Learning Research Programme Research Articles

Arts Practice as the Daily Extraordinary: A Philosophy of Inclusivity

AbstractTo conceive a philosophy of art education that is removed from actual practice would belie the extraordinary experience of developing and making practice. In this article, I propose to explore the philosophical implications of art practice being an experience of the ‘daily extraordinary.’ A view of practice as being at once stretching and comfortable, takes the artist and viewer's responses to the strangeness of the everyday: the delightful, the shocking, or even the miraculous, in what appear to be simple and mundane experiences. If we perceive learning in the arts as a pursuit of ideas, affect and expression that occurs in regular practice, there is an inclusivity that renders both learning in the arts and philosophy of art education accessible to everyone. In this article I will refer to the Goldsmiths Centre for Arts and Learning's research programme of 2022–2023, in which events and connected teaching activities practised being All For the Arts. With visiting speakers, museums and galleries and postgraduate students, CAL researched how the vitality and challenge of art practice, which includes the individualities and expression of persons and histories made ordinary and invisible, could bring the value of learning in the arts to the fore. Including reflections from contributors such as John Baldacchino, A Particular Reality, Carol Wild, Danny Braverman, Raphael Vella, Kevin Tavin and Andrea Kárpáti, we explored inclusivity in art practice from the daily extraordinary of each speaker's developments in educational research. Also, in the company of representatives from arts organisations such as Entelechy Arts, Autograph ABP, Whitechapel Gallery, Young V&A and Bow Arts, we considered the amazing and essential factors of inclusivity in the arts – that could be encountered on a daily basis. I will gather meeting points here among this incredible range of contributors.

Facilitating Student Voice through Sandwich Principle of Teaching (SPoT): Research-Led Teaching in English Language Teaching (ELT)

This study explores the implementation of the Sandwich Principle of Teaching (SPoT) in facilitating the students to voice their thoughts properly while learning about research in English Language Teaching (ELT). This case study is guided by the theory of research-led teaching from Walkington and SPoT from Wahl. The study employed 30 students of higher education as research participants. In 14 weeks, the teacher alternately used traditional and collaborative learning. The students were involved in various learning experiences; formulating lesson goals, reading journal articles, selecting the article, identifying the gap, and choosing and defining research topics. The findings revealed that the integration of SPoT into research-led teaching provides guidance for the teacher to teach research and space to voice their thought under the language learning research program. The findings show a positive attitude on students’ experiences in each stage of the learning research program through SPoT. Based on the findings, it is concluded that the integration of SPoT into research-led teaching could provide the students a space to voice their thought in the language learning research program. They got better learning experiences as they could engage actively in the class and voice their thoughts as well.

How do policy instruments generate new ones? Analysing policy instruments feedback and interaction in educational research in England, 1986-2014

The study of research funding arrangements and the production of scientific knowledge has been marked by a lack of understanding about how research funding instruments interact and how these instruments shape policy-making and research fields. To fill this research gap, this study is theoretically supported by policy feedback and policy instruments’ interaction studies. It investigates the effects of the UK's research assessment exercise in the creation of the most emblematic national thematic research program for the field of educational research in the country – the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). Based on qualitative analysis of policy documents and semi-structured interviews with policy-makers and boundary-spanners, this paper shows how the research assessment exercise contributed to the creation of the TLRP and how the interaction between the two policy instruments shaped the field of educational research in England. In particular, the results show a) how the institutionalisation of the research assessment led to frame a “quality problem” in educational research that legitimated several policy initiatives, including the creation of the national thematic research programme (interpretative effects) and a shift in resources allocation (resource/incentive effects); and b) how the interaction between the two policy instruments contributed to methodological and epistemic drifts in the field of educational research.

Factors in a professional learning program to support a teacher’s growth in mathematical reasoning and its pedagogy

Improved pedagogical practice does not happen in a silo; it requires impetus. External influences and pressures and internal motivations are drivers for pedagogical change. Professional learning (PL) programs, in their multitude of forms, are key tools for affecting teacher change. In response to an increased focus on fostering students’ reasoning in curriculum documents, our team developed the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Research Program (MRPLRP) to support teacher change. This two-phased project aimed to build teachers’ knowledge of the critical aspects of reasoning pedagogical approaches that foster students’ development of reasoning. Phase One involved researchers’ planning and demonstrating a lesson with a focus on reasoning. In Phase Two, a peer learning team (PLT) is formed to plan a lesson to elicit reasoning and to observe each other teach the lesson. This article reports on Phases One and Two of the MRPLRP from the perspective of one teacher who participated in both phases. The findings provide insights into the aspects of PL that were critical in shifting this teacher’s understanding of reasoning and approaches to teaching reasoning. Whilst the results of a single case cannot be extrapolated to a larger population, we present and discuss the factors of this PL program in raising the awareness of critical aspects of reasoning, and thus this paper has the potential to impact future PL design.

Primary teachers notice the impact of language on children’s mathematical reasoning

Mathematical reasoning is now featured in the mathematics curriculum documents of many nations, but this necessitates changes to teaching practice and hence a need for professional learning. The development of children’s mathematical reasoning requires appropriate encouragement and feedback from their teacher who can only do this if they recognise mathematical reasoning in children’s actions and words. As part of a larger study, we explored whether observation of educators conducting mathematics lessons can develop teachers’ sensitivity in noticing children’s reasoning and consideration of how to support reasoning. In the Mathematical Reasoning Professional Learning Research Program, demonstration lessons were conducted in Australian and Canadian primary classrooms. Data sources included post-lesson group discussions. Observation of demonstration lessons and engagement in post-lesson discussions proved to be effective vehicles for developing a professional eye for noticing children’s individual and whole-class reasoning. In particular, the teachers noticed that children struggled to employ mathematical language to communicate their reasoning and viewed limitations in language as a major barrier to increasing the use of mathematical reasoning in their classrooms. Given the focus of teachers’ noticing of the limitations in some types of mathematical language, it seems that targeted support is required for teachers to facilitate classroom discourse for reasoning.

A place for fundamental (British) values in teacher education in Northern Ireland?

This paper examines the distinctive locus of teacher education in Northern Ireland (NI) in respect of Fundamental British Values (FBV). It is written from the perspective of teacher education tutors in a PGCE programme that explicitly subscribes to pursuing the Shared Future agenda as outlined by NI Government policy in 2005. First, it establishes the inappropriateness of pursuing an FBV agenda in NI where the historical and contemporary context has been characterised by division expressed through opposing British and Irish identities; and, emerging from conflict where future political progress requires greater accommodation between these two often hostile positions. Second, using data from a previous Teaching and Learning Research Programme study (2005) on Values in Teacher Education as an indicator of student teacher social and political attitudes, it draws on later NI census (2011) and Life and Times Survey data (2005 and 2008) to identify the challenges and opportunities facing teacher educators wishing to encourage a more nuanced awareness among student teachers as to how identity issues impact on education. Finally, one teacher education initiative designed for this purpose is examined and its approaches offered as a means that Initial Teacher Education might contribute to producing teachers better equipped to contribute to a more accommodating society in NI in the future.

Improving education through research? From effectiveness, causality and technology to purpose, complexity and culture

This paper focuses on the role of research in the improvement of educational practice. I use the 10 Principles for Effective Pedagogy, which were formulated on the basis of research conducted in the UK's Teacher and Learning Research Programme as an example to highlight some common problems in the discussion about research and educational improvement. In the paper I explore three issues. The first concerns the idea that the improvement of education is identical to increasing the effectiveness of educational action. Here I suggest that in education the question is never whether something is effective or not, but what something is supposed to be effective for, which is the question of educational purpose. The second issue concerns the prevalence of quasi-causal thinking about educational practice and its improvement. Here I suggest that complexity theory and the idea of complexity reduction provides a much more meaningful educational ontology that makes it possible to think very differently about the drivers for educational change and improvement. Third, I make a distinction between two ways in which research knowledge can be meaningful and useful for educational practice – a technical way where research is supposed to generate knowledge about how to do things and a cultural way which has to do with generating different ways to make sense of education. Seeing that research can engage with educational practice in these two different registers, opens up a different way to think about what research might aim to achieve in order to contribute to educational improvement.

Learning Through the Ages? Generational Inequalities and Inter-Generational Dynamics of Lifelong Learning

ABSTRACT This exploratory paper considers the concept of generation in the context of learning across the life course. Although researchers have often found considerable inequalities in participation by age, as well as strongly articulated attitudinal differences, there have so far been only a handful of studies that have explored these patterns through the perspective of generational formations. The paper is primarily conceptual, exploratory and reflective, setting out a number of approaches to the concept of generations, most of which derive largely from debates with the ghost of Karl Mannheim; it then considers how these concepts of generation have been applied to understandings of educational inequalities in recent research in Germany and the Nordic nations. It then examines the dynamics of inter-generational relations in learning, drawing on research undertaken as part of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. The paper argues that although inter-generational dynamics are a relatively neglected dimension of Anglophone research on life chances and learning, there is a strong case for understanding their dual roles in both inequality and cohesion. It concludes by outlining some themes and areas for further investigation in the future.

Lesson Study development in England: from school networks to national policy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the development of Lesson Study (LS) in England through a Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) project – from early ideas, to a national pilot and national support from the National Strategies, a new labour government agency supporting improvement in educational standards.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the early development of LS in England as a process to improve teaching and learning and pupil progress in networks of schools and local authorities, between 2003 and 2006, going on to describe the entrance of LS onto the English national educational policy landscape in 2008.FindingsThe paper finds that LS has a place in the repertoire of teacher learning approaches and there is evidence that its use can improve teaching, learning and pupil learning outcomes in a range of school contexts. LS works successfully in a system that expects teachers and school leaders to improve professional knowledge and practice through systematic use of collaborative, enquiry based teacher learning approaches.Originality/valueThe paper provides some examples of the evidence of impact that Lesson Study has had on pupil learning outcomes.

TLRP’s ten principles for effective pedagogy: rationale, development, evidence, argument and impact

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.

Pedagogy, didactics and the co-regulation of learning: a perspective from the French-language world of educational research

Since pedagogy is a key term in the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) principles, it is of interest to examine the evolution of the concept of pedagogy in the French-language world of education, as well as the emergence of a new field of research called ‘didactics’. Work on situated cognition provides a framework for defining co-regulation of learning in the classroom as resulting from the joint influence of student self-regulation and of regulation from other sources (teachers, peers, curriculum materials, assessment instruments, etc.). Several examples of research on this topic are mentioned. In conclusion, it is argued that the concept of co-regulation of learning can be seen as a way of linking the TLRP principles of scaffolding and of student engagement.

Changing concepts of equity in transforming UK higher education: implications for future pedagogies and practices in global higher education

This paper is about changing concepts of equity in UK higher education. In particular, it charts the moves from concepts about gender equality as about women’s education as a key issue in twentieth century higher education to questions of men’s education in the twenty-first century. These changing concepts of equity are linked to wider social and economic transformations, the expansion of higher education and the growth in the knowledge economy, or what has been called ‘academic capitalism’. Feminist theorists and activists, often called second wave feminists, developed concepts of gender equality in education, including higher education in the twentieth century, and these have been incorporated into higher education and policies with the expansions of higher education, especially around notions of widening participation. Notions of widening participation in policy and practice arenas focus on equity as about social class, socio-economic disadvantage, ethnicity and race, rather than specifically on gender questions. Equity is now twinned with diversity and where gender is now invoked it is largely about young and working class men’s disadvantage in relation to higher education. In this paper, I will also provide research evidence from the UK’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) which has been the UK’s biggest ever initiative in education research about equity and diversity as currently conceived in UK higher education. I will show how gender has been incorporated with diversity questions and has lost its critical and feminist edge. I conclude with addressing questions about the future of higher education policies and practices to address questions of equity and diversity, attempting to counter the systemic inequalities in current forms of UK higher education. There are opportunities for developing new, critical and feminist pedagogies. More inclusive or ‘connectionist’ approaches, rather than ‘teaching to the test’, would engage socially diverse men and women students in a range of higher education subjects and settings.

Learning from Innovative International Research on Higher Education: How to Conceptualise Equity for Policy, Practice and Pedagogies in Higher Education

In this article, the author draws together the diverse approaches to equity and widening participation found in the innovative international research conducted in Ghana and Tanzania by contrast with those in the ‘global North’, using the United Kingdom as a case study. In particular, the author considers the utility of equity scorecards around the theme of the three Rs – recruitment, retention and results – in the context of very diverse national and international cultures and contexts. The focus of these scorecards is on equity in terms of gender, age and socio-economic backgrounds. Using research evidence from the United Kingdom's Teaching and Learning Research Programme on fair access and widening participation in higher education, the author also draws out further conceptual considerations about equity and diversity as key to developing policies, practices and pedagogies for the future of global universities in the twenty-first century. What are the obstacles and opportunities for envisioning equitable and fair policies, practices and pedagogies for the three Rs to enable and enhance higher education for women and other socio-economically disadvantaged groups?

The shaping of communication across boundaries

This article will consider the formative effect of boundaries between activities in directing and deflecting the attention of actors who are seeking to develop innovatory practice at these boundaries. Specific attention will be directed to practices of communication at these boundaries and also to the way in which these boundaries shape the practices of communication themselves. The concept of boundary strength will be developed and discussed. Its utility will be illustrated through reference to an investigation of the consequences of 3 very different examples of attempts at boundary crossing as Local Authorities in England attempt to develop integrated Children's Services from traditional collections of single service agencies (e.g., Education, Health, Social Services). The data will be drawn from a 4 year study of professional learning in and for interagency working directed by the authors and funded within the UK Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme.

The UK’s teaching and learning research programme (TLRP)

TLRP is the UK’s largest research programme in the social sciences and has provided coordination for 700 researchers in some 70 project teams and almost 20 initiatives of cross-programme thematic analysis. The first projects began empirical work in 2000 and the last project is presently expected to end in 2011. The total budget in the year 2009 had risen to £ 43 m and drew contributions from a wide range of UK government bodies. However, the programme is managed by the Economic and Social Research Council. TLRP is thus a very clear example of a large scale reform project designed to have an impact at a system-wide national level. Indeed, since devolution of powers was agreed in 1998, it is more appropriate to think of the UK as comprising four national education systems—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. TLRP has contributed to the development of provision in each country and within all major educational sectors. It has also been significantly concerned with enhancing the quality of educational research within the UK.

Reflecting what is learned at university

Since the expansion of higher education, there has been a move, in many countries, from structures for the elite to structures for ‘mass’ or ‘universal’ applicability. The expanded systems in the UK generally differentiate institutions in terms of function, tradition, programs, and the populations they serve. The authors were concerned with diversity in the form of universities as well as the characteristics of the students who attend them. They focused on the values of teaching in higher education, by posing the question, ‘‘What is learned at university?’’ It is a good question. From the instructional side, it was unclear precisely what students wanted, what they found at school, and what they expected to achieve during their time in higher education. In this book, the authors explored these questions through the voices of students and staff, using empirical data from students in 15 different courses, at different universities across three selected subjects areas—bio-science, business studies and sociology. Their research project called SOMUL (The Social and Organizational Mediation of University Learning), was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRG) as part of its ‘‘Teaching and Learning Research Program (TLRP). The central concern of the project was with ‘social and organizational mediation of learning’ based on the assumption that differences in educational approaches mattered. They were less concerned with the simple hierarchies of institutional prestige, preferring to focus on how studies were organized, and the aspirations and lifestyles of students who attended. The project was concerned with the commonalities that existed across all institutional settings. Although the focus was on the UK, the references were based on experience and ideas developed from all over the world. The clear intention of this book was to map the possibilities in learning, and to consider some of the different answers one might find to answer the question ‘‘What is learned at university?’’ The SOMUL adopted a case study methodology and concentrated on students and graduates in these three contrasting academic subjects. It determined the combination of subjects to explore, from academic/vocational to science/non-science programs. The SOMUL research viewed learning as a function of the social composition and life experiences of the student body; its effects on various programs; as well as the organizational

Diversity, gender and widening participation in global higher education: a feminist perspective

This article is a critique of the expansion of higher education in global and national contexts. First I provide an analysis of the transformation of higher education as a form of 'academic capitalism' and how second-wave feminist critiques and pedagogies have become incorporated as have women, amongst other social groups, in increasingly diverse forms of post-compulsory education. Yet, the transformations in global higher education have not been in the direction of greater gender or social equity. Second, I provide evidence of the policies and practices of the U.K. government in widening participation to U.K. higher education, drawing on research, commissioned by the U.K. government, and conducted by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. I provide detailed research evidence, from the seven projects, about the policies, practices and pedagogies within English higher education. I argue that, although neither gender nor social equality has been accomplished, there is evidence of practices that value and respect social diversity and inclusion of women's diverse perspectives and feminist pedagogies.

Directing the Teaching and Learning Research Programme: or ‘Trying to Fly a Glider Made Of Jelly’

ABSTRACT TLRP's generic phase (1999–2009) is believed to have been the largest ever UK investment in educational research. This paper describes the critique from which TLRP emerged, its strategic positioning and the roles of successive directors and their teams in its development. The paper offers an early stock take of TLRP's achievements from the perspective of the last Programme Director. The efficacy of the form of the Programme, once likened to ‘a glider made of jelly’, is discussed.

The physical education profession and its professional responsibility … or … why ‘12 weeks paid holiday’ will never be enough

Background: This paper critically reviews the concept of ‘professional responsibility’ in physical education. The paper is rooted in the belief that the physical education profession has, by virtue of its expertise in young people and physical activity, the potential to deliver a broad range of desirable educational and health-related outcomes. Yet, if the physical education profession is just that – a profession – then its true potential lies in its ability to serve its ‘clients’; children and young people. In order to serve its clients effectively, therefore, each member of the profession has a responsibility to base its practices upon the best knowledge available at any given time. Key concepts: Physical education teachers as professionals are considered as learners – rather than as teachers. The development of this argument is traced through the work of John Dewey, Donald Schon, David Hargreaves and the recent national Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) in England. On being a profession: The nature of professions is then analysed and an holistic view of the physical education profession is suggested which places teachers at the core of a community of practice. Career-long professional development (CPD) is identified as a defining characteristic of all professions, yet it is argued that much of the CPD traditionally offered to physical education teachers is limited in both scope and challenge. Health and positive youth development: The problems resulting from ineffective and inappropriate PE-CPD are considered. Expectations on the PE profession are increasing, nationally and internationally, in two areas of public concern – health and positive youth development. It is argued, however, that the fractured nature of the wider profession means that PE teachers are poorly prepared to deliver what is expected of it in these two areas. Implications for the PE profession: The implications of a fractured profession are explored and it is argued that urgent changes are required to the ways in which teachers learn, teacher educators (from ITT to CPD) support professional learning, and researchers undertake, disseminate and are held accountable for their research. Conclusion: The extended profession needs to find ways to work together more effectively to support teachers who exist to serve the clients of this profession: children and young people. It is suggested that one way to start this process is to refocus teachers on themselves as career-long learners, and then to consider the implications for the work of the wider PE profession; including researchers.

Putting knowledge to work: A new approach

Approaches to the longstanding challenges of 'integrating' subject-based and work-based knowledge have typically focused on questions of how learning can be 'transferred' from one setting to another, relating the assumed 'abstract' nature of theory to the assumed 'real' nature of practice. This is often seen as a single movement as encapsulated in the term 'from theory to practice'. The authors have developed a fresh approach that concentrates on different forms of knowledge and the ways in which these are contextualised and 're-contextualised' in movements between different sites of learning in colleges and workplaces. While the research has been carried out in a range of professional fields outside nursing, the arguments put forward by the authors are relevant to continuing debates within nursing around the theory-practice gap. The aim has been to explore how the subject-based and work-based aspects of a curriculum or learning programme can articulate with one another more effectively. The potential of the 're-contextualisation' approach for nurse education is outlined, with a view to further research. The original research was sponsored by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Commercial Education Trust and the Economic and Social Research Council Teaching and Learning Research Programme.