How are teachers motivated to continue to learn throughout their career in a high-stakes accountability context? This innovative mixed methods study employs inductive/deductive hybrid thematic analysis and self-determination theory to investigate teachers' self-reported motivations to continue their professional learning. Through analysis of…

Mothers working as teachers in a post-16 environment face various challenges with balancing work and motherhood from the beginning of pregnancy. Colleges have in place a variety of policies, such as maternity leave and flexible working that are designed to mitigate some of these challenges. This paper investigates the experiences of eight mothers…

Though teacher well-being (TWB) has been decreasing over time, there is an identified lack of awareness in schools across England on how settings can support TWB. To address this gap, this study provides teachers with a space to share their conceptualizations of well-being, evaluate current school-level TWB provisions, and provide recommendations…

The promotion of social and emotional well-being and positive mental-health has become a key focus for governments across the world, with schools seen as prime locations to facilitate improvements in these areas for children. In response, schools have implemented a wide-ranging package of support designed to target well-being and mental health,…

The study draws on mixed methods research with further education middle managers across England in order to explore whether there are gendered differences in management. There remain debates about whether there are gender differences in management or leadership. The study adds to this debate with results that reveal that women and men are…

My role as a university-based, general classroom music teacher educator in England has become unclear, exacerbated by policies that have undermined the field of classroom music in schools and the role of universities in teacher education. Using self-critical inquiry enacted as critically reflexive autoethnography, I interrogated my professional…

This mixed-methods study examined educational psychologists' (EP) experiences of occupational stress, well-being, and implications for their professional practice. Phase 1 involved an online survey of 300 EPs in England using the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) and the Short Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). The…

Utilising new empirical research this study adapts an existing literature-based competency framework into a hierarchy of competencies needed for education middle managers in England to be effective in their role. The study involved a national survey (n = 164) of further education middle managers and is the first quantitative study investigating…

Background: Publications documenting how teaching is typically undertaken in highly cis-normative school spaces are beginning to increase in popularity. Scholars highlight how school Physical Education (PE) departments operate as highly gendered, and exclusive spaces which are typically ruled by gender-binarised discourses. This ideology is…

Previous research has found school working conditions--particularly school leadership--to be linked to teacher retention. At the same time, evidence from the management literature has suggested that obtaining 'buy-in' from staff is critical to employee performance and instigating change. This paper brings these two literatures together, being the…

The COVID pandemic temporarily altered the functioning of all sections of society. In England, it led to major disruption in the teacher education sector leading to curtailed training in schools and a rapid shift to alternative approaches to teaching and learning. By the 2021-2022 academic year, it was hoped that activity would return to a level…

Teacher shortages and attrition are problems of international concern. One of the most frequent reasons for teachers leaving the profession is a lack of job satisfaction. Accordingly, in this study we have adopted a causal inference machine learning approach to identify practical interventions for improving overall levels of job satisfaction. We…

The Government published its teacher recruitment and retention strategy in January 2019 in response to a growing teacher supply challenge in England. Four years since the publication of the teacher recruitment and retention strategy, and despite the increases in recruitment and retention that came about due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teacher supply…

Recent literature has changed the ways in which occupational therapy is delivered in mainstream schools, but consideration of practice in specialist schools, where all students have special educational needs or disabilities, is limited. This study aimed to address this gap by exploring occupational therapy practice in specialist schools in…

In the UK a 'crisis' has been manufactured around the so-called baby boomer generation. It has been claimed that this demographic (those born between 1946 and 1964) have benefitted from supportive public policies throughout their lives and are still continuing to access advantages but at some cost to younger generations. For example, policies that…