Over the last 20 years or more, a plethora of movement programmes have been adopted within primary physical education in the UK and across Australia. One particular programme, Fundamental Movement Skills (STEPS Professional Development), became of interest to the researcher during her dual role as the UK Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS)…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of general and special education teachers regarding the barriers to the successful implementation of co-teaching in inclusive classrooms at an elementary school in the state of Colorado. The research employed observations and semi-structured interviews with eight co-teachers. By employing…

This paper considers the effectiveness of leadership development (LD) processes in relation to school leaders' needs within an eastern Chinese District Education Bureau (DEB). The analysis is based on Chinese and English sources relating to LD, documentary analysis of DEB initiatives and interviews with ten school leaders from two schools. The…

In the Autumn of 2017 a small-scale study was designed to explore the degree to which school staff in the East Midlands of England were in an informed position to meet their statutory obligation with regard to the autistic children in their care as reported by a sample of special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCos), members of the school…

This research project promoted a collaborative model of professional development between lead teachers from three schools, supported by a project coordinator and a researcher from a local university. Each lead teacher worked with their head teacher to design, lead, and evaluate an innovative, personalised, and school-based mathematics continuing…

This article examines four significant policy documents that have informed the Department for Children School and Families (DCSF)' s "Every Child a Talker" (ECaT). The analysis focuses on where the ownership of knowledge in relation to communication and language lies as part of policy implementation and training processes. The article…

This article reports on the findings from a study into high-performing leadership teams in English primary schools. The schools, in the sample, received "outstanding" Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) grades overall, and for leadership and management, in their most recent school inspection. The evidence suggests that developing…

With increased attention focused on the economic cache afforded through literacy and numeracy skills, governments around the world have turned their attention to developing the expertise of their teachers. Improving teachers' levels of competency leads to improvement in student achievement. In this qualitative case study, we focus on the…

Internationally, forms for teacher education (initial and continuing) are under the spotlight for change. This article briefly considers what is at issue and what opportunities might be available for moving towards "professionalisation" in the provision of outstanding teachers. In particular, it suggests how we should characterise the thinking…

Remodelling the roles, responsibilities and working practices of all school staff has been central to the government's modernisation agenda for English state schools. This is typified by a determination to review and change the distribution of tasks undertaken by teachers and teaching assistants (TAs). Whilst there has been a substantial increase…

In recent years, policy documents, curricula and other educational initiatives have promoted a pedagogy founded on the concept of independent learning. This is broadly defined as "having the belief in yourself to think through learning activities, problems or challenges, make decisions about your learning and act upon those decisions".…

This article addresses the way in which principals can contribute to closing the unacceptable gap in literacy achievement in Australia for low socio-economic status (SES) students by connecting leadership work more directly with the conditions which influence teaching and learning. It draws upon the outcomes of a project funded under the…

The drive to raise standards in core curriculum subjects, and the teaching of thinking skills, are both aspects of the UK government's education policy for England. This article is based on findings from a questionnaire-based research project which investigated the relationship between National Curriculum tests, which are an important element of…

In this article I explore the concept of theories-in-use within a qualitative research study to analyse the role of reflection in bringing about change in practice in the professional development of 18 primary school teachers. Cyprus provides the context for the study. The restrictions on professional development in Cyprus, through the…

This article reports a study on the responses of a group of 49 Western Australian middle school teachers to a year-long professional learning experience, entitled the "Making the Links" Project. This project was established to help teachers of various learning areas adapt their practices to significant changes in the educational context.…