Vivienne Baumfield – författare

One of the most pressing topics worldwide is how we can improve education to enhance  people’s life chances. The BERA-Sage Handbook of Research-Informed Education Practice and Policy, 2 Vol. offers an in-depth exploration of the ways in which education research intersects with and can lead to improvements in education. Through detailed examinations of educational policies, practices, values, and research methodologies, the handbook navigates the complexities inherent in educational systems and in so doing presents a unique new picture of education worldwide.

Volume One of the Handbook set focuses on Understanding Research-Informed Education, and Volume Two focuses on how to implement it. Across six parts and fifty-two chapters, the authors and editors explore a myriad of critical topics including using research to promote equity within education systems, rethinking pedagogy, and knowledge mobilisation through practitioner-led inquiry. New developments in aspects such as systematic approaches to research synthesis are presented by world-leading experts.

Authors of the chapters draw from many different sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of education, including perspectives from the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. This understanding combines cutting-edge education research and scholarship to provide insights into how education is enacted in countries and institutions through policy and practice.

Featuring a truly diverse team of scholars to account for global perspectives, the BERA-Sage Handbook of Research-Informed Education Practice and Policy, 2 Vol. is an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers, students, and practitioners who are interested in the  new frontiers in education research, policy and practice.

Volume One: Understanding Research-Informed Education

Part One - Defining and Theorising Research-Informed EducationPart Two - Methodological Debates in the FieldPart Three - International Comparison and Educational Policy

Volume Two: Implementing Research-Informed Education

Part Four - Effective policy and practice in national contextsPart Five – Curriculum, pedagogy and assessmentPart Six – Practitioners and learners as researchers

Is there an ‘ideal’ primary school curriculum?

Who should decide what the curriculum is?

Should teachers have autonomy over how they teach?

The curriculum is the heart of what teachers teach and learners learn: effective teaching is only possible with an effective curriculum. Yet in spite of its importance, there has been a crisis in curriculum that has been caused in large part by governments assuming direct control over the curriculum, assessment, and increasingly, pedagogy.

Creating the Curriculum tackles this thorny issue head on, challenging student and practising primary school teachers to think critically about past and present issues and to engage with a new wave of curriculum thinking and development. Considering curriculum construction and its impact on teaching and learning in the four countries of the UK, key issues considered include:

Illustrated throughout with strategies and case studies from the classroom, Creating the Curriculum accessibly links the latest research and evidence with concrete examples of good practice. It is a timely exploration of what makes an effective and meanginful curriculum and how teachers can bring new relevance, motivation and powerful values to what they teach.

Is there an ‘ideal’ primary school curriculum?

Who should decide what the curriculum is?

Should teachers have autonomy over how they teach?

The curriculum is the heart of what teachers teach and learners learn: effective teaching is only possible with an effective curriculum. Yet in spite of its importance, there has been a crisis in curriculum that has been caused in large part by governments assuming direct control over the curriculum, assessment, and increasingly, pedagogy.

Creating the Curriculum tackles this thorny issue head on, challenging student and practising primary school teachers to think critically about past and present issues and to engage with a new wave of curriculum thinking and development. Considering curriculum construction and its impact on teaching and learning in the four countries of the UK, key issues considered include:

Illustrated throughout with strategies and case studies from the classroom, Creating the Curriculum accessibly links the latest research and evidence with concrete examples of good practice. It is a timely exploration of what makes an effective and meanginful curriculum and how teachers can bring new relevance, motivation and powerful values to what they teach.

This exciting new edition of a popular text is an important resource for any education professional interested in investigating learning and teaching. Building on the success of Action Research in the Classroom, the authors have revised, updated and extended this book to include examples from further and higher education.

It maps out easy-to-follow steps for usefully applying an action research approach and is full of practical tips and examples of real practitioner research projects from a range of schools, colleges and universities.

This book will help teachers to:

- understand and apply practitioner inquiry

- enhance their problem-solving skills

- locate their own activity in a wider context

- maximise opportunities to develop practice

- evaluate the needs of their learners

Clear, pragmatic and timely, this is a must-have text for all teachers and students of education.

Vivienne Baumfield is Professor of Pedagogy, Policy and Innovation in the School of Education, University of Glasgow

Elaine Hall is Lecturer in Research Methods, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences, Newcastle University

Kate Wall is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, Durham University