This article presents the findings of a qualitative interview study undertaken with RE teachers (n = 30), working in English schools with secondary status. Despite recent policy interest in character education, there is a lacuna of information about the extent RE contributes to character education. The present study focuses on teachers'…

The role of organisational culture in supporting organisational outcomes is well documented in the further education (FE) sector within the UK. The benefits of a strong and unifying culture are recognised as having a positive impact on staff and students. However, a cultural institutional dichotomy has been acknowledged between the business and…

Research on the promotion of 'fundamental British values' (FBV) in English schools has tended to focus on its nationalistic and securitising elements. Its role within a broader, politically conservative shift in values education, both in England and beyond, has received less attention. This paper addresses the latter, reporting on research into…

What impact did the 1988 Education Reform Act (1988 ERA) have on higher education from the perspectives of professors working in the sector at the time? How did it reshape the sector's structures? How did it contribute to the conditions that have unleashed the so called 'undergraduate monster'? These questions are addressed in this paper. I draw…

This article explores how the presence of competing logics in craft higher education (HE) influences educational provision and student experience. Findings are presented from four craft HE case studies across England, including analysis of degree programme specifications and module curricula and interviews with educators, current students and…

The promotion of fundamental British values (FBV) and character education in schools can be seen as part of a new policy landscape of values education in England, with significant implications for Religious Education (RE). Research on these policies has tended to emphasise their securitising and constraining effects. This paper shifts attention to…

The paper captures the professionalisation of teachers in the further education sector by shining a light on their everyday struggle to uphold their ethical goals in support of their students in a climate of performative and regulatory expectations. It reports on a small-scale qualitative study in which the six participants were either on the…

Physical education (PE) research focusing on initial teacher education (ITE) and continuing professional development (CPD) have been preoccupied with practitioners in mainstream (regular) schools. This article used situated learning theory to explore special school PE teachers' perspectives of their ITE and CPD in England. A number of key themes…

Due to significant developments in the use of education technology (EdTech) in schools and colleges since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department for Education (DfE) has initiated a programme of research to understand what works in EdTech to establish a strong evidence base for effective use of technology and embed this across the school system, so…

A child's early years play a significant role in determining their chances later on in life, including their chances of social mobility. But the poorest children are already 11 months behind their peers when they start at primary school, with efforts to close the gap stalling, and evidence that the gap has started to widen once again in recent…

Since 2010, government policy in England has positioned further education almost exclusively as employment-orientated training for school leavers whilst also imposing severe budget cuts. During this period, values-based pedagogies that foreground social justice for students, many of whom come from low-income households, have been undermined.…

Character education has enjoyed renewed interest both in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world. However, to date, few studies have examined how character education is enacted 'in situ'. Drawing on data from a study in three English secondary schools, this paper traces how political and scientific discourses on character are mobilised…

Contemporary discourse on Muslims and Islam has included a reassessment of traditional educational institutions; "makatib" and "madaris." Hitherto, understanding insider aspirations and anxieties appear to be rare. To this end, the perspectives of Muslim female teachers in "makatib" (supplementary schools for Muslims,…

Contextual approaches to high quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) seek to capture the complexity of children's lives, developing pedagogical approaches that are responsive to children's needs and interests. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a complex layer to the question of what constitutes quality ECEC. A mixed methods…

England's Further Education (FE) sector is in permanent flux with policy interpretations and translations taking place at multiple levels within increasingly large and complex multi-site organisations. Devolved responsibility gives managers considerable influence in policy enactment processes which can lead to within-college tensions between…