Search

The ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) worked for ten years to improve outcomes for learners across the United Kingdom. Individual projects within the Programme focused on different research questions and utilised a range of methods and theoretical resources. Across-programme thematic seminar series and task groups enabled emerging findings to be analysed, synthesised and communicated to wider audiences. One outcome of this activity was the development of ten 'evidence-informed' principles, which engaged with diverse forms of evidence, whilst acknowledging that 'users' would need to judge how best to implement such principles in their particular contexts. Synopses of these principles were published in posters and booklets, from 2006, but the evidence and reasoning underpinning them has not been fully explained. This contribution attempts to fill this gap. It provides a justification for the production of the TLRP principles and describes the iterative process by which they were developed. It clusters the ten principles in four broad areas that reflect the multilayered nature of innovation in pedagogy: (1) educational values and purposes; (2) curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; (3) personal and social processes and relationships; and (4) teachers and policies. It elaborates the argument and evidence for each principle, drawing not only on findings from projects but, crucially, the thematic initiatives that began the synthetic work. There is also an attempt, though by no means comprehensive, to relate TLRP insights to research and scholarship beyond the Programme's school-focused work in order to ground them in a wider literature: to work in other sectors of education; and to the broader literature that has accumulated internationally and over time. Finally, the five years since the principles were first published provides some evidence of impact. Although direct impact on learner outcomes cannot be measured, it is possible to provide an account of take-up by mediating agencies and others. The piece has been prepared as a contribution to international dialogue on effective teaching and learning and to provide a focus for scholarly comment, sharing of expertise and knowledge accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although health, safety and risk education for school pupils has received growing attention in recent years, for the most part related education programmes and research aimed at assessing those programmes have focused on health education, with relatively little attention paid to the array of immediate safety risks that are confronting pupils within the school context. This article reports on research carried out with teaching staff in seven schools to establish the approaches that teachers adopt when delivering lessons with inherent risks. This research is primarily concerned to investigate how a safety education strategy in a school context is implemented, operationalised, communicated and presented to pupils, and to establish whether approaches depart from the theories and prescriptions advanced by education advisors and other Government bodies or stakeholders. The perceptions of the teachers are used as a basis for a broader discussion about the adequacy of safety education and the potential to enhance and broaden the delivery of a safety education curriculum implemented through state schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has never been a UK‐wide policy for primary modern foreign language provision. Scotland, which has for many years managed its educational affairs autonomously, introduced foreign languages into its primary schools over a decade ago. Wales has formulated its own primary and secondary curriculum with due respect for Welsh, tending to give greater priority to its national language than other languages. Northern Ireland, similarly, has had to take account of its indigenous language and has never developed a foreign language programme for young learners. Recent government documents relating to England, however, have outlined an entitlement for all primary‐ school children in England to learn a language by 2012. In order to achieve this, the DfES has provided additional funding for 19 LEA‐led Pathfinder projects to identify sustainable and replicable models. It is appropriate at this point to review the current situation in order to gauge progress and development. This article, written by a research team funded by the DfES to evaluate the Pathfinder projects, outlines the national and international research context, the current national context and the key issues and challenges facing these local education authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a view that exclusive structures in institutions reflect exclusive structures in the development of consciousness. In the context of a current rhetoric of inclusion in the UK, the paper starts by examining some of the theoretical conditioners of policy and practice in Special Educational Needs, and hence their effects on teacher thinking. Drawing on a survey of teacher perspectives on SEN, the paper identifies their correlation with economic resources, but asks whether exclusive attitudes might be further explained in terms of conceptual development. The paper thus brings together argument from (variously empirical) psychological, sociological and philosophical enquiry to question assumptions about the moral and political project of inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a paper by Simon Watmough and colleagues that discusses some of the issues that need to be addressed in setting up second Foundation year posts in general practice in Great Britain. Examination of whether pre-registration house officer (PRHOs) who went through the revised undergraduate curriculum appear to be more competent than those who experienced the old one; Key question for medical schools that have modernized their curricula.

The article presents several news updates related to electronic-learning in medical education In Great Britain. The need for handouts in a web-enhanced component of a curriculum was a topic discussed recently at the DR-ED Website. It was noted that having put material on the web, there was reluctance from staff to provide students with printed handouts. Some schools have changed from digital and paper handouts to digital only. There is a clear need for further study of how students interact with web-based material and to what extent summaries in hard copy or electronic format are necessary or advantageous and how these should be embedded within an electronic-learning programme. In Great Britain the Joint Committee of Higher Surgical Training has developed over the past two years a Website for surgical trainers and trainees to access information about the learning objectives of the training programme. The core of the site is a comprehensive description of the annual milestones trainees should achieve.

Editorial. Comments on educational policies in Great Britain. Collaboration between schools and communities; Effects of course flexibility on the education system; Consideration of ethnic diversity in school exclusion.

Background: The UK General Medical Council (GMC) in its regulatory capacity conducts formal tests of competence (TOCs) on doctors whose performance is of concern. TOCs are individually tailored to each doctor's specialty and grade. Aims: To describe the development and implementation of an electronic blueprinting system that supports the delivery of TOCs. Method: A case study that describes the evolution of the GMC electronic blueprint including the derivation of its content and its functionality. Results: A question bank has been created with all items classified according to the competencies defined by Good Medical Practice. This database aids test assembly and ensures that each assessment maps across the breadth of the blueprint. Conclusions: The blueprint described was easy to construct and is easy to use. It reflects the knowledge, skills and behaviours (learning outcomes) to be assessed. It guides commissioning of test material and enables the systematic and faithful sampling of common and important problems. The principles described have potential for wider application to blueprinting in undergraduate or clinical training programmes. Such a blueprint can provide the essential link between a curriculum and its assessment system and ensure that assessment content is stable over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]