Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the importance of individual learner differences and the effect differentiated instruction (DI) has on learners' levels of engagement. Design/methodology/approach: The author carried out this research using a small-scale action research (AR) study. Findings: The findings suggest that in acknowledging…

Policies on inclusion are being increasingly embedded within education systems and teacher education across the world, with schools and teachers called upon to add 'inclusion' to their already large set of skills and tasks. There is, however, no consistent definition of what inclusion means or how it can be best promoted. The purpose of this paper…

Inclusion is positioned at the forefront of global educational reform. The study reported focused on a national Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for Inclusive Physical Education (IPE) in England. The research was designed to critically explore how CPD providers (i.e. tutors) variously conceptualised and practiced inclusion in…

Brian Simon (1981) argued that the English education system had failed to develop pedagogy because of social class division. This has been enhanced by the failure to address parity of esteem issues between the academic and the vocational curriculum, which makes the absence of a real pedagogy in Further Education (FE) and alternative provision (AP)…

Purpose: The present study contributes to research that examines the meanings of achievement gaps, when enacting policy. Its findings are both hopeful and unsettling. The absence of equitable outcomes and democratic citizenship, as elements of closing the achievement gaps in our participants' definitions, are troubling, particularly within the…

This paper explores the use of audio feedback with 182 final year undergraduate students in a post-92 university studying on a Business Management undergraduate degree. It looks at the problems associated with traditional forms of feedback and feedforward and explores the reasons why students fail to engage with the comments made by lecturers…

In the current context of promoting active learning and raising student engagement within Higher Education, an increasing amount of research has looked at pedagogical-based design and factors that contribute to functional behaviours surrounding the interaction and use of academic assessment feedback. However, few studies have considered the…

In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges -- levels of digital literacy, access to technology, workload and time management, students' feelings of isolation and disconnection -- that can have a significant impact on the experience of the learners. In addressing these issues, we propose a pedagogical model for…

Education in frugality is less important for young people in the climate emergency than pressurising governments to act. Schools can help in this directly, as well as indirectly by passing on the necessary understanding. This understanding is interdisciplinary as well as disciplinary, but schools in England at least have always been too attached…

The deployment of Teaching Assistants (TAs) to support learning has been the subject of much critical debate, including the particular concern that TAs too often becomes a less skilled replacement for the teacher rather than acting as an additional source of support. Despite efforts to encapsulate the TA's contribution to learning within specific…

Official policy texts in England have long assumed that students make their Higher Education choices in an individualized, rational and context-free manner. Under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government (2010-2015), a greater emphasis was placed on accomplishing higher levels of widening participation in elite institutions. Those…

The implementation of learning analytics may empower distance learning institutions to provide real-time feedback to students and teachers. Given the leading role of the Open University UK (OU) in research and application of learning analytics, this study aims to share the lessons learned from the experiences of 42 participants from a range of…

In the Autumn of 2017 a small-scale study was designed to explore the degree to which school staff in the East Midlands of England were in an informed position to meet their statutory obligation with regard to the autistic children in their care as reported by a sample of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos), members of the school…

Resilience refers to findings that some individuals have good outcomes despite exposure to stressors, and protective factors are defined as influences that alter a person's response to such stressors. Academic resilience research identifies factors that promote positive educational outcomes; however, no research to date investigates student…

This paper reports on results from a descriptive study of the nature and quality of the day-to-day educational experiences of 49 13-14 year olds with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND). All pupils had either an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or a Statement, and attended in mainstream secondary school in England. Pupils…