This paper examines the relationship between specific documentaries and white student teachers' emotional responses to their viewing as part of a postgraduate teacher education course on educational equality. Documentaries are considered in terms of features (including elements of text), form (including stylistic conventions) and function in order…

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) tends to be conducted at local levels in the university by academics who evaluate and question their own teaching practices with a view to improvement. Institutional research, however, has tended towards the large scale use of statistics often generated through a university's own procedures,…

This study aims to ascertain student and staff attitudes to and perceptions of audio feedback made available via the virtual learning environment (VLE) for summative assessment. Consistent with action research and reflective practice, this study identifies best practice, highlighting issues in relation to implementation with the intention of…

Innovation in enhancing the reflective abilities of physical education trainee teachers was explored in this study through establishing peer "training buddies" during their school placements. Opportunities for active engagement in peer- and self-reflection were provided to full-time Post-Graduate Secondary Physical Education trainee…

Bioscience employers demand graduates with better practical competence. It is our supposition that, although undesirable, student learning is assessment driven and this is leading students to simply go through the motions in the practical setting (whether field work or laboratory based). In this intervention a Critical Incident Report was…

This is an ethnographic study of promotion of metacognition, focusing on the teaching practices in secondary mathematics classrooms of three teachers in the UK. With all three teachers, observations of their teaching and interviews regarding their teaching were conducted. The main aim was analysing and substantiating the parallels and differences…

This article reports on research which identified perceptions of reading and the teaching of reading held by trainee teachers and the impact on my provision as a teacher educator. It found that students' past and present experiences of learning to read and being a reader influenced their perceptions of what reading is and of what it means to teach…

In the quest for a better reflexive research practice and to respond to the challenge of expanding on an education research repertoire, the authors consider "situational analysis," proposed as a post-modern approach to grounded theory using maps. Originally situating their research projects within a social constructivist theoretical…

This paper provides an account of a school-centred research and development project aimed at improving teacher and pupil understanding of talk as a tool for learning. The paper establishes the basis for a dialogic pedagogy and reflects on strategies for creating an effective classroom climate that promotes productive and purposeful talk. It goes…

This paper presents findings of a research project that aimed to critically examine the pedagogical beliefs of work-based learning teachers, and their potential implication on practice and expectations of learners and employers. Based on an online tool, qualitative and quantitative (descriptive) data were generated from a purposive sample of some…

Despite an underlying inclusion agenda, sexuality equality remains a low priority in education. Review of literature suggests the marginalization of sexual minority young people (SMYP) in schools. This study explores educational psychologists' (EPs') constructions of sexuality and the implications for practice. Discursive psychology was used to…

In this article the authors compare two phases of an ongoing, annual online peer observation project at the Open University. Adopting a non-managerialist approach, the project aims to give teachers a renewed sense of collegiality, allowing them to take responsibility for aspects of their professional development and share practice points. While…

This paper explores the cumulative reflections of lecturers examining their tacit assumptions of teaching practice. Despite extensive literature on the educational value of reflection, there is less visible research on teachers assessing their own reflective thinking. This longitudinal interpretive study uses Larrivee's assessment framework with a…

Highlighting the application of ethnomusicology beyond the traditional boundaries of the academy, this article investigates the use of music in adult literacy education. In 2005, as part of the Literacy and Equality in Irish Society (LEIS) project, adult literacy tutors working in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (UK), were invited to enrol in…

This paper takes the form of a discussion document. A number of ideas surrounding the topics of continuing professional development (CPD), performance management (PM) and effective classrooms in secondary schools are outlined. The paper draws on some of the recent literature in these areas and refers to some current trials within a UK-based…