The British Educational Research Association (BERA) has promulgated a concept of close-to-practice research that is seen as vital to defending and promoting education as an academic discipline. However, what is overlooked are the questions of what education is for and what educational practice is--questions that need to be addressed for any…

While research evidence has the potential to improve classroom practice, research-practice gaps continue to persist not least owing to the limited relevance of research findings for practice. A common approach in healthcare to address the research-practice gap is to form research priority setting partnerships (PSPs) in which stakeholders identify…

This paper examines the operation of the English Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunal system in relation to children who present with a dyslexia diagnosis. It identifies a number of significant weaknesses; in particular, the absence of clear diagnostic criteria capable of differentiating such children from large numbers of other…

History education that deals with the controversial and sensitive past is a vehicle for peacemaking in conflict-affected societies. However, its success is dependent on teachers taking risks to challenge entrenched 'us versus them' views of history. How does a student teacher in Northern Ireland grapple with risk-taking when learning to teach…

Drawing on descriptions of research-into-practice initiatives, this article presents a new framework to aid understanding of how research findings influence educational practice at scale. The framework focuses upon five areas: trustworthiness of the findings and generalisability; implications and instructions for practice; support for…

Innovative learning spaces have emerged in response to the influx of educational technologies and new social practices associated with twenty-first-century learning. Whilst dominant narratives of change often suggest that alterations in the designed environment for learning will result in changed practice, on the ground educators are struggling to…

Like many areas of curricula internationally, technology education has encountered difficulties in achieving continuity between the rhetoric of prevailing policy and the reality of enacted practices. In technology education, the conceptually oriented nature of curricular goals is theorised to play a significant part in influencing this…

This article explores the relationship between ontological assumptions and studies of educational dialogue through a focus on Bakhtin's "dialogic". The term dialogic is frequently appropriated to a modernist framework of assumptions, in particular the neo-Vygotskian or sociocultural tradition. However, Vygotsky's theory of education is dialectic,…

This article seeks to contrast two constructions of teachers and teaching in England. The first construction is to be found in government documentation, which privileges a technical-rational approach. The second is to be found in film and advertising for the profession, where the teacher is represented as an altruistic and charismatic subject. In…

This article feeds into debate about the feasibility and usefulness of educational experiments by discussing methodological issues arising out of a study which sought causal links between teaching and learning of one aspect of French as a foreign language. The study involved two small-scale experiments which tested a hypothesis regarding the…

Educational research is widely construed as the scientific investigation of the causes of 'effective' teaching. Discussion of values and philosophical problems is condemned as descent into 'ideology'. Opposing this is a conception of teaching as "phronesis" where educational research and philosophy may be desirable, but have no direct relationship…

Reports on in-depth interviews with two Australian, secondary school, social studies teachers regarding beliefs and practices about questioning techniques. Finds that the teachers hold implicit theories regarding questioning that are unique, idiosyncratic, and incomplete. (CFR)

Advocates revamping the British educational system from technical-rational content model to student-centered process programs designed to promote critical thinking, individual initiative, and communication skills. Discusses obstacles to this educational reform, emphasizing research orientation. Urges the British Educational Research Association to…

Contends British educational researchers must begin investigating what is taught in the classroom and how teachers might best manage content within the constraints of the National Curriculum. Reviews U.S. research concerning the importance of subject matter in educating students. Illustrates research possibilities for problems in primary…