Two of BERA’s journals, British Educational Research Journal and Curriculum Journal , have announced their annual Editors’ Choice Awards, recognising papers published in their 2024 volumes. BERA and the editors extend their warm congratulations to the authors.

British Educational Research Journal Editors’ Choice Award 2024

The winning paper for British Educational Research Journal is

• Kay L. (2024). ‘I feel like the Wicked Witch’: Identifying tensions between school readiness policy and teacher beliefs, knowledge and practice in Early Childhood Education. British Educational Research Journal, 50(2): 632–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3937

The editors say: ‘This paper is theoretically and methodologically strong and interesting. It has a good potential to have an impact on policy/practice in early childhood education.’

The editors also commend the following papers:

• Clarke, E. (2024). Voices from the edge: Girls’ experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion. British Educational Research Journal, 50(2): 855–75. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3956

• Azpitarte, F. & Holt, L. (2024). Failing children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in England: New evidence of poor outcomes and a postcode lottery at the Local Authority level at Key Stage 1. British Educational Research Journal, 50(1): 414–43. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3930

Curriculum Journal Editors’ Choice Award 2024

The 2024 editorial team (led by Mark Priestley and Stavroula Philippou) selected the following paper for this year’s prize:

• Smith, B. (2024). Curriculum as invader: Normalising white place in the Australian curriculum. Curriculum Journal, 35(1), 108–12. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/curj.215

The editors say: ‘This is an excellent paper that critiques, utilising spatial and temporal constructs, the normalisation of colonial place-making and cultural hegemonies in Australia, through the curriculum.’  

The editors also commend the following papers:

• Mouraz, A., Doyle, A., & Serra, I. (2024). The effects of international mobility on teachers’ power of curriculum agency. Curriculum Journal, 35(2), 237–253. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/curj.226

• Béneker, T., Bladh, G., & Lambert, D. (2024). Exploring ‘Future three’ curriculum scenarios in practice: Learning from the GeoCapabilities project. Curriculum Journal, 35(3), 396–411. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/curj.240

• Swift, D., Clowes, G., Gilbert S., & Lambert, A. (2024). Sustaining professionalism: Teachers as co-enquirers in curriculum design. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/curj.267
  • The editors note that all the authors of this paper are practitioners.