In this paper, I argue that power promised to England's teachers by the 2010 'Importance of Teaching' white paper has rather played out as a reformulation of methods of policymaking to more indirect modes of government control. I trace the growth of government control in English schools, promised front-line power in 2010 and a rise in…

The research focuses on the complexities associated with contemporary rural primary school leadership. The paper draws on in-depth ethnographic research undertaken in two contrasting English rural primary schools and their surrounding community over a period of three years and in particular the experiences and perspectives of the two head teachers…

This article draws on the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu to provide an explanatory account of how socialisation and the hidden curriculum within coaching practice contribute toward the formation of social identities and powerful schemes of internalised dispositions. Drawing on a 10 month ethnography within professional football, the…

This article reflects on the introduction of "matrix management" arrangements for an Educational Psychology Service (EPS) within a Children's Service Directorate of a Local Authority (LA). It seeks to demonstrate critical self-awareness, consider relevant literature with a view to bringing insights to processes and outcomes, and offers…

Success in educational programmes often depends on learners being able to negotiate and manage a variety of digital literacy practices commensurate with the literacy demands of their course. This paper reports on preliminary findings of a multi-method PhD study which examines the digital literacy practices arising when an adult learner in a UK…

In an increasingly diverse and digital society, understanding changes in contemporary communication practices that both draw from and extend beyond traditional principles of composition serves as an apt construct for exploring the nexus among youth, literacy and technology. This article will examine instances of urban youth exchanges in digital…

This paper asserts that the religious assumptions of Christian academies need to be fully examined in relation to any analysis of their cultural practices, impact or policy implications. It proposes that Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, cultural capital and symbolic power can be broadened out from their traditional use in accounting for social…

This article considers how one may integrate ethnographic data generation with research questions and an analytic framework that are strongly theoretically informed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). Generating data through participant observation of school-based, student teacher education activity and interviewing all those involved…

This article focuses on multilingual primary-aged children and their families in a post-industrial city in England. Such pupils, sometimes identified in education policy as "underachieving," often have rich experiences of learning that are hidden from their mainstream teachers and unrecognised in national assessment regimes. The article…

This paper examines the way students reflect upon discipline in a City Technology College which has a Bible-based Christian ethos. This ethos is formally operationalised within college pastoral care and academic structures through a set of seven Core Values. Using ethnographic data and theoretical perspectives derived from Bourdieu this paper…

Practice is not created and developed by individual teachers but is subject to what Kemmis and Grootenboer called "extra-individual conditions" and cultural histories. The "expectations" around teaching do much to create stereotypes and conformity around how to teach and how to act in schools. This paper explores a teacher's…

Partnerships between schools and universities in England use course handbooks to guide student teacher learning during long field experiences. Using data from a yearlong ethnographic study of a postgraduate certificate of education programme in one English university, the function of course handbooks in mediating learning in two high school…