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This paper examines ideas about mental health, wellbeing and school education to illustrate important issues in the relationship between mental health and education. The Covid crisis has amplified the pre‐existing mental health problems of children and young people in England and recognition of the opportunities in schools to address these. The paper gives an overview of child and adolescent mental health services and how they position the role of schools. It examines prominent concepts of mental health and their relationship to wellbeing, setting this in a discussion of 'mentally healthy' schools, mental health in special educational needs and whole‐school approaches. This analysis shows how the relationship between mental health and wellbeing has not been adequately worked out, using this as the basis for arguing for the dual‐factor mental health model which separates mental illness/disorder from wellbeing as two related dimensions. The paper then translates the dual‐factor model into a two‐dimensional framework that represents the distinctive but related aims of school education (wellbeing promotion) and mental health services (preventing, coping, helping mental health difficulties). This framework involves a complex conception of wellbeing, with schools playing an important role in promoting wellbeing (beyond emotional wellbeing), tiered models and establishing school‐wide social emotional learning. It is about a whole‐school curriculum approach that involves considering what is to be learned and how it is taught. It contributes to a more nuanced concept of wellbeing that has a place for meaningful learning and challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of targeted additional funding for school‐age education, intended to improve student attainment, is a widespread phenomenon internationally. It is slightly rarer that the funding is used to improve attainment specifically for the most disadvantaged students – often via trying to attract teachers to poorer areas, or encouraging families to send their children to school. It is even rarer that funding is used to try and reduce the attainment gap between economically disadvantaged students and their peers, and almost unheard for the funding to be intended to change the nature of school intakes by making disadvantaged students more attractive to schools. These last two were the objectives set for Pupil Premium funding to schools in England. The funding started in 2011, for all state‐funded schools at the same time, so there is no easy counterfactual to help assess how effective it has been. The funding is a considerable investment every year and it is therefore important to know whether it works as intended. This paper presents a time series analysis of all students at secondary school in England from 2006, well before the funding started, until 2019, the most recent year for which there are attainment figures. It overcomes concerns that the official attainment gap between students labelled disadvantaged and the rest is sensitive to demographic, economic, legal and other concurrent policy changes. It does this by looking at a stable group of long‐term disadvantaged students. It is argued that this group would have attracted Pupil Premium funding if it had existed in any year and under any economic conditions. After 2010, these long‐term disadvantaged pupils became substantially less clustered in specific schools in their first year and throughout their remaining school life. This improvement cannot be explained by economic or other factors used in this paper, and so it looks as though the Pupil Premium has been effective here. The picture for the attainment gap at age 16 is more mixed. It is partly confused by changes in the grading of assessments in 2014 and again from 2016. The reasons why the improvements are less clear than at primary school are discussed, and they involve the nature of evidence available to secondary schools to help them improve the attainment of their most disadvantaged students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive research on attainment grouping, the impact of attainment grouping on pupil attainment remains poorly understood and contested. This paper presents evidence from a study conducted with 2944 12–13 year olds, from 76 schools in England, who were allocated to between‐class attainment groups ('setting') in English and mathematics over the first 2 years of secondary schooling. After controlling for prior attainment, pupils in the top set performed significantly better than pupils in the middle and bottom sets in both English and mathematics. The findings indicate a widening gap in attainment, especially in the case of English. Findings, especially in the case of mathematics, provide more evidence of a relative benefit for pupils placed in top sets than a relative detriment for those in bottom sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin is currently being trialled as a subject in 40 state secondary schools in England. This paper focuses on one of the justifications of this trial: that teaching Latin in state secondary schools provides students with cultural capital which in turn counters social injustice. By taking the example of Latin as a starting point, I reach two conclusions about cultural capital. The first is that providing students with cultural capital can be good for some individuals, and so justified on a case‐by‐case basis depending on context. However, this justification does not hold for curriculum policy making. My second conclusion is that in the long term, pursuing cultural capital as part of curriculum policy exacerbates the social injustices it purports to address. Wherever an activity is introduced for the sake of cultural capital rather than its educational value, educationally valuable activities risk being pushed off the curriculum, potentially degrading the educational value of the curriculum. In the case of teaching Latin, it may provide benefits to particular students, but as part of curriculum policy it risks exacerbating social injustices and undermining the educational value of school curricula. Going beyond the place of Latin on the curriculum, I argue that all appeals to cultural capital provide a poor basis for curriculum policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed‐ability grouping is widespread in primary schools and in several subject areas in secondary schools in England. Notwithstanding, there is scant research on mixed‐ability grouping in the education literature, particularly in terms of its impact on students' experiences. The research reported in this paper employs enactment theory to provide original insights into the diverse practices and complex contextual factors that shape students' perceptions and experiences of mixed‐ability grouping in physical education (PE). Enactment theory acknowledges that school decisions about grouping policy are impacted by wider education policy and other contextual influences, and that the expression of grouping policies in specific subjects and classrooms is navigated and negotiated by students as well as teachers. The paper draws on data from in‐depth, semi‐structured focus groups with 41 Year 10 (aged 14–15) students in a mixed‐gender secondary school in England to explore the different ways in which students are positioned and position themselves in the enactment of mixed‐ability grouping in PE. Findings reveal many contextual factors, including ability and gender discourses, school and subject cultures, and the broader policy context, influencing students' positioning and learning experiences in mixed‐ability PE. The discussion explores distinct differences in the enactment of mixed‐ability grouping in PE in Key Stage 3 (aged 11–14) and Key Stage 4 (aged 14–16) and identifies students as enthusiasts, critics, entrepreneurs and copers in grouping policy enactment. The study affirms the need for educators and professionals to critically engage with the construct of ability, and in turn mixed‐ability grouping policies and pedagogic practices in PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article constitutes a 'reply and alternative' to two papers that appeared in a 2021 Special Issue of British Educational Research Journal. Both articles drew on theories of populism as a political logic to explain recent trends in England's education policy. I begin by highlighting how the contributors mobilise 'populist' political logics within their own 'anti‐populist' discourse. I then argue that the theory of epistemic communities, borrowed from the field of public policy analysis, offers an alternative interpretation of the dynamics described in (and exemplified by) the two articles. This alternative interpretation foregrounds the values, beliefs and policy enterprises of two rival communities that seek to influence education policy through the supply of expertise. I argue that attending to how these communities function helps explain how a new group of policy entrepreneurs has come to constitute an increasingly influential 'counter‐epistemic community' and established a mutually beneficial trade in legitimacy with English policy makers. To date, the theory of epistemic communities has been under‐utilised in the study of education policy, but applying the theory to education policy in England provides new insights into how these communities function when the nature of expertise is contested. England's educational policy context also exemplifies the importance of 'fit' between policy makers and experts' beliefs, and the role of policy makers in assembling and curating communities of experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British Educational Research Association (BERA) has promulgated a concept of close‐to‐practice research that is seen as vital to defending and promoting education as an academic discipline. However, what is overlooked are the questions of what education is for and what educational practice is—questions that need to be addressed for any research aiming to understand and improve educational practice. Informed by Robin Alexander's conception of pedagogy, continental Pädagogik and Didaktik and Anglo‐American sources, this paper advances an alternative, different way of thinking about close‐to‐practice research and education as a discipline. It makes a case for education as a distinctive discipline directed towards the understanding and development of practice for the advancement of education. This discipline necessitates an educational and Didaktik way of thinking and theorising, centred on the questions of what education is for, what educational practice is and how practice is supported and developed. This way of thinking and theorising calls for three interrelated lines of research that are significant and matter to practice, particularly within the current context of the National Curriculum in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out original findings from analyses of the English National Pupil Database of Key Stage 1 (KS1) attainment, to examine educational outcomes of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The schooling of these children has been entirely within the context of the current SEND system, defined by the 2014–2015 policy of the Children and Families Act and Code of Practice. With a strong focus on children's needs and outcomes, the policy intends to achieve high educational outcomes for children with SEND. Our new results show, however, that children with SEND are one of the most disadvantaged groups in education, and they are far less likely to meet expected learning standards than their peers at KS1. For instance, about 44%, 31% and 23% of children with SEND met the standards in phonics, reading and writing, respectively, compared to 88%, 83% and 78% of children with no SEND. Further, our spatial analysis shows for the first time that this disadvantage displays large spatial variability across Local Authorities: there is a postcode lottery in the education of children with SEND. The new findings provide strong evidence that the new SEND policy is failing many children with SEND, and that this performance varies markedly across space. This adds further weight and evidence to a growing recognition, even from government, that the SEND system needs to change, and that the ambitious aims of the transformation of education and care for children with SEND in 2014 and 2015 are not being realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racism, as a covert but pervasive presence in teacher education in England, remains a major structural issue and its effects on student teachers who are Black and Asian are real and troubling. Their personal stories reveal multiple challenges and present empirical evidence that can usefully be analysed to examine their experience of daily micro‐aggressions and overt racisms in their teacher education and its effect on them. This paper focuses on the stories of three Black and Asian primary student teachers and argues that it is important to see these personal accounts as empirical documents of hidden oppressions because they are significant pointers towards larger, structural and unacknowledged fissures in initial teacher education (ITE). The critical race theory concept of 'counter story' is used to analyse the stories and make visible the way that hidden racisms within ITE can silence and disempower these student teachers. The three stories show that these Black and Asian student teachers portray nuance and confusion, wonder and loss of direction at times, alongside a portrayal that their identities are in flux due to the complex and contested discourses with which they are required to engage as minoritised 'others' in their teacher education. This study has important implications for teacher educators and senior managers in ITE and presents a challenge for active and sensitive anti‐racist cultures to develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The place of evidence to inform educational effectiveness has received increasing attention internationally in the last two decades. An important contribution to evidence-informed policy has been greater attention to experimental trials including randomised controlled trials ( RCTs). The aim of this paper is to examine the use of evidence, particularly the use of evidence from experimental trials, to inform national curriculum policy. To do this the teaching of grammar to help pupils' writing was selected as a case. Two well-regarded and influential experimental trials that had a significant effect on policy, and that focused on the effectiveness of grammar teaching to support pupils' writing, are examined in detail. In addition to the analysis of their methodology, the nature of the two trials is also considered in relation to other key studies in the field of grammar teaching for writing and a recently published robust RCT. The paper shows a significant and persistent mismatch between national curriculum policy in England and the robust evidence that is available with regard to the teaching of writing. It is concluded that there is a need for better evidence-informed decisions by policy makers to ensure a national curriculum specification for writing that is more likely to have positive impact on pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the nature of climate change education-related policy influence in England at a time when public consciousness about the need to accelerate climate change action was heightened, and as the 2018 climate strikes gathered momentum around the world. Informed by Foucault's concept of 'governmentalities', and using data generated through 24 exploratory interviews and reflexive thematic analysis, we examine the extent to which influential individuals were advocating for policy change. We discuss the nature of policy influence with particular reference to the 'stances' that individuals adopted relative to climate change education policy influence and noting a common tendency exhibited amongst participants which was a tendency towards 'deference'. Coupling our insights with theorisations of dissent, we consider how 'infra-political dissent' could support key individuals to 'step up' and influence for more effective policy relative to climate change education, and to other areas of education or environment policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why teachers choose their career has been a popular topic of research in many contexts since the introduction of the FIT-Choice framework by Watt and Richardson in 2007 to study teacher motivations. Although altruistic motivations have been identified as the common driving factor behind preservice teachers' (PSTs') decision to enter the field, there are other motivational factors--such as teaching being a career that fits well with family commitments, or choosing teacher education as a 'fallback' option--that are widely reported in different contexts. The introduction of incentives for student teachers in certain subjects has been subject to media criticism in England as promoting 'bursary tourism'. This study investigates the career entry motivations and teaching perceptions of PSTs from a university that is one of the key teacher education providers in the country, using the FIT-Choice framework. The paper discusses the findings (N = 115), including validation of the FIT-Choice scale, collecting data on 12 motivations and six perceptions, along with preliminary findings. It was identified that intrinsic career values were the highest rated motivation, followed by altruistic values such as the desire to make a social contribution and being a part of shaping the future of children and adolescents. Perceived abilities were also rated higher, while personal utility values and task returns--including monetary rewards--were rated very low. While the participants agreed that the job is professionally and emotionally demanding, it was promising to note that they were highly satisfied with their career choice, implicitly indicating their intention to continue in the teaching profession. Gender differences, along with field of study and training pathway differences in motivations and teaching perceptions are also discussed, with practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breaktimes are ubiquitous in English schools. Research suggests they have social value for children, but school staff often have a range of concerns about breaktimes and tend to undervalue them. However, there is little understanding about these times, not least because data are not collected about their organisation and characteristics. This paper brings together data from three national surveys undertaken in 1995, 2006 and 2017 of head teachers of primary and secondary schools to provide an understanding of the nature, organisation and staff attitudes towards breaktimes and how they have changed over 25 years. At each survey point, completed questionnaires were received from representative random samples of over 1000 primary and secondary schools. Results showed marked reductions in the average total amount of time for breaks, the virtual abolition of afternoon breaks and a decline in time available for lunchtime breaks. The reductions were largely for behavioural reasons and to increase time for learning. Results also show variations in the length of breaktimes across school types and in relation to socioeconomic disadvantage, and changes to the amount of supervision provided by schools. Attitudes towards breaks varied across primary and secondary phases, and the withholding of breaks was used by schools to address poor pupil behaviour and disengagement. Schools continued to have concerns about the management of behaviour during breaktimes, even when breaks had already been shortened. It is suggested that staff undervalue the potential contribution that breaktimes afford the development and wellbeing of children and young people in school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing consensus that existing arrangements for policy making in education are far from optimal. This paper is about policy making and the roles of—and relationships between—elected officials, civil servants and academics in the making of policy. It aims to open up a conversation about new ways of making education policy that make better use of academic expertise by shedding light on policy making from the perspective of a former policy broker. With specific reference to England, experiences of the world of policy are drawn on to provide an account of the following: the disconnect between academic research and policy; what good policy advice looks like; and, most significantly, what an expert policy advice mechanism in education could look like. The mechanism put forward is one possibility for further discussion within the academic community in the first instance: an independent group of diverse academic experts to provide trustworthy and transparent policy advice to the education ministry. It is envisaged that by bringing a set of insights together here, understandings of the world of policy making will be enhanced and further thinking and conversations about mechanisms for expert policy advice in education will be induced, starting with this flagship journal's readership. The subsequent accumulation of these discussions may then, in time, lead us towards better policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a longitudinal study in the North of England with 13 educators in schools, colleges and universities during two lockdowns. The project was designed to 'unlock' education by providing spaces to co‐create new ways of thinking about education in light of the Covid‐19 pandemic. Focus groups were conducted with school and college teachers as well as university staff at the end of the first and second English lockdowns, in summer 2020 and spring 2021. An initial analysis identified issues with expectations and communication between educators and executive management as well as a lack of agency of educators, and how participants framed them as impacting on their identity as educators. Therefore, the framework of tactics of intersubjectivity was adopted to explore how educators discursively positioned themselves and others through constructions of similarity and difference, realness and power, and how their professional identities were affected by the experience of working through the pandemic and by those around them. Whilst educators took opportunities to authenticate their identity and reimagine education, their agency was undermined by top‐down governing involving little successful communication, leading to denaturalising and illegitimising experiences for educators. Executive management were perceived as lacking engagement with staff and understanding of the implications of their decisions on them. The findings call for relationship building and recognition of educators' voice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper engages with the continuing emphasis given to evidence-based policy and 'what works' approaches in educational research, highlighting some of the continuing epistemological challenges from a post-positivist perspective. To illustrate these, it uses the case of bursaries awarded by universities to improve outcomes for students from disadvantaged backgrounds as an example of an education intervention designed to address structural inequality. The paper then discusses critical reflections arising from a project commissioned by the Office for Fair Access in England, which aimed to enable universities to evaluate the impact of the bursaries that they award. These reflections provide a lens to explore the limitations of experimental and quasi-experimental designs in complex social fields. The paper concludes that we lack a strong understanding of the relationship between financial and educational disadvantage prior to and during higher education, and this undermines efforts to 'prove' that certain interventions will 'level the playing field'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores religious adolescents' reported experiences of secondary schools. Fifty-four qualitative interviews were conducted in places of worship in three cities in England with Christians (n=46), Jews (n=38) and Muslims (n=15). Secondary schools of a religious and non-religious character were reported as not providing a suitable environment for religious observances, nor as a place to act and behave according to participants' religious principles. Religious adolescents reported prejudice and criticism of their beliefs or religious affiliations from their peers and sometimes from teachers. They also perceived their religious traditions to be distorted, inaccurately or unfairly represented in some lessons. The focus of this paper is the identity choices religious adolescents reported in response to these challenges. Three groups of identity choices are theorised and explored: religious identity seeking, religious identity declaration and religious identity masking. The findings are discussed in view of religious identity construction theory, good practice for teachers and also the potential concerns of faith communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new findings on the experiences of Indian mothers in the roles they play in their daughters' higher education ( HE) subject choices. Whilst there are existing studies on White British mothers and parents more generally in terms of parental involvement in education, and a growing number of papers presenting results on Bangladeshi and Pakistani parents, evidence on Indian parents (and students) is relatively sparse. In particular, there is a lack of research where Indian parents are given space to voice their own narratives in their own words. In the main, existing studies focus on parents from the viewpoint of their children as students. This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with nine Indian mothers from different areas in England. Commonalities and disparities between the experiences of Indian mothers presented here and accounts of White mothers of similar class and educational backgrounds presented in existing literature are analysed using an intersectional lens. Results show that working class Indian mothers could be making up some of their disadvantage in terms of social and cultural capital through family and community networks. Furthermore, mothers regard younger relatives as potential sources of important knowledge and resources that could help them and their daughters navigate the HE landscape. This has not been found in studies on White mothers where the emphasis instead has been on the exchange of knowledge from adults to the younger generation. This article arises out of an ESRC funded doctoral study of choice at university for British South Asian women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses international data from a range of sources, principally the 2013 round of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2013), to provide new information on classroom disciplinary climate in secondary schools in England. The paper advances the literature in three distinct ways. Firstly, the data show that teachers in England perceive that there is considerable disruption in their classrooms. While some reports, especially from official sources, have suggested that classroom disruption is minimal in schools in England that does not seem plausible given these results from TALIS. Secondly, since TALIS contains comparable data for over 30 countries, the results for England can be set in a wider context. Reports in the media frequently highlight pupil disruption and suggest that classroom climate tends to be worse in England than in many other countries. In fact what emerges from the international comparison is that, on each of the items measuring classroom climate in TALIS 2013, the results for England were somewhat better than both the all-country average and the average for a group of European comparators. Thirdly, the survey also includes a range of information about the school in which the teacher worked, the pupils which they taught, and the teachers themselves. We draw on this data to investigate which school-level characteristics, teacher attributes, and characteristics of pupils in the classroom, were associated with favourable classroom climate in England. While some commentators have focused exclusively on school-level factors, we emphasise the importance of within-school variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the effect of recent education policy on assessment practices in English primary schools and how these affect relationships between teachers and pupils in an increasingly market-driven school system. Previous research has focused largely on the effect of markets at a systemic level, but less attention has been paid to how marketisation plays out in teachers' work at classroom level. Similarly, research on assessment has tended to examine teachers' practices in relation to pupils' learning rather than examining it in terms of the role it plays in teachers' professional working lives. This paper brings these ideas together, using the latter as the context for understanding the former. In particular, it focuses on recent policy changes to the way schools in England are evaluated, moving from final attainment to pupils' progress 'in-year', and considers their potential for altering the dynamics within schools rather than just between them. It draws on a small-scale, interpretive, empirical study involving interviews with primary teachers in England. Data from this study are used to illustrate how tensions can arise for teachers and how internal market competition can be set up between them in which pupils' achievements become a commodity to be made use of, encouraging teachers to consider pupils' achievements as private, rather than public, goods. The paper thus provides a starting point for exploring the effect of market-orientated education policy on teachers' assessment practices at the in-school level and briefly examines some of the implications of this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widening participation has opened higher education ( HE) to diverse learners, but in doing so has created challenges negotiating situations of disadvantaged positioning compared with peers conforming more closely to the ideal 'bachelor boy' student. As one of the most financially vulnerable groups of students, lone parents occupy a doubly precarious position negotiating the challenges, including financial constraints, of both university participation and raising children alone. Their experiences of HE participation are particularly important to understand as increasing financial precariousness of both studentship and lone parenthood squeezes them further through concurrent rising university fees and welfare cuts. This paper draws on insights from longitudinal qualitative research with 77 lone mothers in England to explore the negotiation of social and economic risks and rewards involved in their undertaking of a debt-financed higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stenhouse's original vision of teacher research incorporated a strong emphasis on curriculum construction, interpretation and evaluation. This curricular emphasis is less prevalent in the present in the dominant 'professional development' and 'what works' traditions of teacher research. It is shown here, however, that this curricular focus has been maintained in the published discourse of history teachers in England. Using a citation analysis to illuminate the growth of professional knowledge, this paper shows how curricular issues drove history-teacher published discourse between 2004 and 2013, and how this discourse drew upon a highly subject-specific knowledge base in this period. Research by teachers in a tradition of 'curriculum theorising', it is argued here, could prove to be a powerful component in establishing a more systematic knowledge base for the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings from the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff ( DISS) project showed that support from teaching assistants ( TAs) had a strong negative impact on the academic progress of pupils, and this applied particularly to pupils with a statement of special educational needs ( SEN). Although the DISS project found that such pupils experienced less contact with teachers, little is known about school- and classroom-level decision-making relating to provision. This paper addresses the nature and quality of the educational experiences of pupils with statements, and who has responsibility for putting in place and delivering provision for these pupils within schools. Results come from the Making a Statement ( MAST) project, which tracked the educational experiences of 48 9- and 10-year-old pupils with the highest level of SEN, attending mainstream primary schools in England. The study involved the thematic analysis of 48 detailed pupil case studies, drawing on interview, documentation and field note data. Results are presented in terms of four key themes: (1) the explicit and subtle forms of separation these pupils experience daily; (2) the high level of pedagogical decision-making TAs have for pupils with statements; (3) the impoverished pedagogical diet pupils with statements receive, compared to their peers; and (4) the gaps in teachers' and TAs' knowledge concerning meeting the needs of pupils with statements. The findings have particular implications for the deployment of TAs and for provision for pupils with SEN, with and without statements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England, as elsewhere, there is a tension in primary schools between imparting knowledge and teaching basic skills like literacy and numeracy. State-mandated programmes are generally concerned with structure and skills. However, a number of ministers and advisers across administrations have sought to expand the explicit teaching of world knowledge (culture, geography and science) as advocated by E. D. Hirsch in the Core Knowledge curriculum. This paper describes an independent evaluation of an adaptation of that approach, called the 'Word and World Reading' programme as used with children aged 7 to 9 in England, to assess its impact on wider literacy. Nine primary schools were randomised to receive the intervention from the start and another eight a year later. The outcomes, assessed by the Progress in English test in literacy after one year, showed no discernible effect overall ('effect' size −0.03), and a small improvement for those eligible for free school meals (+0.06). There was no school dropout, but the missing data for around 18% of 1628 pupils means the results must be treated with some caution. Observations suggest that the lack of clear benefits could be due to the poor quality of implementation in some schools or classes. Perhaps teachers as professionals do not respond well to prescriptive curricula. It is also possible that factual knowledge does not translate directly to improved literacy skills, at least not within one year. Teaching children facts alone in this way cannot be justified solely in terms of improved literacy. Even the scheme on which this intervention was based stressed the need for pupils to learn how to handle facts as well as to learn the facts themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether someone has ever had free school meal ( FSM) eligibility over a six-year period is the measure of socio-economic disadvantage currently used in the English school system. It is used to monitor the socio-economic gap in achievement in the education system, to identify particular children at risk of low achievement and to direct funding to particular children and schools. In this paper we assess how well this measure predicts pupil attainment in secondary school in comparison to other measures of socio-economic background known to influence pupil attainment, such as parental education or income. We ask whether the FSM measure is an adequate proxy for a pupil's socio-economic disadvantage in an educational context. To do this we draw on the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England and matched administrative data. We find that the FSM eligibility measure correlates highly with other measures of socio-economic disadvantage, however it does not identify all children living in what would be deemed deprived households. We then compare the extent to which the FSM eligibility measure predicts educational achievement relative to other measures of deprivation and find that its predictive power is only marginally lower than many richer survey measures. This provides some reassurance on its use in policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1992, the UK Government has published so-called 'school league tables' summarising the average General Certificate of Secondary Education ( GCSE) 'attainment' and 'progress' made by pupils in each state-funded secondary school in England. While the headline measure of school attainment has remained the percentage of pupils achieving five or more good GCSEs, the headline measure of school progress has changed from 'value-added' (2002-2005) to 'contextual value-added' (2006-2010) to 'expected progress' (2011-2015) to 'progress 8' (2016-). This paper charts this evolution with a critical eye. First, we describe the headline measures of school progress. Second, we question the Government's justifications for scrapping contextual value-added. Third, we argue that the current expected progress measure suffers from fundamental design flaws. Fourth, we examine the stability of school rankings across contextual value-added and expected progress. Fifth, we discuss the extent to which progress 8 will address the weaknesses of expected progress. We conclude that all these progress measures and school league tables more generally should be viewed with far more scepticism and interpreted far more cautiously than they have often been to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an original examination of the well-being of early career secondary school teachers in England, which extends the evidence bases relating to early career teachers' working lives, teacher well-being, self-determination theory and performativity, respectively. Drawing on a secondary analysis of qualitative data generated for four separate empirical studies between 2005 and 2013, in a context in which teachers' work was subject to unparalleled external regulation, the authors examine the extent to which the well-being of early career teachers can be explained by self-determination theory, which posits that well-being is enhanced when innate psychological needs for competence, relatedness and autonomy are satisfied. The findings suggest that satisfaction of these three basic psychological needs is a necessary but not sufficient condition for optimising the well-being of early career teachers, which is dependent upon the interaction of a wider range of individual, relational and micro-, meso- and macro-environmental factors. Amongst the recommendations for policy and practice, policymakers and school leaders are urged to uphold their duty of care to newly and recently qualified teachers by doing their utmost to create conditions for the optimisation of such teachers' well-being. Several specific means of bringing this about are proposed, together with a checklist for those concerned to support the well-being of early career teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we attempt to critically 'make visible the flow and circulation of data' through analysing the datafication of the early years education sector in England (children aged 2-5). The concept of datafication is used to understand the processes and impacts of burgeoning data-based governance and accountability regimes. This analysis builds upon early childhood researchers who were influenced by Foucault and others, who have noted the ways in which the surveillance and performative culture of accountability both affirms, legitimates and seduces through discourses of quality while increasingly regulating and governing the early years. Using data from three research sites (a children's centre, a primary school and a combined nursery school and children's centre) as well as an interview with a local authority early years advisor, we examine how comparative data-based accountability increasingly governed early years teachers' professionalism and pedagogies. We argue that the planned tracking of children's performance from baseline assessment at four years old to eleven years old may further govern and constrain early years professionalism as young children are reconfigured as 'miniature centres of calculation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mastering spelling is important for children to progress in writing. The National Curriculum in England details spelling lists linked to each year group in primary education. Assessment practices also emphasise the importance of teaching spelling. However, to date, little is known about how teachers feel about teaching spelling nor the instructional methods that they use in primary schools in England. This study addresses this gap by investigating approaches to teaching spelling. An online survey was distributed to primary‐based teaching staff with roles in supporting teaching and learning. The survey asked for information about the respondents' teaching experience and school setting, and about their attitudes and approach to teaching spelling. The survey was completed in full by 158 respondents. Approaches to teaching spelling were varied and over two‐thirds of the sample highlighted that their school did not have a spelling policy. The importance of explicit teaching of spelling was supported by the majority of teachers. This judgement was more frequent and rated more highly by teachers supporting younger children. Teachers largely reported devising their own spelling resources, highlighted that the curriculum spelling lists lack guidance for teaching spelling strategies and questioned their suitability for pupils of varying abilities. A range of spelling programmes and strategies were recorded. The findings provide insight into universal instructional approaches. Practical implications for teacher training and professional development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive evidence indicates that education is an integral part of the settling in process for refugee and asylum‐seeking children. Furthermore, it has been suggested that positive teaching practice with refugee pupils should be asset‐based and holistic in nature. The present study examines educators' positive practices with refugee pupils and explores factors that shape these practices. Data were collected through participant observation and semi‐structured interviews with 17 class teachers, specialist teachers and teaching assistants at two schools in England. Numerous examples of positive practices were identified, from creating welcoming environments to promoting social–emotional well‐being to supporting English language learning. Factors that shaped these practices were identified using an ecological model of educator development. Such factors included educators' individual pedagogical knowledge about teaching refugee pupils and collective school‐level knowledge and practices. Some aspects of the national education system, such as rigid exam‐based curricula, were also cited as influential. Overall, this study offers examples of how individual educators and schools managed to enact positive practices with refugee pupils despite an unsupportive national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moving school is a major event for students, with potential impacts on both student and school performance. Students can experience a diversity of move types, including variation in timing, origin and destination, though this complexity is not always acknowledged in studies or educational policies, which tend towards binary distinctions of movers versus non‐movers. However, it is crucial to understand the vulnerabilities and outcomes associated with different mobility types, including to inform more effective and efficient targeting of support. We therefore study the extent, impacts and predictors of a diverse range of school moves during secondary schooling for a cohort of students completing their end‐of‐school examinations in 2018/2019 in England. We highlight a negative association between mobility and achievement for all movement types, however, we find substantial heterogeneity in the strength of their association with student performance and highlight the likelihood of making different types of school moves vary by student characteristics. Therefore, we recommend the wider consideration and examination of diverse mobility features by research and in educational accountability systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Free Schools policy in England has led to the opening of a number of new autonomous state-funded schools. This article uses data from the Annual Schools Census to present the proportions of socioeconomically disadvantaged children attending the first three waves of these schools. It updates and builds on previous work that focused on the student composition of the first wave of Free Schools that opened in 2011. The analysis compares the Free School intakes with other local schools and Local Authority ( LA) data and seeks to establish whether the schools are taking an equal share of disadvantaged children in relation to their nearby competitors. Differences emerge between the different waves of schools with those that opened in 2011 generally underrepresenting disadvantaged children. In the second and third waves the picture is more mixed. It is also the case that Free Schools with a faith designation or an alternative or specialist curriculum appear particularly likely to have proportionally fewer disadvantaged children than might be expected based on their location. The potential impacts of having an increasing number of new schools with unbalanced intakes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wellbeing of young people has become an important education policy issue, with suggestions that mental health problems amongst young people have increased in recent years. Experiences at school are thought to be a key factor contributing to mental ill‐health amongst adolescents. Yet surprisingly, little is known about how mental health outcomes vary across school year groups, independent of the effects of age. This article contributes new evidence on this issue, drawing upon large‐scale health data from England. We find substantial growth in mental health problems as young people progress through secondary school. Yet this seems to be driven by the effects of age, rather than due to movement into more senior school year groups. We consequently conclude that evidence of a direct link between school year group and young people's mental health remains relatively weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on analysis of an administrative dataset, which includes granular detail on 800,000 English students over a 10‐year period, this article identifies an urban 'escalator' effect in entry to elite universities, with disadvantaged youth in the urban centres of England having higher rates of entry than similarly disadvantaged youth located rurally. Using multilevel modelling, as well as Geographic Information System (GIS) methods, the analyses show that while place in itself is not a major contributory factor in entry to elite universities overall, there is a distinct urban–rural patterning to progression. When raw progression rates by area alone are observed, rural areas typically have higher progression rates to elite universities. However, when the full range of individual differences are accounted for, including attainment, socio‐economic status, ethnicity and accessibility to elite universities, the converse is true—localities within and surrounding major urban centres are those with the highest progression rates. A 'vortex of influences' is likely to favour urban disadvantaged youth, including the geography of social class and ethnic identities, a legacy of concerted policy interventions within urban areas, as well as the proliferation of widening participation activity in urban centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports an unprecedented exploratory small‐scale investigation of the views of senior school leaders in southwest England relating to 'off‐rolling' (illegal exclusionary practices). 'Off‐rolling' is conceptualised as a policy technology, however, the conceptual framework used in data analysis derives from Foucault's treatment of power and pleasure, and the constitution in discourse of novel 'permanent realities'. Relations of force that senior school leaders routinely navigate in neoliberal education cultures characterised by 'performativity' are highlighted. The latter describes pressures to evidence efficiency and continual improvement, including high‐stakes performance monitoring and, in England, a national school inspection regime. The response rate to this online and predominantly qualitative survey was poor, which was attributed to the illegality of 'off‐rolling' and the risk that academic research in this area could be perceived to reproduce the power–knowledge relations associated with a national school inspection regime and familiar neoliberal political or professional discourses around training of education professionals (where both are framed as addressing deficits to achieve improvements). Nevertheless, findings from a key question inviting comment on scenarios drawn from the authors' teaching experience are presented here, as they highlight the issues arising in research of sensitive topics. Reliance on brief vignettes to explore levels of understanding was, arguably, a limitation of the study, risking participants interpreting this device as unwelcome external scrutiny. It is argued that Ofsted's definition of 'off‐rolling' as gaming (manipulation of academic performance data) effectively discourages recognition of exclusionary practices that are not irrefutably related to academic performance as such. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the world, children are forced to leave their homes for far‐flung destinations. This global phenomenon has particular impact in Europe, where there are now more child refugees than since World War II. Education plays an important role for children with extraordinary experiences seeking to build meaningful lives in their new context. This article offers a new theoretical approach to underpin reforms to educational policy and practice for refugees in schools in resettlement contexts in Europe. The new conceptual framing is grounded in empirical work in England and Sweden, and brings two theories together: 'participatory parity' (Fraser) and 'resumption of an ordinary life' (Kohli). Kohli's concepts of 'safety', 'belonging' and 'success' have resonance with practitioners from Sweden and England as they work to meet the needs of their new arrivals. Fraser's conceptual lenses of redistribution, recognition and representation highlight the barriers to achieving the right to inclusive education for refugee children in each context. The interdependence of both theories shapes a new framework. The theoretical understandings offered in this article have been developed with practitioners and add to the field by offering a robust moral and operational approach to shaping pedagogical principles for policymakers and educators working in resettlement communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid pandemic and the cancellation of state examinations caused unprecedented turmoil in the education systems on both sides of the Irish Sea. As the policy of calculating grades using purpose‐built algorithms came undone in the face of a barrage of appeal, protest and legal action, the context in which the policies had been devised collapsed. The British and Irish governments had initially adopted similar approaches to issuing examination grades, but then diverged into different stratagems pre‐ and post‐results, with significantly different outcomes. The Irish examination system emerged relatively unscathed, while the system in England suffered what was probably its greatest policy failure of modern times. This article examines and memorialises how and why this happened, and draws lessons for a future in which school closures and substitute examinations become the 'new normal'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of doctoral students as university teachers has received substantially less attention compared with their development as researchers, with a similar deficit extending to research on how they experience and understand university teaching. This article reports the results of a phenomenographic study of education doctoral students' conceptions of teaching in higher education. Using samples from two education departments in England and Sweden, we conducted interviews to identify variation in doctoral students' experiences of university teaching. Analysis of the transcripts produced six qualitatively different conceptions of teaching: doctoral students conceptualised university teaching as a means of (A) transmitting knowledge, (B) presenting contrasting concepts of education, (C) communicating and engaging with students, (D) enabling students to apply knowledge and skills, (E) enabling students to interpret and compare concepts of education, and (F) promoting personal, professional and societal development and change. While in broad agreement with previous studies on university teachers' conceptions of teaching, the study offers a unique insight into how the subject of education is understood by doctoral students who teach. The findings also underline the need to introduce common frameworks of academic development for academics and doctoral students alike that prioritise ways of representing and engaging with the structure of the subject, rather than the acquisition of teaching skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of various language policy mechanisms currently circulating in secondary schools in England, with a particular focus on those that intermingle 'language', 'standard English' and 'discipline'. Although the connections between language, ideology and behaviour are well established within critical educational linguistics, this has not been explored in relation to current education policy in England, which is characterised by an overt focus on standardised English and behaviour 'management'. In a grounded approach, I explore how the disciplining of language correlates with the disciplining of the body, based on ethnographic‐orientated fieldwork undertaken in a London secondary school and drawing on a broad range of policy mechanisms such as curricula, textbooks, classroom artefacts and Doug Lemov's Teach Like a Champion industry. I show how the current linguistic conservatism found within government policy gets reproduced in school‐level policies, pedagogies and classroom interactions, and highlight these relations within a network of policy actors and key terms associated with so‐called 'zero‐tolerance' and 'no‐excuses' schools. I show how teachers are positioned as language policy managers who work within a system of surveillance, compliance, coercion and control. As such, this article contributes to current thinking within critical language policy and the sociology of education by offering an expanded view of language ideologies in schools, whereby connections between language and discipline are explicitly illustrated and critiqued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the work of Henry Morris (1889–1961), in particular his ideas on the Cambridgeshire village colleges. It is now 90 years since the first of these was founded in Sawston in 1930, and the article aims to address the issue of whether Morris's views on education and democracy encapsulated in the village colleges still have relevancy in the early twenty‐first century. An overview of Morris's career and the creation of the village colleges is investigated, using the work of Paul Hirst and associative democracy as a theoretical lens. It is argued that the Cambridgeshire village colleges do have some attributes of associative democracy, particularly their original emphasis as sites of local democracy and participation from voluntary bodies and private individuals. However, Morris's role as Cambridgeshire's Chief Education Officer (1922–1954) meant that the local state (in the guise of the County Council) played a more significant role in the village colleges than Hirst advocates for his version of associative democracy. As English primary and secondary schools turn from local authority control to academy status, Morris's vision for local schools of and for local people is becoming increasingly compromised. The article ends with the work of Allen and Gann, both influenced by Morris, who argue for a revitalised form of comprehensive schooling and lifelong learning that again sees educational institutions as sites of grassroots democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the issue of 'quality' in early years education, with the aim of highlighting the voices of nursery school head teachers. Government early years achievement statistics display a reductive and de‐contextualised focus on young children's developmental outcomes, with measures of the percentage of 5‐year‐olds achieving a 'good level of development' at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Early years practitioner understandings of 'quality' are more sophisticated and multi‐dimensional, and yet are marginalised in debates around what constitutes 'quality' early years provision and around what are desired outcomes for young children and how these can be achieved. Using qualitative data from interviews with nursery school head teachers and classroom teachers from across England, the article analyses these participants' understandings of 'quality' early years provision. The study finds a consensus amongst these teachers that quality provision emanates from the professional skills of staff providing education for the whole child and their wellbeing: they conceive of 'quality' as relating to a depth of understanding of each child as an individual, enabling the child to progress in their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For those who grew up in Britain in the latter half of the twentieth century, there is known to be a strong association between social class or family income and attending a private school. However, increasing private school fees and promotion of school choice in the state sector have potential implications for the predictors of participation in private schooling in the twenty‐first century. In this article, through analysis of rich, longitudinal data from a recent, representative birth cohort study, we provide new evidence on this issue. Given the high and rising fees required to send a child to private school, one might think that the decision is entirely connected with financial resources. However, while these remain an important factor, we argue that other determinants are also important. In particular, we highlight the importance of parental values and geographical proximity to high‐quality state school alternatives: a one standard deviation increase in levels of parental traditional values is associated with a 2.5 percentage point higher probability of their child attending a private school, while each minute of additional travel time to the nearest state school judged 'Outstanding' by England's schools inspectorate is associated with a 0.2 percentage point higher probability of attending a private school. We also examine the characteristics of those who 'mix and match' state and private schooling, noting their similarity to private school attendees in terms of their values but lower levels of financial resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the limits to children giving research consent in everyday school contexts that emphasises their conformity to comply with adult expectations, and highlights children's competence and agency in navigating this conformity through different practices of dissent. It draws on research into children's agency, using a multimodal ethnography of Year 1 classrooms in two English primary schools. The article includes a reflexive methodological focus, exploring the extent to which I counter the schools' emphasis on conformity. This includes creating visuals for children to practice consent; positioning myself as the researcher in a non‐teacher role, as 'least adult' and the one who 'least knows'; and designing interview spaces markedly different from classrooms. The article examines how children navigate conforming discourses by finding different ways to dissent in the research. Firstly, children demonstrate a sophisticated awareness of the cultural norms of indicating refusals beyond saying the word 'No'. Secondly, children achieve unnoticeability, by which they absent themselves from the 'on‐task' classroom culture, and by extension the research process. Thirdly, they engage in playful dissent, demonstrating their political knowingness of the classroom social order. The article discusses the implications for educational research when the values of consent are in conflict with a schooling focused on conformity. This includes emphasising the limits of consent procedures, paying closer attention to how researchers recognise and respond ethically to children's multiple practices of dissent, and using research to disrupt problematic power structures in education settings that limit possibilities for children's consent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses whether the introduction of end‐of‐course, linear General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations changed the socio‐economic equity gap in England. The GCSE is a national examination offered in a wide range of subjects and taken by almost the entire 16‐year‐old age cohort. Between the years 2007 and 2014, it underwent a number of reforms to both the underlying curriculum and the examination structure. At the beginning of the period, examinations were primarily modular in structure where the course was decomposed into discrete units tested in a staged manner. By 2014, all GCSE examinations were linear and the whole course content was tested simultaneously when study was complete. These structural changes and the curriculum reforms mean that the impact of modular and linear testing on the performance of students has been the focus of recent interest. Some educational commentators suggested that modular examinations are more suitable for lower‐performing students, including those with lower socio‐economic status (SES). This research has been conducted to monitor the socio‐economic equity gap in the light of the structural changes. It focuses on GCSE mathematics and concludes that, although there is still a clear gap in attainment between disadvantaged students and their peers, this gap does not seem to be exacerbated by the examination structure. In other words, the linearisation of GCSE mathematics is unlikely to have increased inequity between students of high and low SES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher shortages are a recurring problem in publicly funded schools, in part because of poor retention. Working conditions in schools are an important predictor of teacher job satisfaction and retention, yet research has so far made limited headway in identifying the specific aspects of the working environment which matter. This research uses representative data on state secondary school teachers in England in 2013 to derive an unusually rich set of working conditions variables. Regression analysis is used to model the relationships between working conditions, teacher job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The results show strong associations with the nature of school leadership, whether teachers have received training in the specific subjects they are assigned to teach and scope for career progression within the school. These results are robust to checks for common source bias. The study identifies ways in which schools can improve retention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child mental health is a growing concern for policymakers across the global north. Schools have become a key site for mental health interventions, with new programmes aimed at promoting 'resilience', through which children may maintain or regain mental health during adversity. As one of the first studies to explore the early impact of intensive mental health promotion in schools from children's perspectives, we adopt a governmentality approach to consider the logic and techniques of such programmes with a specific focus on England. An innovative visual methodology was used to focus on student perspectives of mental health interventions in school. Young peoples' photo representations of mental health were collected and used to stimulate focus group discussions with 65 students aged 12–14, across seven schools. 'Resilience' was seen to be the key organising concept for mental health interventions in schools. The concept was viewed as narrowly focused on attitude towards—and performance in—school work, with individuals being encouraged to 'push on through' difficulties to achieve success. Young people were critical of this approach, suggesting several alternatives. These included increased access to independent mental health professionals, safe spaces within schools and mental health education that addressed the social and affective dimensions of mental health difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research evaluating grammar school effectiveness has generally relied on snapshot or longitudinal regression models to deal with pre‐existing differences between grammar school pupils and those in non‐selective schools. These passive designs are based on correlations, and cannot demonstrate clear positive causal relationships between grammar school attendance and subsequent attainment. After accounting for the variables available for the analysis, pupils in different schools might still have distinct and unmeasured characteristics which threaten the validity of any conclusions drawn. Given that a randomised trial is not feasible under current conditions, this study addresses the limitations of previous research, using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) approach. This is the first use of RDD to attempt to make a robust causal inference about the effectiveness of grammar schools in one local authority in England. However, the authority, the Department for Education and the schools would not provide the individual data on pupils' 11+ entry test scores, and the scores obtained could not be uniquely matched to Key Stage 4 outcomes. While the model presented suggests that there is an advantage to grammar school attendance, the incomplete data means that the study is more a feasibility trial of this strong design than any kind of definitive test intended to settle the debate on grammar school effectiveness. Conducting this design with national data on grammar school selection would create the most powerful evidence so far. To promote an effective and equitable education system for generations to come, those advocating the expansion of grammar schools should make the responsible decision to disclose all grammar school selection data for the purposes of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how parents choose childcare settings for their pre‐school children within a context of complex policy on eligibility for free provision and a developing market. Using data from interviews with 17 mainly middle‐class parents in England, we explore in detail how parents go about choosing a childcare setting and the different phases of this process. This adds further nuance to the existing literature on choosing practices and the dysfunction and inequalities of a neoliberal childcare market, and also updates the discussion to include recent policy developments such as the provision of '30 hours free childcare' for 3 and 4‐year‐olds. We conclude that parental choosing involves a series of decisions in two or three phases, which start from practical considerations, followed by quality comparison and then back to practical constraints if a decision has not been made. The options open to parents are split between not only those able to accommodate shorter 'free' provision and those that require longer periods of childcare to work, but also between those with children under three and above. Contrary to previous findings in this area, this split may work to the disadvantage of some middle‐class families, whose children attend lower‐quality settings as a result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a 3‐year case study of a primary school in England, in which a recently appointed principal attempted to build 'collegial professional autonomy' (Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy, 2, 2015, 20) within a push to improve students' progress and attainment. The research examined the tensions between staff who embraced the principal's agenda for collegially agreed change, and whose students' academic progress and performance improved over a 3‐year consecutive period when measured in terms of students' entry‐level attainment and socio‐economic factors, and staff who asserted their right to 'individual professional autonomy' and whose students' academic progress and attainment declined. The research: (i) challenges claims that reform necessarily results in school cultures of compliancy, de‐professionalisation and the technicisation of teaching; (ii) raises issues concerning the pedagogical leadership of principals in a devolved, 'self‐governing' school system; and (iii) questions teachers' entitlements to individual professional autonomy where this is associated with students' continuing academic underperformance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the development of a questionnaire to discover primary school students' perceptions of science, religion and the relationships between them on a range of topics that are known as Big Questions. The questionnaire was administered in 16 primary schools in England with over 750 students aged 10–11. The findings indicate that students in this age group have begun to consider how science and religion relate and that while there is a diversity of positions, a significant proportion perceived science and religion to conflict. Analysis of responses also indicated that primary school students' epistemic insight was limited in relation to their understanding of the nature of science and, in particular, the idea that science has limitations. The basis and potential consequences of such views are considered and recommendations for teaching practice are presented, together with ideas for future research. It is anticipated that the study will inform teachers and curriculum planners developing approaches and guidance materials in science and religious education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]