BERA UK Podcast

In this episode of the BERA Podcast Nick Johnson, Chief Executive of BERA speaks to Ruth-Anne Lenga and Alice Pettigrew of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education. Over the last ten years, research by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education has critically examined teaching and learning about the Holocaust in England’s secondary schools. Its 2009 study of more than 2000 teachers revealed that, althou...

The Education Media Centre (EMC) is the UK`s first independent charity dedicated to raising public and media awareness of research and evidence behind the education stories in the news. In this episode, Nick Johnson speaks to Fran Abrams, the EMC CEO about her history in the media and how the EMC is helping the public to be able to read, hear, see and understand more from education research expert...

In this episode of the BERA Podcast BERA Chief Executive Nick Johnson speaks to Dr Olivene Burke (University of the West Indies) about educational research in the Caribbean and her academic work in marginalized community development. Dr Olivene Burke is the Executive Director of the Mona Social Services, UWI, Jamaica. Along with her colleagues Tenneisha Nelson and Vanessa Ellis Colley, Olivene Bur...

In this episode of the BERA Podcast Nick Johnson, Chief Executive of BERA speaks to Dr Tony Breslin about his new book: Lessons from Lockdown: The Educational Legacy of COVID-19. Tony is a public policy analyst, educational commentator, curriculum development specialist and governance trainer. His new book draws on the voices of more than a hundred pupils, parents and professionals and reveals how...

What is it like to publish during your PhD? How can you continue to publish after your PhD? How is it different to publish a book as opposed to journal articles? How do you navigate the process of academic writing and publishing—ranging from revision to rejection and from solo work to collaboration? What and how can we learn from the publication process?  Following the BERA Early Career Researcher...

In the first episode of 2021, BERA Chief Executive Nick Johnson interviews Professor Tom Crick (Swansea University) who is the recent recipient of the 2020  BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award.  The BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award recognises and celebrates the impact of research and practice in the education community and how both have demonstrably engaged the public. Professor Tom Cri...

In this episode of the BERA Podcast, the BERA Executive Committee reflects on the organization's work in 2020 and looks ahead to what is to come in 2021. Nick Johnson, Chief Executive Dominic Wyse, BERA President Vivian Baumfield, BERA Vice President Sean Hayes, BERA Treasurer Mhairi Beaton, Conference and Events Chair Gerry Czerniawski, Membership and Engagement Chair Ros McLellan, Publicati...

As a doctoral candidate or early-career researcher (ECR), have you ever been invited to serve as a peer reviewer for journals? What were your reactions to the invitation? Some may feel unprepared while others may think the invitation is out of their league. In this podcast, award-winning peer reviewers Sin Wang Chong and Shannon Mason share their experiences as ECR peer reviewers for journals in t...

If you are new to scholarly publishing, you probably have a lot of questions that go beyond how to submit your manuscript and how to set out your responses to reviewers. What should I do if I disagree with a reviewer’s feedback? What should I do if my paper is rejected? What happens when there are multiple authors on a paper? In this session, Sin Wang Chong and Shannon Mason discuss the answers to...

Relationships, Sex and Health Education recently became statutory in English schools, creating a significant opportunity to engage positively with young people on issues that are deeply relevant to their everyday lives. However, RSHE policy carries challenges and has been met with resistance in some communities. There is now a need for greater visibility and examples of RSHE practice that is faith...

In this episode of the BERA Podcast Nick Johnson, Chief Executive at BERA interviews Professor Gemma Moss (UCL-IOE) about her latest research project "A duty of care and a duty to teach: educational priorities in response to the COVID-19 crisis"   Gemma speaks about the diverse roles English primary schools find themselves playing in their local communities, the challenges they faced in...

In this episode, hosted by the BERA Alternative Education SIG  Dr Amber Fensham-Smith (Open University) interviews Joanna Merrett (University of Exeter), a Researcher and Elective Home Education Consultant. An estimated 54,000 children in the UK are home educated, although the actual number of home educated children is largely unknown. Amber and Joanna discuss the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has...

In this episode of the BERA Podcast BERA Chief Executive Nick Johnson interviews Professor Paul Miller, the President of the Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management (CCEAM). Paul is an internationally respected academic administrator and researcher whose research on teacher race discrimination in England is assisting the UK Cabinet Office in policy development, and his r...

In this episode, the second in the "Educated Unmasked" podcast series, Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope, BERA SIG Convenor for Educational Effectiveness and Improvement and Council Member, discusses the role of the UK teacher education professional bodies, UCET and NASBTT, with their Directors James Nobel-Rogers and Emma Hollis.  UCET (UK) and NASBTT (England) represent the interests of a br...

Every year BERA awards the John Nisbet Fellowship to people who are deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to educational research over their career. Named in honour of our first President, this award recognises individuals who exemplify BERA’s commitment to encouraging educational research and its application for the improvement of practice and public benefit.  In 2019 we awarded the Joh...

In this episode presented by the BERA Teacher Education SIG, Lizana Oberholzer interviews Deb Outhwaite, the Director of the Derby Teaching Schools Alliance (DTSA). Deb speaks about the challenges Covid-19 has presented for trainee teachers, the importance of mentors, and the extra support trainee teachers, school governors and trustees will need when school returns.

In this episode of the BERA Podcast BERA Teacher Education SIG Convenor Lizana Oberholzer interviews Allana Gay, the founder of the BAMEeD Network.  Allana co-founded BAMEed Network to encourage more BAME educators into the profession and to ensure they are supported to progress within their careers. She is also a Headteacher at a North London Primary School in the heart of Tottenham. Her experien...

In this episode presented by the BERA Teacher Education SIG, Lizana Oberholzer interviews Dr Suzanne Culshaw, whose doctoral research explored what it means to be struggling as a teacher. Suzanne’s conceptualisation of struggling takes it out of the capability and performativity arenas and places it well and truly in the wellbeing domain.  Views are the presenters own and not those of BERA.

This is the third episode in the "Education for our planet and our future" podcast series. In this episode, Dr Kevin Smith (Cardiff University) and Dr Rhian Barrance (Cardiff University) discuss the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the climate crisis school strikes, and how schools can work to acknowledge and facilitate children’s right to protest. Kevin and Rhian ex...

In this episode, Dr George Leckie (University of Bristol) discusses his research: "The importance of adjusting for pupil background in school value-added models: A study of Progress 8 and school accountability in England." This important research was awarded the 2019 BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award. You can find out more and George and his research here: https://www.bera.ac.uk/aw...

In this episode of the BERA Podcast Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope, BERA SIG Convenor for Educational Effectiveness and Improvement and BERA Council Member, discusses the response to COVID-19 by the Chartered College of Teaching (CCT) with Professor Dame Alison Peacock (CEO), Cat Scutt (Director of Education and Research) and Professor Sam Twiselton OBE (Vice President External).  The Chartered Coll...

In this episode presented by the BERA Teacher Education SIG, Lizana Oberholzer interviews Paul Campbell, who is Lead Teacher Curriculum at Sha Tin Junior School in Hong Kong Sha Tin Junior School is part of the English Schools Foundation (ESF), which with 22 schools is the largest English-medium education provider in Hong Kong. Paul and Lizana discuss the challenges and opportunities for Teacher E...

Every year BERA awards the John Nisbet Fellowship to people who have made an outstanding contribution to educational research over their career.  In this episode, Professor Dominic Wyse, BERA President interviews Professor Usha Goswami (University of Cambridge) one of the 2020 John Nisbet fellows. “… every science base that you address shows how important it is to use child-centred play-based lear...

In this episode, the second in the "Education for our planet and for our future" series, Dr Kevin Smith (Cardiff University) and Dr Paul Vare (University of Gloucestershire) discuss the importance of re-examining what we value in education and our current educational practices as they relate to climate change. They also discuss the importance of considering what we can do as individuals...

At the 2017 BERA Conference Professor Gerry Czerniawski delivered his keynote lecture "Becoming and being an ECR – identity, practice & serendipity." Today we are re-releasing the audio from this popular keynote lecture. Within you will find his top tips for Early Career Researchers, all of which are relevant today. Gerry runs the doctoral programme at the Cass School of Education an...