The impact of colonisation, cognitive imperialism, and Eurocentric modes of knowing, being and doing has had an effect on Higher Education, including teacher education. Colonial epistemologies, epistemicide, academic dependency, disempowerment and intellectual inferiority are challenged by liberatory pedagogies that present opportunities to…

Students who spent time in state care as children, usually due to neglect or maltreatment, are a growing community within higher education in many countries. However, their participation rates generally remain below average and they are more likely to withdraw early, while their experiences have not yet been well-theorised. In this article, we…

This article provides a reflective commentary on the modification of the lead author's professional practice in a secondary academy in England. The modification of practice has been as a result of work conducted on a postgraduate Masters module, which has focused on practitioner development of an exemplar grammar lesson devised for Year Nine…

Worldwide, policymakers, health system managers, practitioners and researchers struggle to use evidence to improve policy and practice. There is growing recognition that this challenge relates to the complex systems in which we work. The corresponding increase in complexity-related discourse remains primarily at a theoretical level. This paper…

In this conceptual article, the authors examine the context of early childhood education and care in England and the underpinning predominant ideologies to explore how these impact on the framing of leadership. The English context entails several contradictions (antinomies) at ontological, epistemological and axiological levels, and is heavily…

In a time of advancing neoliberal educational practice globally (e.g. Roxborough, 1997, McCafferty, 2010), in the provision of public sector education as well as in assumptions regarding public educational purposes and curriculum development; this paper looks to a broader definition of education (e.g. Biesta, 2009). The authors argue that…

Following our contribution to a study of mentoring in seven European countries, we explored epistemological and ontological inconsistencies within mainstream mentoring systems and their regulated practice in England. We considered how feminist mentoring praxis can unsettle conceptualisations of mentoring relationships and challenge inequity in the…

Three kinds of knowledge usually recognised by epistemologists are identified and their relevance for curriculum design is discussed. These are: propositional knowledge, know-how and knowledge by acquaintance. The inferential nature of propositional knowledge is argued for and it is suggested that propositional knowledge in fact presupposes the…

This article examines the relationship between confidence and risk in relation to the initial education and continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers. The context for this examination is the Lifelong Learning Sector (LLS) in England, which sits between secondary schools and universities, and the discussion is illustrated with data…

Practice is not created and developed by individual teachers but is subject to what Kemmis and Grootenboer called "extra-individual conditions" and cultural histories. The "expectations" around teaching do much to create stereotypes and conformity around how to teach and how to act in schools. This paper explores a teacher's…