One hundred years have passed since John Dewey's seminal Democracy and Education (1916), yet academics and practitioners continue to search for ways in which democratic relationships in education can be enacted. This article uses a case study of an English Co-operative school to explore how far becoming co-operative can support a shift in the type…

Existing research on the use of technology in participatory theatre in education has paid little attention to the moment-to-moment unfolding that characterises the liveliness at the heart of such practice. In this conceptual article, we show how a sociomaterialist perspective can illuminate the contingent co-emergence of people, things and…

In recent years, educational research has paid special attention to teachers' practical-operative experience. The growing interest in the concept of practice within workplace settings has become a turning point in sociological, anthropological and educational studies. The present study aims to explore lecturers' perceptions and conceptions of…

Internationally, school readiness is increasingly the rationale for early childhood education and care (ECEC). This is the case in England, yet the statutory English Early Years Foundation Stage framework for children 0-5 years also requires practitioners to listen to children's voices: discourse indicates dissonance between school readiness and…

English independent schools are not required to follow government statutory guidance in a number of aspects including career education and guidance, and yet many are actively engaged in careers work and this has caught the attention of policymakers. State schools are subject to statutory guidance but, according to Ofsted and other authorities, the…

As a consequence of increasing pressures to enhance assessment and feedback in response to the National Student Satisfaction (NSS) and Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), universities continue to invest significant time and resources in making improvements to this area of practice. Since 2013 the University of Greenwich has adapted, enhanced and…

Schools are recognized as important locales for education and action to change food-related environmental and health behaviours. Research shows the potential for a whole school systems approach to integrate educational activities, food in school, and wider food-related interactions. However, little attention has been given to how theory is put…

Recent policies for English technical and vocational education and training (TVET), centred on apprenticeship reforms and the Sainsbury Review, have prioritised employer-led curricula and learning in employment settings. These policies are represented in policy discourse as radical changes that imitate successful European systems, raising new…

Much outreach work now focuses on the most educationally disadvantaged localities in England, identified by the government-funded National Collaborative Outreach Programme as "target wards." This study explores the underlying reasons why these districts return rates of young higher education participation that are not only comparatively…

This article investigates, from the perspective of senior and middle leaders, how secondary principals in England lead their schools to achieve sustainable performance despite policy shifts. Empirical data were drawn from structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses of a questionnaire survey from 309 effective and improved secondary schools in…

In 2011, Southampton Solent University, a post-1992 university in southern England, introduced a new marking scheme with the aims of changing marking practice to achieve greater transparency and consistency in marking, and to ensure that the full range of marks was being awarded to students. This paper discusses the strategic background to the…

In this paper, we present a case study of a philanthropic literacy initiative, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a book-gifting scheme for under 5s, and consider the impact of the scheme on literacy policy in the English city where it was introduced. We bring four lenses to bear on the case study. First, we analyse the operation of the scheme in…

Background: This paper considers the role of collaborative enquiry as a means of developing equity in education. The context was a collaborative project in which a university was supporting local schools in carrying out enquiry into their practice, with the purpose of moving the practice towards greater equity. Purpose: The research question…

This paper draws on data collected during a longitudinal collaborative project with teachers in England from schools and further education colleges. The project investigated "Learning to Learn" in partnership with teacher-researchers with a focus on how metacognitive awareness can be improved by enquiring into creative combinations of…

This paper relates most closely to David Raffe's writing on "policy borrowing" across countries and across time and his illumination for policy purposes of transition concepts such as "pathways". The discussion makes the point that concepts can both illuminate empirical reality as well as distort it. The paper then moves on to…