Expectancy-Value Theory predicts that expectancy of success and subjective task value (STV) underlie differences in motivation and achievement. This study investigated how gender and SES related to achievement mediated by expectancy of success, STV, and their interaction. The sample consisted of 396 participants in their final year of upper…

This paper explores how academics navigate the Higher Education (HE) landscape being reshaped by the convergence of unbundling, marketisation and digitisation processes. Social Realism distinguishes three layers of social reality (in this case higher education): the empirical, the actual and the real. The empirical layer is presented by the…

Research has shown that book ownership has a significant impact on life outcomes. In 2019, we found that that children who reported that they had a book of their own were not only more engaged with reading but also six times more likely to read above the level expected for their age than children who did not own a book (22% vs. 3.6%). We included…

The purpose of the paper is to develop the theory that structural or procedural changes in institutions precede changes in education in a society. It examines the development of pre-modern institutions in Western Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries and the influences this had on growth in literacy rates within these states. Literacy rates in…

This paper reflects upon the experience of carrying out a piece of action research as a university academic, in partnership with a primary school. It considers roles and responsibilities, agendas, dynamics, ethical dilemmas and issues of voice. It contextualises the research within a field where educational research continues to be conceptualised…

This article highlights the interactional work involved in relational aggression, and how rules and norms around sitting are used by students to achieve exclusion and dominance. This research took place in an English secondary school which educates pupils from Year 7 to sixth form (ages 11-18). Drawing on observation, walk-and-talk and group…

Mathematical reasoning and tools are intrinsic to science, yet the close and dependent relationship science has to mathematics is not reflected in either school education or science education research. This paper asks what the barriers are to a mutually beneficial relationship between the two disciplines. A two-phase qualitative interview study…

This article analyses an approach to student researchers of their curriculum as a module in an undergraduate initial teacher education programme. It shows the rationale for bringing such curriculum research into a taught programme to widen the range of possible participants. Rather than the outcomes of the student researcher project, the article…

This paper presents data from a study of five English primary schools. It examines some of the challenges associated with school autonomy and collaboration for state primary schools amid the uncertainty and complexity of governance in the present English education context. The paper features the voices of six leaders gathered from interviews that…

This paper reports student perceptions of the benefits and challenges of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in a fieldwork context. Student perceptions from six field courses across two institutions have been gathered using questionnaires and focus groups. Whilst a number of studies have focused on BYOD in a classroom context, little research has been…

Over the last decade, the use of mobile computing devices has become an integral part of virtually every aspect of our personal and professional life, and education is no exception to this paradigm. The expression "Bring Your Own Device" ('BYOD') has gained widespread use and is currently defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as…

Partnership is currently the focus of much work within higher education and advocated as an important process to address a range of higher education goals. In this paper, we propose the term "inclusive partnership" to conceptualise a non-selective staff-student relationship. While recognising the challenges of inclusive partnership…

Despite the ongoing discourse about the constantly connected and digitally savvy youth in the UK, a growing evidence base demonstrates that there are still significant inequalities in young people's ability to access and use the internet. There is a small, but significant, proportion of young people who do not have internet access at home, nor…

Voluntary-aided faith schools exhibit a unique combination of characteristics that is not shared by other state-funded schools in England including responsibility for admissions, employment of staff (including the right to prioritise on the basis of faith), control of the RE curriculum, ownership of the premises, and funding from and being part of…

This paper shares a selection of the context, insights and implications emerging from a pilot project "Leading Through Values" (LTV). The project took place across nine primary schools in the Midlands and focused specifically on nine active classes and their 210 learners. Pupils ranged from Year 2 to Year 6 and the active phase of the…