The purpose of "A Better Future for our Schools" is to contribute to the debate about what a new government after 2015 should seek to achieve. It identifies 10 areas where current policies are clearly inadequate and damaging and identifies a range of actions to address each area. The manifesto is the outcome of debates organised by the…

Michael Gove has made examination reform a marked feature of his period as Education Secretary in the coalition government, although he has not always found it easy to bring about the changes he feels so strongly about, in the face of widespread opposition from teachers and educationists. This article seeks to analyse the Education…

This article looks at the impact of the Education and Childcare Minister on the provision of early childhood education and care in England. Policies being developed and promoted by Elizabeth Truss predate her appointment as a minister and are consistent with the radical neo-liberal agenda pursued by Secretary of State Michael Gove. The author…

It is self-evident that, given a group of very active young children and four walls within which to contain them, certain decisions have to be made fairly rapidly: what happens, where it happens, and when seem to be the most obviously pressing. When and how does differentiation come into play? Is it only when making decisions about grouping the…

The philosopher Martin Buber described the central role of surprise in education. Surprise is not an alternative to planning and order in schools, and it is not even an alternative to repetitive practice. It is, instead, that which must be allowed to occur in any dialogic encounter. Schooling that is creative and filled with hope will also be…

In this article, the authors describe the alternative approach to school development taken by the head teacher and staff of a primary school in Hertfordshire. Their approach is based on a resolutely optimistic and anti-determinist view of every child's capacity to learn, and their commitment to working as a school-wide community of learners.…

In the autumn of 1973, in an essay published in "FORUM" (Volume 16, Number 1), David Hawkins, scientist, mathematician, educationalist and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, argued that a truly democratic education required not so much a revolution in teaching methods as "the radical reconstruction of subject…

In a global and increasingly "knowledge-driven" economy where even semi-skilled jobs require qualifications, what may be done with and for young people whose attainment in school is low? This article draws on recent research with head teachers, college principals and administrators in English local authorities, combined with material…

The flip-side of teaching-as-delivery is assessment-as-ventriloquism. Required to describe pupils and their progress through the language of Level Descriptors and exam grade criteria, any teacher risks losing her voice. This article notes the hierarchising and normalising intention of currently authorised versions of assessment, and looks for a…

Recent scientific evidence demonstrates both the incredible potential of the brain to grow and change and the powerful impact of growth mindset messages upon students' attainment. Schooling practices, however, particularly in England, are based upon notions of fixed ability thinking which limits students' attainment and increases…

The use of structured ability grouping is increasing in English primary schools and is regularly seen in primary mathematics classrooms. Ability is a normalised discourse with beliefs that some individuals are "born to do maths" permeating society and infiltrating school practices. In this article, observation and interview data…

This article offers a personal account of a primary mathematics teacher's current practice and how it developed through participation in a professional development programme. This alternative to fixed-ability teaching is based on creating opportunities for learners to exercise choice and on an understanding of mathematics as connected. Key…

This article presents a study in which the author researched her own practice as the teacher of a reception class in a large primary school in England. The research focussed on the challenge of articulating what was tacitly or intuitively known: how, and why, the myriad of choices and decisions of which teaching is constituted could be made and…

This article examines whether or not teachers working in an inherently exclusive education system can in fact be "inclusive teachers". The author draws on work done over the past three years in a pan-European Teacher Education project highly committed to notions of social and educational cohesion and equity, and challenges both fixed and…

This article reports on a curricular approach to teacher education using the ideas in "Learning without Limits" to prepare teachers to enter a profession in which they take responsibility for the learning and achievement of all learners. Key aspects of Scotland's Inclusive Practice Project (IPP) are described and the role of…