Advancing equity is a major challenge facing education systems globally. This creates an imperative for researchers to work with policymakers and practitioners to affect change. There have been many attempts to do this using various forms of action-oriented research and a considerable body of knowledge exists about their strengths and limitations.…

This paper presents findings from a small-scale pilot evaluation of the Silver Stories programme. Silver Stories involves school-age children reading to older people in the community and is a way of addressing literacy and emotional difficulties, as well as enhancing wellbeing. The authors collected and analysed questionnaire and interview data…

Purpose: Considering the relevance of education for sustainable development (SD) to enhancing engineers' abilities to contribute towards sustainability-related issues, this study aims to help understand the global context of the insertion of SD into engineering education and to provide guidelines to further evolve research and efforts towards…

Evidence-based reform is transforming education at all levels, both in providing effective models for use in schools and in linking policy to effective practice on a broad scale. As early education moves from a concern with effects of preschool versus no preschool to focus on creating and evaluating effective preschool models capable of improving…

The School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies at the University of Nottingham hosted the fifth annual conference in the "Innovative Language Teaching at University" series. Under the heading "Enhancing participation and collaboration" the conference, organised by Cecilia Goria, Oranna Speicher and Sascha Stollhans, took…

This article discusses teachers' experiences of making simple changes to lessons with the aim of enhancing students' ability to make connections between their everyday knowledge and science and enrich their perception of what counts as science, increasing their science capital. The classroom work followed findings by the ASPIRES team at King's…

This article identifies new arrangements between the state and non-state actors in the public sector, one that extends current understandings of education privatisation, the transformation of public services 'by substitution' and, specifically theories of the 'shadow state'. Drawing on data from the Political Economy of Teacher Education (PETE)…

The system of teacher education management, namely, forms and principles of teacher education management according to the normative base (Education Reform Act (1988); Education Act (1992; 1993; 1996; 1997; 2002); School Standards and Framework Act (1998); Higher Education Act (2004), etc.), monitoring and participation of the public in its…

The complex relationship between language and culture has been widely problematised in applied linguistics and education (see Byram, 1997; Byrnes, 2002; Kramsch, 1993; Risager, 2006). While this issue has been extensively explored from a theoretical perspective, few studies have examined the complexity of this relationship from the…

Learn how exemplary countries are dealing with the challenges and joys of advancing the development of their youngest citizens. In this book, Sharon Lynn Kagan and her contributors systematically examine how six diverse countries go about envisioning, designing, and implementing their services to young children and their families. "The Early…

This paper describes the findings of a qualitative evaluation of an early years' intervention, I Can's Early Talk (ET) programme. ET was designed to improve speech, language and communication outcomes for children aged 0-5 by focusing on enhancing practitioners' knowledge and skills. The research focused on children aged 3-4 years and was…

Workforce Remodelling in England has been presented as a means to enhance the development of teachers and promote rising educational attainment. Through a re-examination of roles, schools are presented with an opportunity to review their ways of working to improve the quality of their practices. This paper looks at the ways in which the…

This paper highlights critical shortcomings in the approach to apprenticeship in England and argues that the proposed Apprenticeship Framework is unlikely to fulfil its stated aims of enhancing quality and quantity. The key weaknesses identified are a clear definition of what constitutes an apprenticeship framework, an educational component,…

Workforce Remodelling in England implemented between 2003 and 2005 has been presented by the "New Labour" government as a means of enhancing the development of teachers and promoting rising educational attainments. While the processes that schools were to follow to achieve the desired "fundamental alteration in mindset" were…

Outlines certain aspects of the Government's grants scheme that provides funds for information technology in schools. Discusses allocation of funds, National Council for Educational Technology involvement, how schools are using their grants, and meeting training needs. (JRH)