In this article I consider changes in the remit and interpretation of the role of Ofsted since its inception in 1992, with particular reference to early years inspections.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to better understand the "black box" of how coaching is enacted and how it unfolds in practice. Indeed, some of the mixed results concerning the efficacy of executive coaching appear anchored to the confusion and surrounding ambiguity of the episodic and processual nature of coaching. In this…

This article examines race, racism, and anti-racism in an historical example of British radical theatre-in-education in the 1980s: Pit Prop Theatre's "Brand of Freedom" (1984). We argue that while the programme's aims prefigured contemporary moves toward decolonising drama and theatre education, its theatrical representation of Black…

Competency-based assessment is undergoing an evolution with the popularisation of programmatic assessment. Fundamental to programmatic assessment are the attributes and buy-in of the people participating in the system. Our previous research revealed unspoken, yet influential, cultural and relationship dynamics that interact with programmatic…

This paper considers issues around identity for teaching assistants (TAs) in mainstream English primary schools. We discuss the concomitant problems TAs experience around role definition and role-creep as well as the challenges inherent in equivocally defining their evolving and flexible role. We used key themes drawn from the literature…

Perceived parenting is a crucial and complex factor for the psychological well-being of adolescents. The Adolescent Family Process Short-Form (AFP-SF) investigates the perception of adolescents' maternal and paternal parenting across six dimensions: closeness, support, communication, monitoring, peer approval, and conflict. This was the first…

The doctrine of leader centrism, supported by the concept of methodological individualism, dominates contemporary accounts of leadership in education and is generally applied as the default option that explains how organizations such as schools function. We argue that methodological individualism is not defensible and that as a result, the…

Bullying literature notes that aside from the dyadic relationship of target and perpetrator, there are other participant roles in the bullying process including those that reinforce the perpetrator and those that stand up for the target. Most examinations of bullying roles have relied on self-reported data, which suffer from key limitations such…

This paper explores ideas about the role of the school principal embedded in New York State education policy. Many public schools across the state fail to deliver equitable opportunities and outcomes for an increasingly diverse student population and improving school leadership offers the potential for substantial returns. Drawing on concepts of…

Drawing on feminist and critical theories of politics and emotions, this paper attends to the hegemony of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) for multiply-marginalized students and explores what exemplary Young Adult (YA) novels can teach scholars, educators, and students about the productive use of anger in the face of injustice. Two acclaimed young…

Many educators are also academic researchers and activists. This diversity can enrich our lives in important ways, allowing us to experience distinct domains of life and apply insights across them. Nevertheless, the responsibilities connected to these roles sometimes conflict in ways that undermine the meaningfulness of an educator's life by…

This article compares the ILA 2017 Standards for preparing specialized literacy professionals with the 2010 Standards. The authors also describe levels of emphases for each specialized literacy role and implications of the new Standards for those serving in the field and for those who prepare them.

The earliest experiences of children can ensure their future success, and parenting is noted to be an influential factor (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Lamb et al., 2002). Many researchers theorized that parental involvement could encourage children to actively engage and improve their academic achievement in schools (Epstein, 2018). However, less…

This article considers the role of the SENCo during COVID-19 pandemic conditions of school lockdown with partial reopening for children classified as 'vulnerable'. It is argued that the existing pressures and tensions already experienced by SENCos -- for example, related to time, workload, status, and their prescribed managerial "and"…

As they begin to implement trauma-informed practices in their classrooms, teachers should consider their role in the lives of students and how to maintain appropriate and safe boundaries with students. This essay explores the role of the teacher in supporting trauma-affected children and offers a frame of teacher as a facilitator of connection. It…