A plethora of research studies has found cooperative learning to be effective in promoting academic achievement with students of all ages. It has been suggested that key elements of cooperative learning are individual accountability and positive interdependence. Forty-four final-year teacher trainees participated in a study which compared the…

The article raises questions about how argumentation is situated in science and religious education. Argumentation is about the justification of claims with reasons and evidence. It is a way of reasoning in both science and religious studies. A current 3-year research and development project entitled "Oxford Argumentation in Religion and…

This paper presents a comparative critique of key education and teacher education policies in England adopted by New Labour (1997-2010) and the Coalition government (2010-2015). It focuses on direct measures intended to alleviate the effects of poverty on young people's educational outcomes, and on teacher education policies with implications for…

The construct of Britishness, as with nationalism elsewhere in the world, although amorphous and permeable over time, continues to be used by politicians and the media as a powerful exclusionary force. Moreover in England, fundamental British values (FBV), its most recent and official incarnation, now hold particular currency in education policy…

This article compares the practices of teacher educators with those of academics working as educators on pre-service courses for nurses and social workers. It includes a framework for analyzing professional education work, which conceptualizes the educators as "second order practitioners." The findings of the study show that similar…

This paper examines the value that secondary trainees on England's Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) and those on a secondary Postgraduate Certificate in Education Programme attached to the university-based and school experience elements of their respective programmes. Indications emerging from the data suggest that all trainees value the school…