The unexpected advent of a global pandemic and, in the UK, as part of the government response to control the spread of the virus, the closure of schools with just 48 hours' notice, meant many English teachers were faced with entirely new pedagogical, curricular and technological demands. This article reflects on the experiences of five English…

Ernesto Macaro is Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, UK. He was the founding director of the EMI Oxford Research Group (formerly the Centre for Research and Development in English Medium Instruction) in the Department of Education. His research focuses on second language learning…

The issue of class size is a complex and contested topic that has divided opinion for many years. Whilst many teachers believe that smaller class sizes assist in enhancing outcomes, a number of policy influencers, policy makers and researchers argue that it has little influence on success in learning and that decreasing class sizes is not…

The article argues for the participation and involvement of students in developing learning spaces within higher education. In early childhood education there is a strong emphasis upon rights, democracy and planning learning through listening to young children. Taking inspiration from this, the study explores the use of participatory approaches in…

This article provides a reflective commentary on the modification of the lead author's professional practice in a secondary academy in England. The modification of practice has been as a result of work conducted on a postgraduate Masters module, which has focused on practitioner development of an exemplar grammar lesson devised for Year Nine…

Over the last 30 years, controversy has reigned over the rights of children with learning disabilities to be educated alongside their peers in a mainstream classroom. Whether this is called integration or inclusion has been another hotly debated discussion among professionals. There have been calls for the abolition of special schools. This paper…

It is six years since NIACE published the findings of its Committee of Inquiry on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Its report, "More than a language," made significant and wide-reaching recommendations aimed at addressing the quality of provision, unmet demand and the structure of ESOL teaching qualifications. The…

While creative subjects such as music, art and film have been deprioritised and defunded under the United Kingdom's Conservative Government, the social and pedagogical utility of their study, particularly in areas of economic deprivation and within neurodivergent cohorts, is clear. This article draws forth these issues in a conversation with Del…

In this commentary on Neil Humphrey's "Are the Kids Alright? Examining the Intersection between Education and Mental Health" (EJ1247696), Tamsin Ford agrees with Humphrey's argument that moral panic or not, a significant proportion of children experience difficulties that interfere with their education and outlines the significant…

As a postsecondary educator with most of my experience teaching in colleges, but with some also in undergraduate and postgraduate studies both in Canada and the United States, I have been teaching politics and government for close to fifty years. That time has been spent not only undertaking empirical analyses of political behaviour and the…

In this article, the author talks about the finding of NIACE's inquiry into adult numeracy learning. One clear finding is that more classroom learning for adults will not bring about a more numerate society. The author discusses the need to create a culture in which maths is perceived as worthwhile and even enjoyable. She stresses that at a time…

Good ideas have many parents, bad ones are often orphans. And since it is now 20 years since the first Adult Learners' Week in England, and the idea has been adopted and adapted to local circumstances in 55 countries, there must be something going for it. As the twenty-first Adult Learners' Week gets underway, the author reflects on the origins of…

Recognising that regional differences in mentored undergraduate research and inquiry (URI) practices shape how academic developers might adapt international practices and resources to their local contexts, guest editor Jessie L. Moore invited four scholars to discuss the key terms, concepts, and initiatives for mentored URI in their countries.…

In this commentary, we reflect critically on the experience of delivering community-based sexual pleasure workshops for self-defining women in order to share lessons from our practice with others working in sex and sexualities education in higher education or in practice settings. Our discussion about facilitating these workshops in informal…

In John Dixon's account of Dartmouth, experience is seen as central to the business of English as a school subject. Experience, for Dixon, is the raw material that is worked on in the classroom. What kinds of theory inform this emphasis on experience, and what are the curricular and pedagogic implications of this version of English? How does…