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Knowledge entitlement or misguided policy? The new multiplication tables check for primary children

In 2020, the UK government will introduce a multiplication tables check for primary school children aged 8–9 in England. ‘Times tables’ are a contentious issue because they represent a lot...

Inequality of pedagogy in English schools: How significant is it?

Addressing educational inequality has been a longstanding focus for educational research as well as for English education policy, yet the attainment gap between rich and poor remains constant...

Spring 2019

Research Intelligence issue 138: Re-examining the curriculum This special issue – guest edited by Ruth Dann and Chris Hanley, convenors of BERA's Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy Special...

Helping teachers improve their use of computer games for student learning

Games have been used in schools since the 1970s. Currently, the games most commonly used in classrooms are ‘edutainment’ games such as Math Blaster (Boyle et al., 2016). These games are...

Our ‘science capital’ research story

The ASPIRES/2 and Enterprising Science teams are delighted to be awarded the 2018 BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award, which reflects our sociological commitment to praxis and, specifically,...

Deconstructing the SATs process: Resistance is futile?

In April 2016, a mother voiced her concerns on the English Local Schools Network website (Secret Parent, 2016) about withdrawing her 10-year-old from the new key stage 2 SATs. Her main concern was...

Heutagogy: Panacea or predicament in higher education?

In recent years, teaching within higher education has undergone a shift toward increasingly student-led pedagogies, as institutions seek to improve student autonomy, motivation, and achievement...

Data for decanting and the hatching of life trajectories

Education provides a sequence of academic production – the Department for Education sets outcomes for each stage of education for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 18....

Looking back on an event-full 2018

A year that championed educational research and its impact is now gone into the ether. We worked with our brilliant SIG convenors, partners and speakers to ply you with useful and enjoyable events...

BERA Blog highlights from 2018

BERA Blog end of year highlights

A seasonal welcome to all our BERA Blog readers in the UK and around the world in this, our third end-of-year-highlights special edition. And what a year this has turned out to be. (I really will...

Teaching as design: New research from technology-rich learning environments

  ‘We never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment. Whether we permit chance environments to do the work, or whether we design environments for...

Aspirations, expectations and rethinking outreach

‘Aspirations’ are a wonderfully simple concept. The problem is that it’s becoming increasingly clear they are of little worth in terms of understanding pathways towards higher education, as...