This reflective piece--written primarily to provoke discussion--raises some questions about and for the recent "creativity agenda" in educational policy in England, suggesting that something fundamental is missing. The author argues that "creativity" has characteristically been defined in recent policy discourse as a set of skills concerned with…

The relationship between teaching and research is a touchstone in thinking about higher education. However, the last 40 years has seen the "dislocation" of these core academic activities as a result of policy and operational decisions to distinguish the way they are funded, managed, assessed and rewarded. The activities of "teaching" and…

The field of knowledge mobilisation (KM) addresses the multiple ways in which stronger connections can be made between research, policy and practice. This paper reviews the current situation around knowledge mobilisation in education. It addresses changing understandings of KM, considers some of the main issues in conducting empirical research in…

This paper proposes the importance of qualitative research synthesis to the field of higher education. It examines seven key texts that undertake synthesis in this field and compares essential features and elements across studies. The authors indicate strengths of the approaches and highlight ways forward for using qualitative research synthesis…

Research into the practice of academics serves to inform higher education development (HED) theory and interventions, and is important for the development of the professional knowledge of the HED practitioner. Through such research HED practitioners gain access to what in another context is referred to as "guilty knowledge". The complex ethical…

Graduate supervision is a puzzling pedagogy requiring a thoughtful response from its practitioners. In this article, I reflect upon teaching theories of supervision produced through my own research with the aim of galvanizing the imaginations and practices of supervisors. I address a curious reluctance to introduce those theories that require…

The concept of the internationalisation of university curricula is being developed with more complex and critical views emphasising the cultural and social aspects of globalisation as well as its economic and political aspects. Putting these ideas into practice however, is a challenge to institutions, since that requires fundamental educational…

This review sought to locate key themes in the literature on teaching and learning thinking and practices, by examining areas of influence and mapping ideas about the themes of practice, transfer and communities in higher education or related contexts. The findings indicate that issues of pedagogical stance, disjunction, learning spaces, agency,…

In the present paper the authors will describe the development of school evaluation policies in the context of recent Japanese education reform. In doing so, the applicability of Neave's "Evaluative State" thesis shall be examined. And then they will move on to the discussion as to how the policies will work in schools. Drawing on the findings of…

This paper has developed from research that the author initiated. The data were derived from an outreach project that aimed to increase awareness of and participation in higher education amongst Muslim women within a major English city. The paper elevates some of the author's findings into a general discussion on the role of higher education (HE)…

Michael Hand's interesting analysis of the concept of intelligence crucially depends upon three assumptions: firstly, that there is an ordinary use of the term which, when applied to an individual is perfectly general and not context dependent. Secondly, that this use is best cashed in terms of aptitude. Thirdly, that the aptitude in question is…

This paper argues that there are some common characteristics that define what we label graduate professional programmes. By analysing two programmes, law and psychology--as experienced by the students--it becomes obvious that while the programmes educate their students well in the academic aspects of professional work, they do not prepare students…

The evaluation of systematic review as part of the evidence-based or evidence-informed practice movement is a dominant theme in current debates in educational research. This article contributes to the debate by offering a personal, reflexive narrative on the process of doing systematic review, relating some of the arguments regarding the merits…

Educators are continuously challenged to increase their pedagogical effectiveness when teaching adult learners. Neo-Piagetian theory and research, based on Piaget's classic work, provides promising concepts and tools to help educators enhance their pedagogical knowledge and competence when teaching adults. Consequently, through research findings…