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Identifying tensions between school readiness policy and teacher beliefs, knowledge and practice in early childhood education

This blog post is based on my recent article published in the British Educational Research Journal (Kay, 2023). Using data from semi-structured interviews with two teachers, the paper addresses...

Exploring children’s experiences: The value of metaphor, film and photography

Many who conduct research with children in schools will be familiar with interview responses that are monosyllabic or seem designed to please (Mayall, 2008). Children can be shy, wary of...

Guest editing opportunity for Research Intelligence, issue 160

Education and democracy

Growing up green: What value is placed on accessing outdoor environments across different childcare and educational settings?

BERA Conference 2023

It is well known that spending time in nature is beneficial for children (Chawla, 2015). However, in Britain, children now spend less time outside than previous generations (Moss, 2012), which has...

Personality-sensitive pedagogies: A mixed-methods study of small-group interactions among 9–10-year-olds

BERA Conference 2023

This pilot study sought to identify relationships between primary pupils’ personality profiles and their patterns of interaction during small group collaboration. In UK classrooms, pupils often...

British Educational Research Journal: Call for special issues (2024)

This opportunity is now closed. The incoming editors of the British Educational Research Journal (BERJ) intend to publish a number of special issues during their tenure, which commences in...

What are we educating for in early childhood education?

The overall question of this BERA Blog special issue can be understood in two different ways: what is being done now at the current time by educators (what are we educating for), and it can also...

What could we be educating for in primary education?

We know that the primary timetable is overcrowded, testing is embedded in almost every year of a child’s primary schooling (Wyse et al., 2022), and expectations of what teachers must cover grow...

Early education and childcare: A tension to be managed?

The recent announcement in England about extending free childcare for working parents seemed like very good news. The offer, to be realised over two to three years, included free childcare of 30...

Creating an inclusive learning environment for autistic pupils at primary school

When you think of a typical primary school classroom, what comes to mind? Most likely it’s a brightly lit, stimulating space full of colour and sound – all designed to engage curious young...

Winter 2023/24

Research Intelligence issue 157: Research & practice on migration & education across the four nations of the UK

Guest editing opportunity for Research Intelligence, issue 159

The future of academic publishing