Bullying remains a serious problem in schools in England and internationally despite the plethora of research, interventions and policies which aim to address it. The majority of research and interventions are based on a traditional approach where school bullying is constructed as involving a clear imbalance of power between individuals. Recently,…

This research investigates the initial degree programme of a new Higher Education Provider (HEP) through a practitioner-based case study focusing on the experiences of senior leaders enrolled as mature degree apprentices. The qualitative study utilised an interpretivist and constructivist approach involving in-depth interviews and a focus group.…

This paper outlines the pedagogical approaches taken on a University Access course, teaching predominantly mature students on a 12-week 'inclusion in education' module. The methods aimed to validate and develop literacy and academic skills for students undertaking undergraduate courses. Practice on the programme of study, replicated over three…

In recent years, there has been a growth in the amount of literature and a resurgence of interest in what Jools Page identified as 'professional love'. This research builds upon and extends Page's work considering what love looks like in practice and describing a 'loving pedagogy'. Despite recent research, love is still seldom talked about in the…

This paper develops work undertaken by the "After Religious Education" project which seeks to reimagine Religious Education in schools for a context in which both religious and non-religious worldviews are taken seriously. One of the longstanding challenges for RE teachers in schools in England has been how to reconcile the broad range…

This paper, co-authored between three adults and five children aged 8-11, adopts a 'collaborative writing as inquiry' approach to examine and discuss the authors' experiences of a participatory research project through the lens of critical dialectical pluralism. In the original project, children formed two 'young advisory panels', one online,…

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in schools in England is a pressing concern, especially since the 'Everyone's Invited' movement laid bare the extent of the problem across the country. This article analyses the national policy context, asserting that SGBV is a systemic problem rooted in young people's school and online peer cultures that…

Poor adolescent mental health calls for universal prevention. The Mental Health Foundation's 'Peer Education Project' equips older students ('peer educators') to teach younger students ('peer learners') about mental health. The peer-led lessons cover defining good and bad mental health, risk and protective factors, self-care, help-seeking and…

This article considers the effect that student-teacher relationships have on engagement with school and how students go about making their voice heard. In order to do this, it draws upon data from a year long ethnography in an underperforming school in England. The site was particularly useful in addressing these questions as it offered different…

This paper shares methodological insights from our research which sought to centre children in the production of knowledge during the 2020 global pandemic to consider how this can inform research with children beyond the crisis. Drawing on our longitudinal participatory arts-based research with 30 children aged 9-12 during 2020-22, the paper…

The English folk rhyme 'Monday's Child' predicts a fortune for children based on the day of the week on which they were born. Line 4 reads 'Thursday's Child has far to go.' This article explores whether Lindsay Anderson and Guy Brenton edited the documentary film "Thursday's Children" (1954) to convince the viewer that deaf children…

Current policy in England, informed by a version of cognitive science, enforces an absolute distinction between experts and novices, or teachers and learners; from this binary, operating in tandem with regimes of performativity instantiated in a curriculum shaped by high-stakes testing, are derived particular forms of pedagogy and particular…

The Story Makers Press is a university-based publisher who focus on making and publishing hybrid stories with children who are under-represented in literature. This article explores the embodied drama processes used in the co-creation of our third book called 'Zalfa Emir is Warrior' with eighteen 10 - 11-year-old girls from second generation…

This paper explores the use of Lesson Study in primary schools in England as a powerful tool for developing teachers' pedagogical knowledge, and for shaping teaching practices that encourage children's engagement. Through Lesson Study, a critical space for dialogic engagement is generated, wherein children contribute to, and shape, teaching and…

Faced with the introduction of the new A-levels in 2015 and with a move to a new school, Eleanor Thomas took the opportunity to embrace yet another challenge: giving her students a complete free choice about the focus of their non-examined assessment (NEA). This article presents the rationale for her decision, acknowledging the challenges that it…