BERA launched the Education: The State of the Discipline initiative in 2019 to offer a comprehensive account of the state of education as an academic discipline, as a field of practice, and as a pivotal element of social and political policy across the four nations of the UK. By providing stakeholders with research evidence, the initiative aimed to empower them in their advocacy for education research and education researchers.

Drawing on the conclusions of five research projects commissioned by BERA as part of the initiative, we issued a statement offering a BERA view on the strengths of education as an academic discipline, including its outstanding impact and outputs, and the challenges it faces, from significant structural inequalities to a deterioration in working conditions for the majority of education researchers over time.

In June 2023 we held a high-level invitation-only event that brought together the outcomes of our commissioned research and analysis and allowed senior leaders from across the discipline to discuss the findings, the wider issues raised and debate how educational research should respond. We would now be grateful for your input as BERA contemplates the next steps. 

The link here contains some suggested next steps that emerged from the discussions in June. We would value input from the wider research community on which areas are the most urgent, and which should be prioritised by BERA.