I argue for the continuing relevance of the Bourdieusian theoretical schema to research related to higher education. The paper discusses my use of Bourdieu in two research projects: an examination of the educational and occupational decision-making of final-year vocational A-level students; an analysis of the perceptions of final-year…

The article argues for the participation and involvement of students in developing learning spaces within higher education. In early childhood education there is a strong emphasis upon rights, democracy and planning learning through listening to young children. Taking inspiration from this, the study explores the use of participatory approaches in…

While interest in the voice of children and young people has grown alongside concern for their rights and participation, for those excluded from mainstream education or with a label of behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, the issue of student voice takes on particular relevance. Yet the voices of these young people, and particularly…

In England there are minority ethnic students with past family connections to the former British Empire, as well as recent Eastern European students, economic migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. One may wish to ask, do newly emerging racial identities conceptualise race and race relations in similar ways to existing minority ethnic communities?…

Using the British "Index to Theses", we found forty-seven Ph.D.s relating to second and foreign language learning and/or teaching defended in English universities in 2006. Objective criteria led us to fourteen theses which had investigated both teaching and learning. Over half of these adopted a process-product research design with the…

Literature must be used cautiously as evidence in social-historical research, but it can provide important information if the literature used is chosen carefully. Tressell's book, "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists," is used as an example which can provide information about literacy among the English working class of the early…

A critique of the research methods used in "Primary Education in England," a report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate that was based on teacher questionnaires and classroom observations of 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds in 542 schools. (SJL)

Critiques John Gray and associates' article "A Multi-level Analysis of School Improvement" in the same "School Effectiveness and School Improvement" issue. Instead of distinguishing between stable and unstable components of school-effectiveness indices and between different effects, the authors identify schools' variances…

This paper works in dialogue with Arjun Appadurai's paper, "Grassroots globalization and the research imagination" in an attempt to outline some necessary changes in researching education in the multiple contexts of globalisation. The paper provides two narratives as part of this project, which Appadurai calls the…

The author discusses the methodology underlying the national survey, Primary Education in England, and the way data are presented. He finds much to commend and some things to criticize. (Editor/SJL)

Nationally approved adult numeracy teacher training programmes were started in September 2002 following the introduction of subject specifications by the Department for Education and Skills and the Further National Training Organisation in England. These programmes delivered by higher education institutions and further education colleges were…

Draws on studies of child carers and the impact of the Child Support Act 1991 to examine the methodological, ethical, theoretical, and practical implications of researching children's views. Identifies social, political, and legal trends which form a background to growing interest in children as potential and actual participants in the research…

Discussion of different types of methodological approaches, and description of the research methods used to study an innovative secondary school in England, make clear why the case study was chosen as the method to employ. The methodological approaches considered included the positivist or scientific method, involving external observation and the…

Examines the differences between writing research conducted in England and that conducted in Canada and North America. Discusses how educators and researchers have used their observations to derive a pedagogy and have done so much too rapidly. (HTH)

Describes a research project on mainstream versus segregated education for special needs students, exploring whether research with children necessarily raises unique questions about ethics and methods. Claims that main complications arise not from children's inabilities but from the position ascribed them in society, and gives reasons for…