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Who gets to access undergraduate study in the context of Levelling Up? The political economy of higher education
It is becoming clear that higher education faces some potentially momentous changes in the coming months – although, as is often the case, we can’t be clear of the direction of that change. The largest policy challenge is set by the Levelling Up agenda (DLUHC 2022) and subsequent policy reforms set in train by the…
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Issues and Answers: Teacher Recruitment and Retention
COVID 19 showed us more clearly than ever the importance of education and why we need to protect it. We have not only seen how hard it is when teachers and their pupils cannot be together but also how much it matters that we address the disruption to learning this has created. We have also…
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From safeguarding and confidentiality to GDPR and online methods: considerations for researchers during the pandemic and beyond
The world changed for everyone back in March 2020. The transition to working from home happened overnight, with little time to consider how effectively that would work in terms of the jobs we do. As a mixed methods educational researcher with a role as an Information Governance Guardian[1], I was faced with immediate concerns around…
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Executive Summary of Sheffield Hallam’s Institutional response to the Initial Teaching Training Review
You can read Sheffield Hallam’s full response to the ITT review – SHU Response to ITT Market Review The story of Sheffield Institute of Education and our response With over 100 years of experience, we are one of the largest providers of teacher professional development, we work with over 600 partners, and we are home…
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Can COVID-19 break the rigid opposition to teachers working flexibly?
It feels strange to talk about a global pandemic having upsides, but as we approach the end of many restrictions in the UK, it seems apt to reflect on what lessons we might learn from the life-changing experience we’ve all been through. As a Sheffield Business School academic with a passion for exploring professional lives,…
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P is for Preconditioning
How to support your HE students to ‘unlearn’ “All they ever want to know is how to do the assessment task!” “They’re not interested in my feedback, only in their grade.” “They never volunteer answers in class, and I’m not even supposed to ask them direct questions!” “It would be great if they could even…
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Midsummer Right Scheming
Midsummer 2021, and once again a Government report is expressing concern for working-class pupils – but seemingly only the White onesi. The statistical ‘data driven’ evidence in the report suggest objectivity and ‘fact’ but the obvious cherry-picking of evidence, seeming lack of concern about statistical accuracy and subjective bias in the discussion bely such naïve…
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Fixing the educational divide: speaking out for a more effective curriculum
This Spring a parliamentary report, ‘’Speak for Change,” made a compelling case for why the ability to articulate ideas confidently, to influence others and to collaborate with peers matters. It also offered practical strategies schools could use to encourage these skills among pupils.
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Why we need to look after new teachers: now more than ever
In the Doncaster Opportunity Area, of which I am deputy chair, we have seen large numbers of people losing their jobs because of Covid-19. This is having a huge impact on lives, communities and, of course, children. So what has been the effect of this on new teachers starting this year? As you would expect,…
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Quality assurance of teachers’ professional development: what have we learned?
We know that teacher quality matters to educational outcomes. Therefore, if we want to improve outcomes for pupils in our schools, we need to ensure they receive high-quality teaching. And this means teachers need access to high-quality professional development which helps them to keep learning about their practice and their roles. But can we agree…
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