Laboratory practicals in life science subjects are traditionally assessed by written reports that reflect disciplinary norms for documenting experimental activities. However, the exclusive application of this assessment has the potential to engage only a narrow range of competencies. In this study, we explored how multiple modes of laboratory…

The article analyses in detail two lessons that were part of a larger research project on English teaching in Canada, England and Scotland. It considers whether the two English lessons are by their nature both dialogic and formative in practice. The research undertaken was carried out using arts-based criticism. It found that Eaglestone's notion…

The paper presents a study about pre-service science teachers' perceptions of the Nature of Science (NOS). Although there is a substantial amount of research on NOS in science teacher education, international comparative accounts particularly of in-depth qualitative data emerging from group discussions are fairly minimal. The primary aim of the…

This essay attempts to explore the links between politics, poetry, and collective, embodied readings and discussion in the classroom. When my Year 12 class were asked 'What is Poetry?', their answers suggested something in the Romantic tradition -- of poetry as expressive, individual and emotional. My experience studying poetry with my Year 9…

This study was interested in the views of Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) in one English county. Support staff from ten schools experienced 7 days of ELSA training over one academic year and attended four supervision sessions led by educational psychologists over the subsequent 12 months. Five ELSAs were interviewed about their views…

This paper reports on an intervention study conducted with the A level students whom I teach at a sixth form college in the north-west of England. The study aimed to survey the students' perceptions of the purposes of history education, and to broaden their understanding of the debate. The study drew upon data from 82 online forum posts from 41…

Peer Instruction (PI), a student-centred teaching method, engages students during class through structured, frequent questioning, facilitated by classroom response systems. The central feature of PI is the ConcepTest, a question designed to help resolve student misconceptions around the subject content. Within our coordination chemistry PI…

Previous research suggests that students can use exploratory talk to support their thinking and learning. However, students' own perspectives on such talk, and whether/how they value it, are rarely sought. Thirty 12-year-olds and their teacher used Talk Factory on an interactive whiteboard and iPads to support exploratory talk in English lessons…

Climate change scenarios project higher flood risk, so knowing how households can increase socio-ecological resilience is essential. Children rarely feature in UK policy guidance about how households prepare for floods, and research is limited about children's roles in local resilience building. Using a participatory action research, child-centred…

We report on a study evaluating the educational opportunities that highly multimodal and interactive Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) provide for collaborative learning in the context of interpreter education. The study was prompted by previous research into the use of VLEs in interpreter education, which showed positive results but which…

This article highlights the interactional work involved in relational aggression, and how rules and norms around sitting are used by students to achieve exclusion and dominance. This research took place in an English secondary school which educates pupils from Year 7 to sixth form (ages 11-18). Drawing on observation, walk-and-talk and group…

The article is a reflection on the use of an oral diary as a qualitative research tool, the role that it played during fieldwork and the methodological issues that emerged. It draws on a small-scale empirical study into primary school teachers' use of group discussion, during which oral diaries were used to explore and document teacher reflective…

Early Words Together at Two aims to help to improve the home learning environments of families of two-year-olds. It is designed for settings, including private and school nurseries and children's centres, who serve low-income families or any children with language and communication difficulties. Between January 2017 and March 2018, the programme…

School examinations of student responses to literature often present poetry blind or "unseen", inviting decontextualised close reading consistent with the orientation-to-text associated with Practical Criticism (originating in the UK) and New Criticism (originating in the USA). The approach survives in the UK after curricular reforms and…

This paper reports on a study of parental involvement in children's mathematics learning in the context of a series of workshops carried out in four primary schools in the United Kingdom. Previous research suggests that, while there are high correlations between parental involvement and positive student outcomes, it can be difficult to raise…