After the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NEU (2021) report states that one in three teachers plan to leave the profession in the next 5 years. As previous studies published by the DfE focusing on workload have not affected the wastage rate of the profession, there is something deeper at work which needs to be explored. A critical theory,…

The protection and regulation of religious expression present complex challenges. Blasphemy laws, which criminalize acts deemed disrespectful to religious beliefs, have been abolished in England, allowing for broader freedom of expression. However, concerns and discussions about blasphemy persist. The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman (2023), has…

This article draws on data from a specially commissioned representative survey, which elicited responses from 7691 teachers in primary and secondary schools in England, to examine how teachers perceive young people's engagement with a variety of different conspiracy theories in school settings and how they respond to them. Approximately 40% of…

Background: Argumentation, the justification of claims with reasons and/or evidence, has emerged as a significant goal in science education in recent years. Yet, there is limited understanding of secondary students' arguments and particularly their use of warrants in interdisciplinary contexts such as science and religious education. Furthermore,…

Virtual laboratories (VL) can provide students with learning experiences simulating practical experiments in a traditional laboratory. Evidence is presented that students believe in the truth of results from the VL as well as those from the traditional laboratory. The underlying reasons for these beliefs are explored, through Russell's description…

Educative mentoring positions mentors and mentees as co-learners within a collaborative relationship, while emphasising reciprocal learning. However, research exploring educative mentoring is limited to teacher-mentors, restricting our understanding of the potential learning opportunities an educative stance provides mentors in other occupational…

We examine the long-standing claim that understanding relational correspondence is a general component of representational understanding. Two experiments with 175 preschool children located in Norwich, United Kingdom, examined the use of a scale model comparing performances on a "copy" task, measuring abstract spatial arrangement…

Divergence is not a new phenomenon in RE in England and Wales. A diverse range of aims and approaches have been promoted since RE provision became compulsory in 1944. Approaches include the phenomenological, interpretative, and dialogic with current debates centring around the benefits and challenges of a 'worldviews approach'. There have been a…

England and Wales are now amongst the least religious countries in the world. According to Census data between 2011 and 2021, the number of people identifying as having 'No Religion' jumped by over 8 million, from 25% to 37%. Further, although there was a small upward shift in those identifying with minority religions, during the same period, the…

Promoting engagement is crucial for encouraging student participation, interest, and learning in mathematics. Student engagement has been conceptualized as interrelated types comprising behavioural, emotional, and cognitive characteristics. Cognitive engagement, our focus in this paper, relates to students' psychological investment in learning and…

The purpose of this study was to describe the acculturation of six British physical education (PE) preservice teachers (PSTs). The research questions we sought to answer were: (a) What were the PSTs' values, beliefs, and perspectives regarding PE? and (b) What factors shaped the PSTs' values, beliefs, and perspectives during their acculturation?…

This paper examines the potential causes of dissonance amongst primary trainee teachers while undertaking teacher training placements in faith settings. The positioning of this research extends beyond teacher education indicating a significant need to unravel the tensions that exist in a multicultural yet fragmented society. Faith, identity and…

The impacts of professional sporting culture and institutional discourse on coaching practices and ideologies have largely been unconsidered and undiscussed. Understanding coaching practice from a social perspective can provide insights into the prevailing culture that coaches are immersed within, pointing to patterns of discourse, norms and…

This paper constitutes a study of the lived religious identity and practice of Hindu teenagers in the UK. More specifically, utilising an ethnographic approach designed to give voice to what is academically an extremely unrepresented religious community, this is a study of how Hindu teenagers in the UK experience their religion at home and at…

There is growing recognition of the need for pupils to have the opportunity to engage with both religious and non-religious worldviews in religious education (RE). This recognition is bound up with issues of social justice and equality, underpinned by a desire to ensure that all young people should have the opportunity 'to understand the…