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Child-friendly research in the early years

Highlights from the first 1,000 BERA Blog posts

This article is part of the BERA Blog special issue ‘Researching the Curriculum in schools and colleges: Practice, Professionalism and Innovation’ (read more). How can the curriculum be...

LGBT+ inclusion in schools

In this blog I summarise key evidence from Stonewall’s latest School Report (Bradlow et al, 2017), a study of over 3,700 lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) young people across Britain aged...

Bold beginnings or black holes? The encroachment of summative assessment into the reception curriculum

Black holes themselves are invisible against the backdrop of space. We only become aware of their presence as they begin to drag in objects around them, warping the very fabric of the universe....

A four-point plan for improving education against extremism

The UK’s counter-extremism Prevent strategy has come under fire consistently since its inception more than 10 years go. Studies have found it divisive, rendering Islamic communities and ethnic...

The experiences and ‘light-bulb moment’ of an early career researcher following a BERA Postgraduate Forum symposium

Though I didn’t realise it at the time, studying while working in the early years sector marked the emergence of my research interests. I was a practitioner at the forefront of new government...

Setting and the academic underachievement of white working class boys

The under-achievement of white working class boys in England is well documented. They are the lowest academic achievers at the age of 16 for any socio-economic class grouping (Sutton Trust, 2016),...

Rethinking reasons behind lower educational outcomes of looked after children

The lower educational attainment of looked after children compared with their peers not in care has long been the subject of interest and research. The dominant position is that the reason behind...

Examining the representation of fundamental British values: What are the most prominent images used for display boards in the primary school?

It is observable that display boards are being applied widely by primary schools as visual representations for learning about the stated fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law,...

The Question of Knowledge in the Curriculum

In some ways, the recent controversy over Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence, introduced in 2010, could be said to be going over a familiar knowledge versus skills debate. Not only is it banal...

Is a shared understanding the key to effective learning?

A child starts learning in the womb, but real learning is perceived to start much later and is certainly not often associated with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).  Real learning is often...

Teacher development for inclusive pedagogy: The affordances of Professional Learning Communities

Across the world, schools are becoming more inclusive. This means that they are expected to enable the full participation and academic achievement of diverse students, many of whom may have...

The value of Literacy as a Social Practice approach to exploring young children’s experience of being taught to read and write in school

Over the last thirty years in English and Welsh State primary education, successive governments have placed increasing emphasis on ‘raising standards’ in literacy. Children’s attainment or...