Deciding what degree to study and where are very important decisions to make for a range of practical and economic reasons, and much research has been undertaken in this area. What has not been considered previously is the decision-making processes of students who have completed an associate degree, such as a Higher National Diploma or Foundation…

In recent years, educational research has paid special attention to teachers' practical-operative experience. The growing interest in the concept of practice within workplace settings has become a turning point in sociological, anthropological and educational studies. The present study aims to explore lecturers' perceptions and conceptions of…

Following the economic recession and resulting financial cuts to English education budgets introduced in 2010, the number of local authority educational psychology teams adopting a partially or fully-traded model of service delivery began to gain momentum. This study sought to investigate the response to trading and its impact on the role of the…

Background: Research evidence on what makes CPD effective is accumulating. Yet, fundamental questions about the specific features that lead to programme success. Furthermore, very little research investigates the nature and quality of CPD providers' (tutors) practices. Taking a closer look at how CPD providers support teachers to learn is…

The aim was to investigate the policy-to-practice context of delays and difficulties in the acquisition of speech, language and communication (SLC) in children from birth to five in one local authority within the context of Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model. Methods included a survey of early years practitioners (64 responses), interviews with…

This article presents findings from a study which sought to identify the extent to which trainee teachers and their mentors considered their mentoring experiences and approaches to be judgemental or developmental. The article draws on a case study of trainee teachers and mentors on an Initial Teacher Education programme at a further education…

At a time of increasing public and government focus on the quality of teacher education, little is known about the professional development needs of those who teach teachers in further education (FE). Yet they are crucial players. Efforts are intensifying across a significant number of countries to promote the professional development of teacher…

This article presents the findings of a pilot professional development programme designed to support police community support officers (PCSOs) to become effective school link officers (SLOs) within urban secondary schools in the English West Midlands. Findings are presented via perceptions of key stakeholders: SLOs themselves; school-based mentors…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine instructional leadership (IL) in outstanding secondary schools within a centralised (Greece) and a partially decentralised (England) education context. Design/methodology/approach: Since the purpose of the study is exploratory, the researchers adopt a qualitative approach, employing a series of four…

This article is written by Heather Murdoch, research consultant for the Seashell Trust, Anne Gough, deputy headteacher at Royal School Manchester/Seashell Trust, Eileen Boothroyd, consultant for the Seashell Trust, and Kate Williams, a creative perfumer for Seven (PZ Cussons). It describes the use of food fragrances with deafblind students who are…

For many vocational students in England, mathematics is now a compulsory part of their programme, yet the inclusion of an academic subject within a vocational course presents challenges. In this paper, an analysis of a series of case studies of vocational student groups in Further Education colleges in England shows how contrasting practices in…

Despite Northern Ireland's deeply rooted religious history and the assumption that its citizens' sexual attitudes and behaviours are more reserved than their English counterparts, comprehensive school-based relationships and sexuality education (RSE) has been statutory for primary and post-primary pupils since 2007. The non-biological aspects of…

In the name of curriculum breadth and raising standards, recent government policy in England has removed a large number of non-academic qualifications from the list of those that secondary schools can count in league tables, discouraging their use. Most of these were vocational qualifications, but they also include skills-led qualifications. This…

Background: Around the globe, education policy borrowing remains pervasive and prevalent. The strategies, interventions and innovations of education systems that perform well, in international assessments, are enthusiastically borrowed and copied in the anticipation of similar educational performance and outcomes. Purpose: This purpose of the…

Previous research identifies the importance of feminist knowledge for improving gender equity, economic prosperity and social justice for all. However, there are difficulties in embedding feminist knowledge in higher education curricula. Across England, undergraduate sociology is a key site for acquiring feminist knowledge. In a study of four…