This article reflects on the findings of a nationally-funded research project which investigated the practice and impact of museum theatre at two UK museums: the Imperial War Museum, London, and the People's History Museum, Manchester. The research team tracked the museum experiences of eight groups of primary school children, half of whom…

This paper can be conceived as one story embedded in a second story, in which the "outer" narrative, involving the theoretical and methodological framework, is that of my search for a means of defining, articulating and implementing an aesthetic epistemology in both academic research and in teacher education/development (a search that is advanced…

This paper summarizes the findings of a systematic review of research on the reliability and validity of teachers' assessment used for summative purposes. In addition to the main question, the review also addressed the question "What conditions affect the reliability and validity of teachers' summative assessment?" The initial search for studies…

If teachers are to sustain engagement with the challenges involved in promoting Learning How to Learn in classrooms they need to continue learning, and to be supported to do so by their schools. This article addresses the research question, "How do teachers value and practise professional learning?" Data are reported from the ESRC TLRP Learning…

The Malta Primary Literacy Value-Added study was the outcome of a process of testing and matching at ages 9-10, the pupils in Maltese primary schools who were tested three years earlier, at ages 6-7. All primary schools in the island took part at both stages. Pupils were tested in both Maltese and English at both ages. In addition extensive data…

All interest necessarily links the person with the external environment: the object/s of interest. Research into children's interests is examined in the context of a rapidly-expanding literature which has generated several powerful concepts in recent decades, notably "individual interest", "situational interest" and "topic interest". The first is…

This paper reviews the history of educational research, primarily in Britain, showing how the concept of research in education -- what it is, how it was done, and what its function should be -- has changed over the past hundred years. A central theme is the growing acceptance of research in education, which paradoxically, it is suggested, may have…

Internationally and historically in the UK, considerable research has been undertaken regarding teachers' pedagogical practices when working with high or low ability classes. Latterly, in the UK, research has focused on pedagogical practices in mixed ability classes. This paper aims to compare secondary school teachers' pedagogical practices in…

The Best Practice Research Scholarship programme (BPRS) was one of a series of initiatives designed by the English Department for Educational Studies (DfES) between 2000 and 2003, to support teachers' continuing professional development. Each year, around 1,000 Scholarships of up to 3,000 British pounds each, were awarded to serving classroom…

In James Elroy Flecker's poem "The Gates of Damascus", the poet imagines four exits from the safe comfortable city to the outside world. Each gate takes the traveller into a different set of temptations and dangers. The Aleppo Gate leads to trade and commerce, the Mecca Gate is for faith and pilgrimage, the Lebanon Gate is for exploration and the…

The study explores how teachers use the ideas that pupils offer when consulted. Six teachers (two each in English, Maths and Science) and their Year 8 classes at three secondary schools were involved. The research was carried out in three stages. During the first stage the focus was on eliciting pupils' ideas about classroom teaching and learning…

This paper is set in the context where there is a policy emphasis on teacher learning and development in a number of countries as a means towards school improvement. It reports on a longitudinal research project about the workplace learning of English secondary school teachers, carried out between 2000 and 2003. This was part of a Teaching and…

The process of a school becoming more inclusive involves teacher learning. The Economic and Social Research Council Teaching and Learning Research Programme (ESRC TLRP) research and development Network "Understanding and Developing Inclusive Practices in Schools" presented an opportunity both to understand the nature of this learning and to…

It is difficult to transform research evidence into teacher practice; indeed it has been argued that educational research is not very useful to teachers. In this paper, we explore teacher knowledge about a relatively new area of research concerning the role morphemes play in spelling, and seek to transform their practice. We find that although…

One aim of the Evidence-based Practice in Science Education (EPSE) Network was to obtain a better understanding of the extent to which practitioners in science education recognise and make use of research findings in the course of their normal practice. The aim was realised through an interview and focus-group study of views of practitioners on…