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Re-engaging disengaged students: Building trust and curriculum reform in secondary schools

Introduction I write this blog post following deep reflection on 40 years of teaching – 20 of which were as headteacher within three very different schools. In my final years of headship, I...

Progressive early years curricula and educational equity: Lessons from the Welsh Foundation Phase

What happens when a nationally mandated, play-based early years curriculum meets the realities of schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities? The Welsh Foundation Phase (FP) offers a...

The ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog: Highlights of 2025

½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog end of year highlights

Snow-dusted salutations and tinsel-tinged tidings to all our readers, authors, curators and guest editors around the globe. In this, the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog’s tenth anniversary year, I look back over the...

Opportunity to support children’s reading for pleasure and wellbeing: Are primary libraries undervalued and underused?

Research by The Open University Reading for Pleasure consortia shows the advantages of reading for pleasure and the subsequent benefits for children, but is there evidence that children are...

Should England have an aims-based curriculum?

Aims-based school curricula This blog post is about an aims-based curriculum and its place in the English school system. It may seem odd to talk about ‘an aims-based curriculum’. Few human...

What is ‘alternative’ about alternative provision in England and Wales?

Artwork created by Young People in alternative provision ‘I’m a genius, who’s taking a photo?’ (Kinsella et al., 2019) ‘We do stupida stuff here’ (Johnston, 2020) These aren’t...

So what? What next? Reflections on education from across the four nations and beyond

10 years of the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog

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...

Climate justice and curriculum justice: Young people’s accounts of schools’ uneven responses to their climate justice activism

While many agree that education is essential to prepare societies to address the climate crisis, there are widely differing opportunities for justice-driven climate change education (see Trott et...

Rebuilt … Reimagined … Renewed … Can Design and Technology be saved before it needs resuscitation?

Design and Technology (D&T) is one of those subjects that everyone has heard of but few people know anything about. As a D&T graduate, secondary teacher and primary coordinator, I see a subject in...

Why teaching peace isn’t enough: Rethinking the role of education in postconflict recovery

10 years of the ½¿É«µ¼º½ Blog

In postconflict societies, education is often seen as a cornerstone of peacebuilding. Governments, international agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) embrace its potential to foster...

Guest editing opportunity for Research Intelligence, issue 167

This opportunity is now closed. ½¿É«µ¼º½â€™s Publications Committee is seeking an individual or team (of up to three people) to guest edit issue 167 of Research Intelligence on the theme of...

Structured freedom: Supporting children’s agency in primary education

In a recent article published in the British Educational Research Journal, I explore how children’s agency operates within England’s primary education system, and propose the concept of...