thematic exploration of prior studies related to the transition between primary and secondary school. The aim of the paper was to discover (1) the extent of earlier research, (2) how earlier research thematises social and emotional issues, and (3) suggestions of those studies concerning how to improve schools. Searches were conducted across four international databases of peer-reviewed research to identify articles published in the last decade on the topic 'transition between primary and secondary school'. Articles related to social and emotional issues were further selected, and thematic analysis was conducted on the selected 29 articles to identify the topical focus. This review study draws attention to the importance of understanding challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school. Overall, the analysed studies indicate that this is an important focus for educational research. Key issues related to support and wellbeing/bullying have emerged, which clarify the importance of further research in this field. The present study may also contribute to increasing awareness among policy makers and school leaders of the challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school.

The challenge of research methods teaching is gaining attention among policy-makers keen to build social science research capacity and, critically, among educationalists keen to enhance the pedagogy. This paper addresses pedagogy, presenting a new conceptual-empirical typology of pedagogy for social science research methods teaching. Taking a sociocultural perspective, pedagogy is seen as encompassing both actions and underlying values. A mix of qualitative methods was used to engage more than 100 methods teachers (plus students) from diverse UK and international contexts. An expert panel method and focus groups helped elucidate pedagogical knowledge. Video-stimulated reflective dialogue added detail to that knowledge. Thematic analysis was used to make sense of teaching practice with individuals and across the dataset. A typology of research methods teaching developed iteratively across this process, proposing the core categories of "approach," "strategy," "tactics" and "tasks." In-depth case studies helped to gain nuance and test the emergent typology "in situ." The paper argues that the typology contributes a dynamic tool for developing practice. It transforms the way we think about teaching and can be applied in any social science research method teaching context, benefitting the pedagogic community by enabling greater focus in planning and reflection.

This paper reports an original approach to family literacy in two UK men's prisons. Brief consideration of family literacy research precedes consideration of specific issues of imprisonment and literacy, and recent initiatives for incarcerated fathers. The significance of the study lies in the demonstration that theories of early literacy development can successfully be shared with imprisoned fathers, and related practices incorporated into the literacy-oriented family visits. A rigorous interpretivist approach highlights the importance of prisoners learning about children's early literacy development. Although the opportunity to see their children provides a strong motivation to enrol on the programme, the paper argues that the men's manifest engagement with the ideas and activities in the workshops and the literacy-oriented family visits indicate successful programme adaptation: primary success lies in influencing fathers' concern to support their children whilst incarcerated, though impact on their resolve to desist from crime and re-establish their fathering roles is also notable. Implications for policy and practices to enhance incarcerated parents' involvement with their children's developing literacy are discussed.

Neglected in policy and the public consciousness, Alternative Provision is the expanding putty of the education sector, working within the gaps left by other agencies to re-engage children. Yet to engage children, Alternative Provision must first engage families and home visits are crucial to this process. Often triggered by absences or safeguarding concerns, homes visits are inherently risky both to the safety of practitioners but also to the fragile trust that is built with families. Rather than being purely objective practices, home visits are deeply embodied, sensuous experiences: from the apprehension and neighbour-scrutiny of the doorstep to inside homes that are sometimes sealed, sometimes permeable, practitioners engage in 'way-finding' through room and histories, spaces of affective atmospheres made and unmade, crafted and destroyed through the interaction of people, artefacts and light. And here, improvising, practitioners craft their jobs as equally as they craft engagement.

Measuring the implementation fidelity (IF) or integrity of interventions is crucial, otherwise a positive or negative outcome cannot be interpreted. Direct and indirect methods of IF measurement tend to over-emphasize teacher behaviour. This paper focuses on IF measured by student behaviour collected through computers. Attainment was measured by the STAR test of maths (a computerized item-banked adaptive norm-referenced test). Implementation quality (IF) was measured by Accelerated Maths (AM) (an instruction-free personalized practice and progress-monitoring system in mastery of mathematics skills). Attainment data was gathered in the UK on 20,103 students in 148 schools, and of these implementation data on n = 6,285. Only a small percentage of pupils scored on five AM implementation indices at or above the levels recommended. Correlations between attainment and implementation indices were modest, but high implementation was positively correlated with high attainment. Socio-economic status did not appear to affect implementation or attainment. Implementation quality of AM is clearly a problem in the UK, and needs improvement. However, overall students still scored above average on attainment.

Since the turn of the century, there have been frequent expressions of concern about a perceived lack of creativity in UK schools, in both curriculum content and in teaching. Recently, as the emphasis on mathematics, science and technology has strengthened, serious concerns have also been expressed about the marginalisation of the arts and creativity in schools. In the light of these concerns, this paper reports in-depth, qualitative research into the pedagogies of practising artists experienced in working with young people and highly valued by the schools that employ them. We use the notion of "signature pedagogies" to argue that the artist-teachers adopted a particular stance and set of pedagogic practices that are coherent and distinctively different to those that are currently officially promoted in UK schools, and that this distinctive pedagogy enhanced both creative practice and engagement in the arts in the schools in which the artists worked. In this paper, we identify the signature pedagogies of the artists, theorise their stance and argue that the findings of our study provide a heuristic which can be valuable to all teachers who are interested in expanding their teaching repertoires and fostering students' creativity.

Concerns over the supply of highly-skilled (HS) science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) workers are well established and have been a feature of policy discourse in the UK for more than 50 years. Since the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, these concerns have been exacerbated by uncertainty about the movement of labour between UK and Europe. More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of STEM skills in a wide range of areas. However, despite continued government investment in initiatives to address these concerns, the evidence base for shortages is neither well-established nor compatible with economic theories of labour supply. In order to fill a gap in the current evidence, we report on a unique analysis following the career destinations of STEM graduates from the 1970 British Cohort Study. While only a minority of STEM graduates ever work in highly-skilled STEM jobs, we identified three particular characteristics of the STEM labour market that may present challenges for employers: STEM employment appears to be predicated on early entry to the sector; a large proportion of STEM graduates are likely to never work in the sector; and there may be more movement out of HS STEM positions by older workers than in other sectors.

The TLRP has provided a wealth of information that can form the foundation of conversations and debate for researchers, policy-makers and practitioners. This paper focuses on two of the issues raised by James and Pollard: (1) the methodology that they used to analyse and synthesise the learning from massive amounts of data into a coherent and defensible set of interpretations, in order to address large and important questions about pedagogy and learning and to share their learning broadly; and (2) the difficult issue of "Getting to the "spirit" of Assessment for Learning". (Contains 1 figure.)

The transfer of disability history research to new generation audiences is crucial to allow lessons from the past to impact the future inclusion and equality agenda. As today's children are the policy makers and the legislators of tomorrow, it is important for them to have opportunities to engage with disability life story narratives to understand personal experiences of disability and the social systems that influenced their construction through time and space. Through the embodiment and manipulation of these powerful narratives, children have the opportunity to challenge traditional perspectives of disability that may be disabling and oppressive. Such materials contribute to the making of an inclusive society by enabling children to craft mechanisms of intervention that can used to build resilience and resistance to barriers, and thereby generate social change. This paper examines how performance techniques can be used as a pedagogical tool to transpose new understandings of disability history and culture to school-based audiences. It builds on two previous projects: one focusing on life history narratives of three generations of disabled people, and the other exploring the potential for text-based disability narratives to move beyond text in interesting and creative ways. In so doing, this paper reports on a cross-disciplinary project which brought together academics (from performance and social science backgrounds), three performing arts secondary schools and disabled theatre performers. It presents qualitative evidence of how performance workshops delivered in three schools, by disabled performers, and stimulated by disability life history research, has the potential to increase disability awareness in the mainstream classroom and challenge negative disability stereotypes that influence how disabled people are made known in society.

This paper adds to a growing body of literature which views global citizenship education as part of a broader social and cultural process of subjectivity production. Rather than focus on global citizenship in relation to pedagogy or curriculum content, as much of the previous research literature has done, this paper examines it in relation to the practice of travel. Drawing on data generated in ethnographic fieldwork in two UK schools, the paper explores the way in which the young people in these settings used travel to position themselves as successful, mobile, global citizen subjects. The paper argues that these subjectivities were negotiated as part of a dynamic process: one which took place across multiple spaces, in a myriad of different relationships, and in the deployment of a number of different power relations. The paper concludes with some thoughts about the practice of school travel and how it might effectively be focused upon in future research.

Concerns about a shortage of highly skilled workers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) sector have been expressed frequently since the late 1940s. Although these claims have been challenged as being insufficiently grounded in evidence, they have formed the basis of policies directing considerable resources to STEM education, particularly in the university sector. This paper uses data from the Higher Education Statistical Agency from 1994 to 2010, covering more than three million UK graduates, to contribute to the existing research into the purported skills gap in the STEM sector. It examines their destinations six months after graduation to establish the proportion of graduates from different subject areas that enter graduate careers, with a particular focus on STEM graduates and highly skilled STEM occupations. The findings show that only a minority of graduates enter "graduate" positions within six months of finishing their degree and many find themselves unemployed or underemployed. Overall, STEM graduates fare little better than non-STEM graduates and while graduates in some STEM subjects fare slightly better than average, those with other STEM degrees fare worse than those with non-STEM degrees. The findings appear incompatible with a true shortage of potential STEM workers and raise questions about employers' expectations and the continued subsidisation of STEM degrees.

Those in the teaching profession are facing additional challenges when responding to cyberbullying due to the unique features of publicity and severity. Such features are known to negatively impact on young people's cyberbullying experiences. Teachers' views on publicity and severity of cyberbullying are currently unknown. The current research draws on data from 10 focus groups with 63 teachers (10 males) who taught across primary, secondary, and college educational levels in the UK. Reflexive thematic analysis identified three themes: (a) role of severity, (b) differential roles of publicity, and (c) bystander intentions. Participants discussed the role of severity, where visual acts of cyberbullying were perceived more severe than written forms, suggesting the type of cyberbullying is an important indicator in perceived severity. Participants acknowledged how cyberbullying can transition from private, semi-public, and public incidents, which influenced their perceived intervention strategies. Finally, levels of publicity were discussed regarding young people's bystander intentions, with public incidents of cyberbullying instigating positive and negative bystander intervention. The findings are discussed in relation to practical implications, especially the need to promote awareness for teachers on the issues of publicity and severity in cyberbullying.

Concerns about mental health difficulties in young people, mid-adolescent girls in particular, are on the rise. Many explanations ranging from peer pressure and bullying, to social media and gender inequality, have been offered for the rise in mental health problems. This study utilised data from the Millennium Cohort Study (Wave 6) to examine 14-year-olds' mental health and wellbeing in relation to familial and peer interactions, gender, socio-economic factors and social media use. Across measures of mental health and wellbeing, the findings showed that girls fared much worse than boys, particularly in experiencing negative feelings and low self-concept and life satisfaction and in self-harming. Teenage girls appeared to have become the new 'high risk' group. The findings from this study have implications for young people's mental health and wellbeing especially as seen through the lens of income and gender inequality. Given the current political concerns about young people's mental health, this study is hoped to contribute to an informed debate about individual wellbeing within a broader social milieu.

Educational researchers, like other academic investigators, are expected to carry out research in an ethical manner. This paper draws on the author's experience of conducting a research study related to social justice, which examines intergenerational dynamics and education amongst British Asian families. It discusses the importance of ethical considerations, and the need for reflexivity, throughout the research project. It highlights the problems of access and the ways in which they are overcome. Significantly the paper notes how researchers, who are ostensibly knowledgeable about the ways of life of the research participants, can still go into the research field with preconceived notions about these groups or individuals. Further, it shows how these researchers can be proved wrong, and can hone their research skills by learning from these experiences.

This paper makes the claim that student teachers' learning depends a great deal on the individual school department where they are working, its social practices and the relationships of the teachers involved in initial teacher education (ITE). The paper considers how using a Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) lens to view data generated on school ITE activity helps to focus vital social, cultural and historical dimensions of practice. The research uses an activity system as a descriptive heuristic to explore whether understandings of the object and tools of school-based ITE activity systems are shared. The findings illustrate differences in the kinds of teacher learning possible, afforded in relation to the ways in which the object of the ITE activity system was constructed, and the tensions that emerged in interaction with other related activity systems. The necessity of negotiating and renegotiating the system's object regularly is emphasised in order for collaborative work in ITE to be successful in helping create opportunities that develop teachers through expansive learning. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Historical amnesia besets the consensus that Britain faces an unprecedented "crisis of childhood", and of child well-being. Drawing on evidence about changing uses of instruments and measures of well-being over time, this article explores and critiques claims about historical change and trends over time that are central to the imagined crisis of childhood in both diagnostic and therapeutic terms. It argues that diagnostic labels about the state of children's well-being arising from changing methodologies and measures, and the therapeutic and pedagogical models they create, cannot be isolated from social conditions. This means that claims about a crisis of childhood, and the kinds of interventions that follow, require critical debate and cautious application. In the current climate of crisis, however, such reflection and debate are notable only by their absence.

This paper investigates the respective roles of substantive and procedural understanding with regard to students' ability to carry out an open-ended science investigation. The research is a case study centred on an intervention in which undergraduate initial teacher training students are taught the basic building blocks of procedural understanding. They are then put in the position of solving a practical open-ended investigation. We report on the detail of their approaches and draw on recent papers in which the data are subjected to analysis using Qualitative Comparative Analysis techniques. We conclude that having been taught about evidence has contributed to the successful performance of the investigation; that students' greatest improvement was in their understanding of ideas associated with datasets; and that students were able to apply the ideas to work more iteratively in response to data in the investigation. We consider the possible curriculum implications of this exploratory work. (Contains 5 tables, 4 figures and 3 notes.)

The linkage between the impact of assessment and compliance with children's rights is a connection, which although seemingly obvious, is nonetheless rarely made, particularly by governments, which, as signatories to the relevant human rights treaties, have the primary responsibility for ensuring that educational practice is compatible with international children's rights standards. While some jurisdictions are explicit about an adherence to children's rights frameworks in general policy documentation, such a commitment rarely features when the focus is on assessment and testing. Thus, in spite of significant public and academic attention given to the consequences of assessment for children and governments committed to working within children's rights standards, the two are rarely considered together. This paper examines the implications for the policy, process and practice of assessment in light of international human rights standards. Three key children's rights principles and standards are used as a critical lens to examine assessment policy and practice: (1) best interests; (2) non-discrimination; and (3) participation. The paper seeks new insights into the complexities of assessment practice from the critical perspective of children's rights and argues that such standards not only provide a convenient benchmark for developing, implementing and evaluating assessment practices, but also acknowledge the significance of assessment in the delivery of children's rights to, in and through education more generally. (Contains 1 table and 3 notes.)

This article aims to contribute to the development of frameworks for evaluating student voice projects in higher education by offering a critically evaluative account of two student voice projects. Although both projects had been underpinned by the principles of participatory (inclusive) research, one appeared to be more successful than the other in engaging students in a productive or meaningful way. In order to confirm and explain these perceived differences, this paper draws on both student voice and participatory research literature to identify two potentially useful evaluation criteria: reach and fitness for purpose. These criteria are applied to three project factors: aims and assumptions, processes and outcomes to produce an amplitude framework for evaluating student voice in higher education. It is argued that this framework has the potential to enable a rich account of the relative successes and failures of student voice initiatives in higher education.

This article explores the recent policy concerning the education of disabled children and young people, and the debate of special education versus mainstream inclusion propelled by Warnock. It argues that the formal and informal practices, designed by non-disabled adults, to facilitate the inclusion of disabled students in mainstream schools may be very similar to those which disabled students perceive as barriers to their full participation in mainstream education. This article presents empirical evidence, divided into three themes, to emphasise disabled children's individual perceptions and experiences of mainstream and special school, as well as their preferences towards both. In so doing, it suggests that disabled children are not a homogeneous group and constructing them as such often overlooks the diversity and richness of their everyday lives. Further, it highlights the importance of including disabled children and young people in developing policy that impacts their lives.

The interface between education research and education policy in the UK has been discussed, explored and redefined over nearly two decades since the "Education Reform Act" of 1988. This contribution analyses how one group of researchers, in the field of assessment, has attempted to exploit the potential for evidence from research to influence education policies in the UK. Using Levin's model of the elements of research impact as a starting point, it reflects upon the Assessment Reform Group's attempts to exploit the potential for academic research to influence policy and practice. It concludes by discussing how the interface between research and policy might be better conceptualized and how seeking to make research both usable and useful has implications for judging the quality of research in education. (Contains 1 figure and 2 notes.)

Critics of education research in the recent years have pointed the finger at what they saw as its low quality, impact, and "value for money." In the context of the Research Assessment Exercise, particular concerns have been raised about applied and practice-based educational research and how best to assess its quality. This contribution refines the ideas originally developed as part of a project commissioned by the ESRC in 2004 and completed in 2005. It argues that quality in applied and practice-based research cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of "scientificity," "impact," or economic efficiency. It proposes an account of quality in applied and practice-based educational research which encompasses methodological and theoretical solidity, use and impact, but also dialogue, deliberation, participation, ethics and personal growth. Drawing on Aristotelian distinctions between forms of rational activity and their expressions of excellence or virtue, our account emphasizes the synergy between three domains of excellence in applied and practice-based research: theoretical ("episteme"); technical ("techne"); and practical ("phronesis"). The thrust of the contribution is not to set any standards of good research practice, but simply to make progress towards recapturing a cultural and philosophical dimension of research assessment that had been lost in recent official discourses. (Contains 2 figures and 6 notes.)

This review and synthesis of relevant literature considers the nature of boredom and boredom proneness in general terms before focusing on how the academic boredom experienced by undergraduates at university is sufficiently different from other known types to warrant a unique and important field of study. Derived from within the literature itself, academic boredom is commonly presented as a largely negative and deactivating achievement-related emotion known to impact usually adversely on student engagement and performance. Tracing traditional as well as contemporary views from within psychology, which has tended to dominate the field, findings that remain largely quantitative and highly statistical in nature are exemplified alongside the more exploratory but mixed-methods and educational work recently conducted in the UK. A comparison of the questionnaire-based self-report instruments frequently used in data collection is also included. Rooted largely within Control-Value Theory, the implications associated with academic boredom are far from trivial, particularly with respect to understanding sites and triggers, how students respond and cope and how the overall quality of the student experience might be improved. Limitations in the work undertaken to date draw attention to opportunities for further educational and interdisciplinary research.

This article uses case study interviews to examine women's experiences in higher education. It focuses on career progression, support available for promotion and particular initiatives for staff retention. The findings suggest that whilst some progress has been made to support White and Black and minority ethnic women in their career trajectories, greater change is needed in order that inclusion is embedded within institutional frameworks and strategic plans. Furthermore, clearer evidence is needed by universities to demonstrate how they are meeting their legal equality requirements as specified by the Equality Act (2010). The mere presence of diversity and equality policies does not necessarily demonstrate that gender and ethnic inequalities are being addressed. Such policies may simply result in a 'tick box' exercise. In order to address such inequalities, issues of diversity and equality must be embedded within the cultural organisation of institutions which are identified in key objectives resulting in real outcomes and practice. Additionally, there is a need to consider intersectional identities and the impact of ethnicity on women's experiences in higher education.

Deriving from the authors' respective ethnographic fieldwork (around two decades in each context), this position paper considers experiences of education across two communities: Gypsy/Roma in the UK and Indigenous in Australia. The article brings together understandings across these traditionally nomadic communities, with no shared history or cultural connections other than nomadism, but with common experiences of exclusion, inequity, alienation and disrupted patterns of participation in formal education systems. Drawing on initiatives in recent years involving various Indigenous and nomadic groups, the authors suggest core notions that might underpin a culturally appropriate curriculum and pedagogy. They also propose amended conceptions of nomadism, allowing for recognition of challenges that persist even when nomadism is no longer integral to lifestyle. Rejecting policy positions that view inclusion as a solution, they outline the difficulties for youngsters, in each context, in seeking to inhabit two worlds with conflicting value-systems, and with contrasting beliefs about the ways in which children should be educated. The article identifies several cultural, socio-political and economic obstacles that are mirrored across each context, and argues for negotiated settlements between the state and such minority/marginal communities so as to enable an inclusive curriculum to be established that respects the cultures and aspirations of all communities.

Universities are increasingly making decisions about undergraduate admissions with reference to contextual indicators to identify whether an applicant comes from a disadvantaged family, neighbourhood or school environment. However, the indicators used are often chosen because they are readily available, without consideration of the quality of possible alternatives. A review of existing research literature to assess potential contextual indicators yielded around 120,000 reports, and 28 categories of indicators. Each indicator was assessed on the basis of existing evidence concerning its relevance, reach, availability, accuracy, reliability and completeness. Many possible indicators are not readily available, or accurate enough for use in practice. Indicators concerning individual circumstances are generally safer than area-based or school characteristics. There are some indicators for very small categories that can be used relatively un-problematically as long as the data can be made available at time of candidate selection. None of these is a solution to the more general issue of contextualised admissions. Having a disability or special educational need is clearly linked to lower attainment and participation but not for all categories. The most suitable general indicator is eligibility for free school meals (FSM), based on the number of years an applicant has been known to be FSM-eligible.

This article discusses the place of 'theology' in multi-faith Religious Education (RE) in English schools without a religious affiliation, highlighting reasons for its sometimes taboo-status, particularly since the emergence of Ninian Smart's phenomenological approach to Religious Studies in the late 1960s. The article explores a diversity of definitions of theology within specific professional and ecclesiastical discourses, and recasts recent debates by focusing not on whether theology and theological inquiry should contribute to so-called 'non-confessional' RE, but on how different forms of theology and theological inquiry might do so legitimately. In the process, the article challenges binary oppositions that have traditionally distinguished the disciplines of Theology from Religious Studies, and argues in favour of the application of various forms of theology and theological inquiry within a critical, dialogic and inquiry-led approach to multi-faith RE. What this might mean in practice is discussed with regard to three concepts: positionality, empathy and critique. Ultimately, multi-faith RE is characterised as occupying a liminal space betwixt and between disciplinary, interpretative and methodological perspectives involved in the study of religion(s) and worldview(s).

General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and General Certificate of Education (GCE) grading standards are determined by Awarding Bodies using procedures that adhere to the Code of Practice published by the regulator, Ofqual. Grade boundary marks (cut scores) are set using subject experts' (senior examiners) judgement of the quality of candidates' work, informed by statistics about the candidature and the mark distribution of the examination. This model has been called weak criterion-referencing: the requirement of (strong) criterion-referencing for evidence of specific knowledge, skills and understanding is relaxed to allow for variations in examination difficulty, requiring maintenance of only the general quality of examination performance. This paper considers the major conceptual flaw in this model--the fact that the examiners making the judgements have insufficient information to estimate quantitatively the relative difficulty of two successive years' examinations--as well as evidence demonstrating that experienced examiners are unable to distinguish between candidates' work within a small range of marks, as is required to set grade boundaries. Furthermore, examiners appear biased toward giving candidates the benefit of doubt when deciding grade boundary marks. Combined with their imprecision, this is a recipe for "grade inflation"--the lowering of the quality of work required for a particular grade--of which the steadily increasing national GCSE and GCE results, and the consequent need to introduce grade A*s, could be a symptom. It is proposed that a form of cohort-referencing that is sensitive to changes in examination entry patterns be introduced. The proposed system would shift the weight of evidence toward statistics, using qualitative judgements as part of a check on the veracity of the statistics, at the same time extinguishing the annual debate as to whether increasing examination outcomes are an indicator of improvement in education or a decline in examination "standards", and safeguard against the need to introduce further higher grades in the future. (Contains 5 tables, 6 figures, and 11 notes.)

In the last ten years teacher education in the further education (FE) sector has witnessed a substantial reform of teacher training with the introduction of qualifications designed to meet the professional needs of people in different teaching or training situations across the sector. The assumption of the new system is that workforce issues and problems can be resolved through the regulation and control of teacher performance using documented "standards" and with subject-specific mentoring. Using data from a research study, the authors argue against the performative nature of the reformed system and in favour of pedagogical mentoring to support professional formation and development throughout the sector. The aim of the paper is both to exemplify the performative shift in the FE sector as part of a broader move in the sector towards increased control, surveillance and accountability as well as to demonstrate opportunities within the reformed structure for a new and critical engagement in policy and practice. (Contains 1 table and 5 notes.)

For newly qualified teachers (NQTs), the induction period of support is an important phase which has the potential to deepen learning that has already taken place in initial teacher education (ITE) as well as preparing the NQT for future learning. A particularly crucial time in the induction process is the first term of teaching, when NQTs are likely to be facing a "reality shock" in relation to their new responsibilities. Data were collected by questionnaire from a volunteer sample of student teachers of science and mathematics close to the end of their ITE course and then by questionnaire from the same sample towards the end of their first term as NQTs. The questionnaires were virtually identical and both consisted mainly of free response questions. The responses were transcribed and then coded in a grounded fashion. For this paper, five cases are examined within a framework of activity theory and drawing on ideas of identity. We identify three issues relating to the changes in thinking that occur as beginning teachers move from the role of students in ITE to NQTs in schools: concern for classroom management; school support for NQTs; and boundary crossing issues. We argue that the way the role of induction tutor is enacted determines the changes in thinking that take place for NQTs. (Contains 1 note.)

This paper presents a review of the literature relating to hard-to-reach families which has been published over the last 12 years in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The purpose of the review was twofold: to gain insights to understandings of the term "hard-to-reach" within these services--education, health and social--which might be aiming to access such families in order to help them improve their life chances and to explore the ways in which services have been successful in engaging the families. A consistent message to emerge from the review is that complex issues need complex solutions which in turn need time to implement. Additionally, it is clear that services need to develop diversity of support provision in order to meet the varying needs of families and that services need to develop a shared script for working with them. (Contains 1 table and 5 figures.)

In this paper, I explore the enhancement agenda, which aims to enhance well-being nationwide and particularly among young people. Although it is said by its proponents to embody the ideas of Aristotle, I argue that its true theoretical underpinning is the polarised thinking of positive psychology. The sharp distinction between positive and negative emotion at the heart of this psychology is alien both to Aristotle and William James, another alleged "ancestor" of positive psychology. It is supplemented by further polarised thinking about the "point" of education, which according to enhancement thinkers is well-being "as opposed to" knowledge. This leads to a radical but untenable position that sees school subjects as answerable to a well-being test, and asks for those that fail the test to be consigned to the curricular scrap heap. To counter this, we need to restore the idea of mastery, supporting this with a robust but not necessarily traditionalist concept of value that gives teachers the confidence to teach, and pupils the confidence to learn. (Contains 1 note.)

This article provides a brief review of three papers. It is specifically focused on Early Career Teachers (ECTs) ownership and integration of the "research process" as part of a legitimate and sustainable process of integrating research into professional practice. All of the ECTs followed a similar structure for the presentation of their papers, and offered logical considerations and research-informed decisions aligned with the research process, presenting appropriate conclusions and recommendations based on their analysis of data and discussion as part of conducting a research project in their workplace. Consequently, all papers on one level presented evidence of integration of research into their practice. However, differences are evident in the ways in which the ECTs distinguish themselves in terms of the level of integration of the "research process" within their workplace. The most striking element associated with this is how their roles and responsibilities were used to frame "the problem" and nature of the subsequent integration of the research process beyond themselves in the workplace and explicitly involving colleagues across the school. This seems to be part of taking ownership of things which will be used to judge them, for example, any formal responsibilities for the quality of teaching and learning they have beyond their own class teaching. The papers discussed here include: (1) "The Role of Research in Teacher Education: Reviewing the Evidence. Final report of the British Educational Research Association (BERA-RSA) inquiry"(BERA-RSA) 2015; (2) The Beginnings of School Led Teacher Training: New Challenges for University Teacher Education. School Direct Research Project Final Report (Brown, T., H. Rowley, and K. Smith. 2016); and (3) "The Contribution of Educational Research to Teachers' Professional Learning: Philosophical Understandings." Oxford Review of Education 41 (2):145-153.

The rank-ordering method for standard maintaining was designed for the purpose of mapping a known cut-score (e.g. a grade boundary mark) on one test to an equivalent point on the test score scale of another test, using holistic expert judgements about the quality of exemplars of examinees' work (scripts). It is a novel application of an old technique (Thurstone's paired comparison method for scaling psychological stimuli), and one that can be applied when the more familiar methods of statistical equating or item banking are not possible. How should a method like this be evaluated? If the correct mapping were known, then the outcome of a rank-ordering exercise could be compared against that. However, in the contexts for which the method was designed, there is no "right answer". This paper presents an evaluation of the rank-ordering method in terms of its rationale, its psychological validity and the stability of the outcome when various factors incidental to the method are varied (e.g. the number of judges, the number of scripts to be ranked, methods of data modelling and analysis). (Contains 5 figures, 6 tables and 7 notes.)

Chinese supplementary schools have been accused of having "old-fashioned" and ineffective teaching methods, with most teaching being undertaken by "unqualified" volunteer parent teachers. But how do pupils themselves interpret and experience the complementary school setting and to what extent do they feel it affects their learning? Drawing on empirical data from an ESRC study, including classroom observations and interviews with 60 British-Chinese pupils and 21 teachers across six Chinese supplementary schools, this paper explores pupils' preferred teaching/learning approaches and questions to what extent do pupils feel the culture and organisation of Chinese schools helps them to learn? Indeed, might complementary schools contribute in any way to British-Chinese pupils' phenomenally high achievement within mainstream education? The analyses highlight both positive and negative aspects of the young people's experiences, paying particular attention to the implications for their constructions of learner identities within the complementary school setting. (Contains 9 notes.)

Examination marking utilises a variety of cognitive processes, and from a psychological perspective, the demands that different questions place on markers will vary considerably. To what extent does marking accuracy vary among markers with differing backgrounds and experiences? More fundamentally, what makes some questions harder to mark accurately than others? The authors sought to address aspects of these key questions in an empirical study, which focused on GCSE mathematics and physics papers. For each subject, groups of "expert" and "graduate" markers were led by a Principal Examiner in the marking of identical samples of candidates' responses on a question-by-question basis. A quantitative analysis explored marking accuracy among questions and its potential relationships with marker type and question difficulty. Using their recently formulated model of cognitive marking strategies, the authors also investigated the relationship between accuracy and apparent cognitive marking strategy usage. Very few differences between experts and graduates were identified. However, variations in accuracy among individual questions (for all markers) were related to both question difficulty and apparent strategy usage: questions requiring markers to use more complex "reflective" thought processes were marked less accurately than those entailing only simple "intuitive" judgements. The findings have implications for the management of markers and for question design. It is concluded that, given adequate support and procedural training, graduate maths and physics markers may be able to mark almost all questions (of the kinds explored) as accurately as their expert counterparts can. (Contains 8 figures and 3 tables.)

In this paper we analyse the dynamics of adult participation in part-time education and training throughout the 90s and into the 2000s using data from 14 waves (1992-2005) of the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). We study the volume (stocks) of participation and non-participation and the gross flows between states. This analysis provides a longitudinal complement to existing work (e.g. NIACE & Labour Force Surveys) which is largely based on cross-section data and as such can only report net changes in participation at different points in time. In contrast, our dataset, derived from the BHPS, allowed us to follow the same 4325 individuals over time and document the proportion who were persistent non-participants (resistors), persistent participants and those who moved between states frequently and less frequently. Although a third of our sample (34%) remained non-participants throughout the 14-year observation period, it was the relatively large number that moved between states of participation and non-participation which, when considered in the context of the cross-sectional analysis, was more striking. By revealing this hitherto hidden turbulence we were able to identify and begin to characterise not just the participants and non-participants but also the larger group of individuals who moved frequently, moderately and less frequently between states. (Contains 3 tables, 2 figures, and 3 notes.)

This paper reports how students talk about their aspirations in regard to higher education (HE) and their mathematics, what "repertoires" they use to mediate this discourse, and how students' predominant "repertoire style" relates to their cultural background. Our analyses draw on an interview sample (n=40) of students selected because they are "on the cusp" of participation or non-participation in mathematically demanding programmes in further and higher education. The interviews explored the students' aspirations for their future in general and HE in particular, influences on these choices, and the place of mathematics in these. Thematic analysis revealed four interpretative repertoires commonly in use, which we call "becoming successful", "personal satisfaction", "vocational", and "idealist" repertoires. Most of the sample was found to use a single, predominant repertoire, which we call their repertoire "style": what is more, this style is found to be strongly related to background factors independently obtained. The implications for policy and practice are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

This paper questions whether participation in vocational education and training (VET) provides a successful progression route into UK higher education (HE). Following an overview of the UK policy agenda two inter-connected aspects of HE access are investigated: students' choice of institution and choice of subject. Analysis of administrative data shows that A-levels provide the major access route into more prestigious HE institutions. Students with VET backgrounds are more likely to start their HE studies at post-92 universities with lower RAE results. Different educational pathways also lead to different HE subject areas which, in turn, are connected to diverse labour market outcomes. Case study data identify highly individualised decision-making patterns for institutional and subject choice. Rational choice models can explain these choices only to a limited extent. Restrictive information strategies and other factors affecting individual choices require consideration and there are significant differences in motivational patterns between students regarding their choice of subject. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

As a way to raise attainment, schools are encouraged to form ability groups across classes for particular subjects. There is limited evidence however about the relationship between setting and primary school children's characteristics and how teachers perceive them. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between set positioning for English and Maths and teachers' perceptions about 11-year-olds' behaviour and school attitudes and future education goals, and children's psychosocial and cognitive characteristics and background through secondary data analyses of the fifth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study. The study employed binary logistic regression analyses and revealed strong associations between set positioning and teacher perceptions of 11-year-olds' behaviour and attitudes and future education goals. Associations between set position and teacher perceptions of children's identity as learners were stronger than those for children's self- reported attitudes and behaviour. Also, family income and gender emerged as strong predictors of children's position in sets. Set positioning is not a neutral act; it has implications about children's personal agency and their identity as learners.

In the UK, students who want to progress to higher education have a number of possible pathways at age 16. The most common of these is traditional, academic focussed, 'A' levels, but increasingly students are taking alternative qualifications (e.g. BTECs, IB, Pre-U). The focus of this research is to infer which (if any) of these qualifications are the best in terms of preparing students for university study, by comparing degree outcomes of students taking different qualifications prior to entering university. Logistic regression models were undertaken to predict the probability of a student achieving a first-class degree (or at least an upper second) depending on which prior qualification(s) they took. Students' prior attainment was accounted for, along with other background variables (e.g. gender, socio-economic status, school type). The results showed only a few statistically significant differences in the performances of students taking different qualifications, with the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and Applied A levels seeming to provide particularly good preparation for university study. It is suggested that these qualifications may benefit students because of their focus on teaching skills such as planning, researching and problem-solving that will be required in degree level work.

Often young children already have some ideas about what they want to do in the future. Using data from a large UK cohort study, we investigated the individual determinants of seven-year-old children's aspirations, controlling for parental socio-economic background and parental involvement in learning. At age 7, not all children's aspirations were unrealistic (55.6% of children aspired to common occupations), few (1.2%) were fantasy, but most were gender-typical. White children had lower occupational aspirations and were more likely to have uncertain future orientations than other ethnic groups. The antecedents of fantasy aspirations, more typical of younger children, were difficult temperament and low school engagement. Uncertain aspirations were related to higher cognitive ability but also to lower school engagement. Higher occupational aspirations were directly related to higher family socio-economic status, and higher occupational and more intrinsic aspirations were associated with more school engagement (in turn, higher in girls and ethnic minority children). Boys, compared to girls, had lower, more extrinsic and more masculine aspirations, but were also more likely than girls to aspire to rare jobs and have fantasy or uncertain aspirations.

Concerns about the recruitment and retention of teachers have prompted recent studies into the status of teaching in several different countries. This paper analyses the findings of a survey designed to investigate public perceptions of the teaching profession in the UK. It was undertaken as part of a broader DfES-funded longitudinal project that has been using a mixed methodology to explore individual teachers' perceptions of their status, and the status of teaching as viewed by education stakeholders and the general public. Whilst the survey confirmed many previous findings about the way in which teaching is viewed, it also produced some surprises. First, 50% of respondents deemed teaching to be an attractive career, a higher percentage than expected. Second, men, especially older men, were more likely than women to see teaching as an attractive career. Third, the survey found no obvious differences in the comparative status accorded to primary and secondary teachers. This is in sharp contrast to the views of many writers in this field who have argued that traditionally the younger the children taught, the lower the occupational status of their teachers. Overall, the findings suggest a positive change in the public perceptions of teaching particularly amongst the younger age-range. (Contains 2 notes, 8 tables, and 2 figures.)

This paper is based upon the findings of an interpretative, school-based study of pupil, teacher and parent perceptions of disengagement within the primary classroom. It examines how pupil and parent perceptions support or challenge professional discourses about pupil behaviour, raising questions about the nature of disengagement and the intervention strategies used to manage it. The central finding of the study is that pupil, teacher and parent perceptions show a striking lack of intersubjectivity. Though there are some commonalities of perception between participants, most of these commonalities are shared by pupils and parents, rather than pupils and teachers. It is argued that the underlying lack of shared meaning between teachers and pupils skews classroom interaction and obfuscates teacher intervention, accounting for the poor relationships, and the breakdown of teaching and learning, in the classrooms observed. The explanatory concept of pupil and teacher "survival strategies" is used to explore this negative dynamic. (Contains 7 tables.)

School absenteeism and particularly unauthorized absenteeism or truancy has been the focus of a number of, so far largely unsuccessful, recent policy initiatives. The paper draws upon two sources of data, the British Household Panel Survey and detailed interviews with a group of persistent truants, to consider the extent, consequences and explanations for truancy from secondary schools. Truancy increases steadily across the years of secondary school and, especially in the later years of compulsory schooling there is evidence that patterns of truancy established in one year carry on into the next. Truancy is strongly associated with negative outcomes in terms of not staying in education post-16, GCSE results and becoming unemployed. Coming from families of low socio-economic status, parents not monitoring homework, negative attitudes towards teachers and the value of education are all associated with higher levels of truancy. However, the majority of young people in these situations do not truant and there are many truants who do not have these characteristics. A major explanation given by young people themselves for their non-attendance is poor relationships with teachers, including teachers failing to match their expectations. Other factors mentioned by young people include bullying but also a more general dislike of the atmosphere of the school, sometimes associated with a change of school. There was little evidence of negative responses to the curriculum leading to truancy. It is suggested that we can distinguish between socio-economic and attitudinal factors which make young people vulnerable to truancy and precipitating events or processes which result in truanting behaviour. (Contains 5 tables and 4 notes.)