It is now half a century since Joey explained to Paul Willis: 'Vandalising […] that's the opposite of boredom -- excitement, defying the law', one of many similar comments subsequently recorded in "Learning to Labour" (34). The book rapidly became an academic best-seller, and has since become an academic 'national treasure'. But, before…

The author takes a retrospective look at his book "Religious Education: An Interpretive Approach," first published in 1997, and now available to readers, open access, via the European Wergeland Centre website (http://www.theewc.org/Content/Library/Research-Development/Literature/Introducing-Religious-Education-an-Interpretive-Approach).…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of critical policy analysis (CPA) in the fields of educational leadership and policy. In addition to exploring how CPA compares to traditional research approaches in educational leadership and policy, the authors consider the influence of long-established ways of knowing, why scholars choose…

Educational effectiveness research (EER) has accumulated much knowledge in the areas of school effectiveness research (SER), teacher effectiveness research (TER) and school/system improvement research (SSIR). Yet many schools and educational systems are not making enough use of the material and their insights. The article reviews evidence of…

The article "Getting lost in translation" by Harris, Chapman, Muijs and Reynolds addresses the engagement of policy-makers and educational practitioners with (the results of) educational effectiveness and improvement research. In this commentary the article is discussed from the perspectives of research utilisation, the solidity of the…

This article is a response to the growing criticisms of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) ethical guidelines on anonymity and pseudonymity as default positions for participants in qualitative educational research. It discusses and responds to those criticisms under four…

The quality of qualitative research has been subject to considerable criticism recently, partly driven by the development of an international movement for "evidence-based policy and practice." In the United States, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are posited by some as the best way of producing reliable research knowledge. Also,…

This article responds to criticisms, put forward by Harrison and Waller in this issue, of an earlier paper by Noble and Davies. In particular, we argue that our interpretation of earlier quantitative research is correct, that Harrison and Waller have misconstrued the purpose of our previous paper and the analysis it contains, and that they…

Guidance and legislation in the UK suggest that it is becoming increasingly important to listen to the voices of pupils, to acknowledge their rights and to consult and collaborate with them in the development of personalised approaches to their education. In this article, Jackie Ravet, lecturer in inclusive practice at the University of Aberdeen,…

I discuss philosophical and methodological difficulties in researching young children's spiritual development. I describe my research involving detailed discussions with, and observations of, 14 teachers of 4- and 5-year-olds. I highlight key issues, including what distinguishes spiritual from other sorts of development, the nature of children's…

Evaluates two British ethnographic studies by Bruce Carrington and Edward Wood, and by Cecile Y. Wright claiming to find evidence of teachers' racist attitudes and behaviors toward Afro-Caribbean students that contributed to student underachievement. Delineates methodological flaws. Argues that Wright's findings that the source of racism is in…