Teacher education and continuing professional development have become key areas of controversy in England since the period of school-sector restructuring following the 1988 Education Reform Act. More recently, teacher training and professional development have often been used to promote and reinforce a narrow focus on the government's…

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is now firmly on government agendas in many countries, including England, and the need to develop a professional workforce is generally agreed. The reform of the children's workforce in England acknowledges that increasing the skills and competence of this workforce is critical to its success. Two new…

This article explores the changing career trajectories of teaching assistants who graduated from a university in the northwest of England with a Foundation degree in Supporting Teaching and Learning. It begins with a consideration of the changing policy context in England in relation to the role of support staff in schools. This context informed…

The profile, status and funding of leadership development has risen dramatically both in the UK and internationally over the last decade. This article draws on a decade of study of leadership development programmes in order argue that school leadership training in England has received unprecedented levels of funding but that until very recently…

This paper examines the changing use of policy levers in the English postcompulsory education and training system, often referred to as the learning and skills sector (LSS). Policy steering by governments has increased significantly in recent years, bringing with it the development of new forms of arms-length regulation. In the English context,…

Workforce Remodelling in England has been presented as a means to enhance the development of teachers and promote rising educational attainment. Through a re-examination of roles, schools are presented with an opportunity to review their ways of working to improve the quality of their practices. This paper looks at the ways in which the…

This article draws on the Sustainability Education in European Primary Schools (SEEPS) Project, which was an EU-funded project examining approaches to sustainability education. As part of that project the team developed a case study approach to the individual country contributions to the overall project, which concluded by developing a model based…

Three kinds of important and valid educational study are discussed that are needed to provide more research and a better understanding: strict educational research, experimental writing, and policy papers. (ND)

The author presents the range of duties expected of deputy headteachers by analyzing the job descriptions for 30 positions advertised in 1982. (MD)

Describes the results of a study which investigated workload, job satisfaction and perceptions of role preparation of Principal Educational Psychologists (PEPs) in England. Results indicated that PEPs have a generally positive attitude to the profession and express overall job satisfaction. Despite the overall satisfaction, PEPs found the job…

Analyzes findings from a special (British) program that explored emotional dimensions of primary headteachers' leadership. Conceptualizes the emotions' role in organizations. Principals felt they had to abandon their humanity to lead, had sole responsibility for holding things together, and considered "good-enough" (imperfect) leadership…

Investigates perceptions of English headteachers and U.S. principals about crossing the professional "border" into school leadership. Using interview data, explores administrators' preparation for their new role and levels of professional support they received during induction. All went through "culture shock" while adjusting…

The primary headteacher's role has undergone significant changes since Britain's Education Reform Act (1988). This article explores headteachers' perceptions of change resulting from their career paths, imposed legislation, and relations with key stakeholders. Many changes are contradictory and generate paradoxes. Heads manage, but are more than…

Examination of the role of teacher educators at one small college in England finds teaching staff are labeled as either academics or non-academics (educationalists). Argues that educationalists are excluded (and exclude themselves) from participation in the academy and inhabit another world which more accurately mirrors the school room than the…