Since the Dakar Framework for Action, governments around the world, especially in Western societies, have reaffirmed their commitment to a quality education for all in an inclusive environment. The purpose of this paper is to understand the barriers that prevent an education system from guaranteeing an inclusive education for all and for children…

This paper traces long-standing philosophical, sociological and political tensions that have been at the core of narratives about state-funded teacher education, since its inception in England. These tensions are still visible today in debates around the professional knowledge of teachers, such as those described in Furlong (2013).…

The close study of classroom talk has been an active field of research since the 1970s, when John Furlong made his significant contribution. Focusing particularly on research into teacher-student interactions, we will review the development of this field from the 1970s until the present, considering what has been learned and the educational…

This paper discusses one of Furlong's major areas of work, the theory and practice of teacher education. Taking up where our joint publication "Teacher Education in Transition: Re-Forming Professionalism?" (Open University Press 2000) left off, it examines how accelerated moves towards school-based teacher education, as well as…

This paper explores the impact of a Teaching and Learning Audit of all government schools in Queensland, Australia. This audit has a concern with the extent to which schools "differentiate classroom learning". We note that in England, since September 2012, one of the standards that teachers have been expected to demonstrate is an ability…

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the admissions criteria used by the first two waves of secondary Free Schools in England. The type of criteria and their ranked order is explored and their potential impact on the school composition is considered. The findings demonstrate the diversity of criteria being used by this new type of…

From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, schools micro-computing in the UK developed from being a niche "hobbyist" activity to a prominent, officially mandated element of the national education system. Drawing on in-depth interviews with key actors of the time, this paper outlines the initial varied interpretations of schools…

This paper explores questions of relevance to Ethiopian primary education policy. It examines (i) the match/mismatch between government-prescribed pedagogy and actual student learning practices and (ii) the relationship between those practices and school, class and teacher level factors. The paper employs evidence from government documents on…

In recent years there has been a heightened interest in educating for well-being; the belief that even when beset by economic gloom, schools can be a civilising force for good and can help make young people's lives more fulfilling and meaningful. However, the relative lack of conceptual analysis on well-being values and how they can flourish…

Across Europe there are growing concerns about Islamophobia and far-right and anti-democratic movements. Until Anders Behring Breivik's July 2011 attacks in which 77 died, Norway's vulnerability was not perceived as great as that of other jurisdictions. Breivik declared his abhorrence of multiculturalism but also drew the world's…

Since coming to power in 2010, the UK Coalition government in power has implemented a range of reforms in relation to assessment at all stages of education in England. This paper focuses on two assessment reforms relating to children aged five and six years old, and considers their evolution from manifesto commitments to practice in classrooms.…

Focusing on data and policies from England, trends in educational disadvantage by area are traced from the late 1960s when the first pilot projects were established in the UK, to the present. The origins of these developments and the subsequent rises and falls of such area-based policies in England are reviewed. Specially collected data for the…

This paper takes Mary Warnock's paper in the first issue of the "Oxford Review of Education" as its starting point, and explores how both philosophical thinking about equality in education and the landscape of educational provision have changed. It articulates a view of justice in education that emphasises benefiting the least…

This article reports on a longitudinal study of student aspirations at the ages of 13 and 15 in three schools in the United Kingdom, where there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on aspirations in recent policy making. The data, based on individual interviews with 490 students in areas with significant deprivation as well as interviews with…

My aim in this paper is to raise the question of educational authority in terms of a philosophical and historical understanding in the context of a democratic polity. In particular, I wish to advance the view that educational authority in England is not well-founded since it resides increasingly with the Secretary of State for Education. This…