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As two of the editors of the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog, we have curated this series of 10 posts to celebrate one decade of the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog. As we mark this milestone, we recognise the importance of spaces such as the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog to explore and consider current and varied issues and questions of concern to the education community, including practitioners, academics and policymakers. In commissioning blog posts from esteemed colleagues, we have invited the authors to reflect on some of the key issues related to educational research of the past and future decades.

‘Moments of change –  for example, in curriculum, teacher education and assessment – are never confined to one system. Instead, they ripple across borders, extend across time and carry lessons for all.’

Taken together, these contributions remind us that while the education systems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to diverge in their policies, they also share pressing common challenges. In different ways, the authors also highlight the interplay of global forces with local contexts, underlining that moments of change –  for example, in curriculum, teacher education and assessment – are never confined to one system. Instead, they ripple across borders, extend across time and carry lessons for all.

For academics, the collective call is to broaden educational research beyond technical fixes or narrow measures of ‘effectiveness’. As warns, evidence can distort practice when reduced to programmes rather than opening up professional judgment. Scholars are therefore urged to develop critical, interdisciplinary and justice-oriented approaches – from sociolinguistic transformations to decolonial readings of environmental injustice. This is not just about generating knowledge but about opening spaces for more radical theories of change that connect education to wider struggles for justice.

For policymakers, the message is that education systems are at a crossroads. Whether it is call for a long-term, consensus-driven strategy in Wales, push for mandatory antiracism in teacher education, or emphasis on curriculum-making as a collective endeavour, there is a reminder that policy design cannot be divorced from lived realities in classrooms and communities. Policies that only work on paper risk entrenching inequalities; policies that listen to professional and community voices may provide the ‘moments’ of genuine change flagged by .

For practitioners, these posts highlight both the burdens and possibilities of working in education today. Teachers are positioned not simply as implementers but as: collaborative curriculum makers (), compassionate professionals in dialogue (), critical educators disrupting colonial knowledge systems (), and daily practitioners of justice in linguistics and racial equity (; ). The challenge and opportunity lie in reclaiming professional space to imagine and enact alternative futures – for example, in relation to climate education and building peace – even amid the pressures of policy reform and accountability.

Final reflections

Across all four nations, then, the ‘so what?’ and ‘what next?’ from this 10th Anniversary Collection is clear: education remains a contested, complex and challenging space but one that provides hope. As Shanks, so deftly, reminds us: ‘Schools are not neutral spaces; they are deeply entangled in broader struggles over identity, power and justice.’ Educational reform should be judged, then, not only by test scores or global rankings but by whether systems can enable more compassionate, just and sustainable futures for children and young people. This is a complex hope – but hope, nevertheless.

We are very grateful to all the authors who have contributed to this series for their support of the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog and for generously sharing their ideas in this way. We hope that this series will encourage you to add your voice, expertise and perspectives to the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog so that it goes from strength to strength over the coming decade and beyond.