This article draws upon Roland Barthes' theory of "myth" to unpack how "student progress" is conceptualised and measured in the curriculum and assessment of GCSE English in secondary schools in England. Using case studies of three Year 11 students, I critique aspects of the government's Progress 8 accountability measure, their…

Interested in exploring a form of learner agency that moves beyond a focus on using it to get better results? This article explores what happened when Year 11 students in a cross-curricular course were granted full control of their learning, and offers three strategies for starting out on a creative-agency path.

The United States and the United Kingdom have used standardized high-stakes testing as a measurement of students' cognitive level to determine success in the 21st century. Standardized tests have given teachers guidance to help them determine what to teach students and how to teach to the test. With such increased emphasis on high-stakes…

Although the importance of mathematical problem solving is now widely recognised, relatively little attention has been given to the conceptualisation of mathematical processes such as representing, analysing, interpreting and communicating. The construct of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (Hill, Ball & Schilling, 2008) is generally…

The use of systems of rewards and sanctions within behaviour policies has now been adopted formally in UK schools. Such systems potentially represent competing theoretical ideas when considered alongside current approaches to teaching and learning. There is also opportunity for inconsistent use of rewards and sanctions resulting from the absence…

In recent years, the numbers of girls in secondary and tertiary education studying Physics have declined. This research sought to investigate Years 10 and 11 female students' views about Physics and their physics teachers and was conducted in an all-girls independent school. While the findings show that in general these students do not relate well…

In October 2010 Perry Beeches school, an 11-16 Local Authority controlled community comprehensive in Birmingham, was widely featured in the national media as the "most improved school in the UK"--Ever. Some of the ways in which this was achieved are explored. Whether the changes undergone by this school reflect a pattern that has become…

Within his classroom, the author is often confronted by students who fail to see, or accept, the relevance of mathematics both to their lives and the world around them. One topic which is regularly perceived as being disconnected from people's daily lives is that of circle theorems, especially among less motivated students. In this article, the…

In attempting to answer the question "How is disability represented in plays?" two approaches are considered, one semiotic and literary and the other concerned with notions of stereotyping drawn from disability studies. The five plays on which the discussion is based are school examination set texts, raising questions about classroom…

A proof's potential to promote understanding and conviction is one of the main reasons for which proof is so important for students' learning of mathematics. Unless students realise the limitations of empirical arguments as methods for validating mathematical generalisations, they are unlikely to appreciate the importance of proof in mathematics.…

This study examines the extent to which personality traits and intelligence scores predict school level academic performance (AP), (British GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education; America Grade 10) in different disciplines. The participant sample consisted of approximately 250 school pupils from three schools in the South East of…

Possibly the largest qualitative study in RE policy and practice in many years, the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society project "Does RE work? An analysis of the aims, practices and models of effectiveness in religious education in the UK", headed by the University of Glasgow, seeks to map the complex processes of curriculum formation as…

This paper argues that student voice and the active engagement of students in shaping their own educational experience are integral to the development of effective work-related learning (WRL) programmes. Through accessing the voice of disaffected and marginalised students, insight can be gained into what these students see as being the benefits of…

Polymer Chemistry days run by Bristol ChemLabS at the School of Chemistry, University of Bristol for year 10 (14-15 year olds) school students are described. Pre and post questionnaires were analysed to determine the impact on attitudes to science. There was no change in attitudes to the importance of science or practical work in science, but…

Regional Australian students were surveyed to explore their understanding and knowledge of the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion and climate change. Results were compared with a parallel study undertaken in 1991 in a regional UK city. The comparison was conducted to investigate whether more awareness and understanding of these issues is…