While a number of recent studies highlight John Stuart Mill's role as a "teacher of the people," his reflections upon the political significance of higher education have received relatively little attention. I argue that Mill's 1867 St. Andrews Address was both a defense of liberal education against influential arguments for religion-…

Removal of the student numbers cap, reductions in funding and an accompanying need to generate revenue have driven education towards neo-capitalism and managerialism: students equate to income. An associated growth in performativity measures incorporates student voice as one of these benchmarking requirements. Aiming to explore and challenge…

This literature review begins by considering the concept of autonomy. The focus narrows to teacher autonomy specifically and a range of conceptualisations are summarised. Its influences and impact are discussed and the role which teacher autonomy plays in the wider issue of teacher professionalism is addressed. Central influences, including the UK…

This paper is based on a one-year research project in the UK designed to investigate teachers' strategies for motivating learners and managing non-compliant behaviour in the further education sector. Carried out in collaboration with 203 teachers in three colleges of further education, the inquiry set out to identify, through the use of…

Prior to the subtraction of Section 28 from the 1988 Local Government Act in 2003, a substantial amount of research was published that specifically examined the experiences of lesbian physical education (PE) teachers. This article contributes to the existing academic literature by exploring the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual…

In requiring that teachers should "not undermine fundamental British values (FBV)," a phrase originally articulated in the Home Office counter-terrorism document, Prevent, the Teachers' Standards has brought into focus the nature of teacher professionalism. Teachers in England are now required to promote FBV within and outside school,…

The Internet has made sexually explicit media more accessible to young people. Online pornography is diverse, can be very graphic, and a large amount is available free of charge with restrictions varying by country. Many young people are accessing online pornography, intentionally or unintentionally, and there are fears that this could impact on…

The Equality Act 2010 will be implemented in full in 2011, and schools in the UK will have to provide special aids or services for children with disabilities where this provision is considered reasonable. This paper reports on staff perspectives on the use and usefulness of a parental questionnaire on disability from a sample of 49 schools…

This article discusses student sex workers in higher education in Wales from an institutional perspective. It investigates how student sex work is dealt with within higher education and in doing so highlights the lack of higher education policies/guidance/training to assist staff members who have experiences with students working in the sex…

Higher education institutions in the UK are required, by law, to make "anticipatory" reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities. Inclusive teaching practice, if adopted across the sector, would ensure that the needs of students with disabilities are considered and provided for, before they even arrive on campus. This paper…

Positive attitudes held by general classroom teachers toward the principles of inclusion and toward students with disabilities are central in ensuring the successful progress of the inclusive movement. To underline the critical nature of teacher attitudes, this comparative study draws on a sample of the literature from western nations implementing…

This article presents research investigating the match of children's needs against provision in the context of the increasing use of non-VI designated and non-specialist forms of provision. The data suggest that despite a lack of access to training, either through award bearing or long courses, teachers' confidence and feelings of competence may…

Section 28 (part of the Local Government Act of 1988) was a notorious piece of legislation that sought to prevent local education authorities in the UK from "promoting homosexuality". The effect of Section 28 was to create uncertainty and fear among teachers as to what was (and what was not) permitted in schools. Over time practitioners…

Objective: A nationwide survey of teachers investigated the teaching of food hygiene in UK secondary schools. Previous studies have focused on effective strategies in consumer food hygiene training but there is little research focusing on school-based education. Design: The questionnaire was developed based on the results of in-depth interviews…

This article assesses the impact of education reform and the new public management (NPM) on the discretion of school teachers. The focal point of the study is Michael Lipsky's theory of discretion which casts public service professionals and others involved in service delivery as "street-level bureaucrats" because their high degree of…