Thomas Procter-Legg, Rebecca J. S. Snell, Robert M. Klassen
{"title":"The five-year itch: Motivational factors that influence the career decisions of early career teachers in England","authors":"Thomas Procter-Legg, Rebecca J. S. Snell, Robert M. Klassen","doi":"10.1002/berj.4149","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4149","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Teacher retention in England continues to be in a state of decline, with early career teachers (ECTs) most at risk of leaving the profession. High attrition rates create an unstable and unsustainable workforce, which negatively affects the educational development of young people. The purpose of this paper was to explore the career-related push and pull factors for ECTs in England. The paper also explores the way in which ECTs' experiences shape career decision-making, and the extent to which their motivational needs are being met. Previous studies have considered workplace retention; however, little is known about the motivational needs and perspectives of ECTs. This paper explores the experiences of 20 ECTs in state-funded primary, secondary and special schools in England. All participants had less than 5 years' teaching experience and were selected through purposive sampling. Participants took part in semi-structured online interviews with data analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five themes were constructed from the data: complexity, belonging, emotional impact, professional identity and relentlessness. Findings show that these themes are interrelated and combine to create a clear ‘tipping point’ where ECTs begin to find the job unmanageable. From a motivation perspective, we found that autonomous motivation reduces quitting intentions and that the need for relatedness and positive professional identities is particularly important for retaining teachers in the first 5 years of their careers.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 4","pages":"1623-1647"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4149","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The link between school leadership, staff job satisfaction and retention. Longitudinal evidence from England","authors":"John Jerrim","doi":"10.1002/berj.4134","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4134","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper presents new evidence on the link between staff perceptions of school leadership and job satisfaction, drawing on three waves of The Engagement Platform data collected from over 4000 members of school staff in England. We find that when staff have a positive rather than an ambivalent view of school leadership, their job satisfaction is markedly improved. Views of school leadership in the autumn term are also found to correlate with whether staff leave their job by the end of the academic year. Together, our results demonstrate how views of leadership play a pivotal role in the satisfaction and retention of school staff.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 4","pages":"1582-1603"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4134","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Safe spaces and beyond: Examining the role of LGBT+ Pride Groups in fostering ontological security and allyship within UK schools","authors":"Adam Brett","doi":"10.1002/berj.4141","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4141","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper explores the critical role that safe spaces, or ‘Pride Groups’, can play in developing ontological security and allyship within schools. Drawing on data collected from eight UK secondary schools and one college, the research evaluates the impact of these groups, using an innovative theoretical framework combining Meyer's minority stress model with Giddens' concept of ontological security. The research addresses a significant and notable gap in UK-based Pride Groups literature, as these groups are more commonly studied in the US context. The findings demonstrate that such groups provide essential safe spaces, fostering personal development, emotional wellbeing and broader school inclusion. Moreover, this study adds depth to existing research by examining the logistical and ideological challenges of running Pride Groups, such as the negotiation of group membership and the tension between inclusivity and safety. These insights contribute to an original and deeper understanding of inclusive policy and practice, revealing how educational environments can be transformed into spaces of safety for LGBT+ students.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 4","pages":"1604-1622"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4141","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexandra Troy, Devina Christianti, Shelby Weisen, Iain Hunter, Martin Van Boekel
{"title":"A cross-cultural examination of elementary students' perceptions of academic feedback","authors":"Alexandra Troy, Devina Christianti, Shelby Weisen, Iain Hunter, Martin Van Boekel","doi":"10.1002/berj.4143","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4143","url":null,"abstract":"<p>With a growing emphasis on students playing an active role in the feedback process, understanding how students perceive academic feedback is essential to support the implementation of relevant strategies that can drive better engagement. The current study explored elementary school students' perceptions of feedback in two different contexts/cultures: the United Kingdom and Indonesia. Results suggest that younger students in the United Kingdom and older students in Indonesia hold similar understandings of the <i>purpose</i> of feedback (task-based), with older students in the United Kingdom showing higher awareness of the importance of process-based feedback. However, when it comes to the <i>desired</i> type of feedback, UK students preferred more self/praise-based feedback, while Indonesian students preferred task-based feedback. Potential reasons for these differences are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 4","pages":"1567-1581"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4143","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144843757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tackling ignorance about law in human rights education","authors":"Suzanne Egan","doi":"10.1002/berj.4138","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4138","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper aims to unpack potential reasons why law and legal knowledge—despite its apparent importance and value in teaching and learning about human rights—appears to be largely conspicuous by its absence in human rights education (HRE) in schooling. Drawing on a range of contextually relevant categories of ignorance identified from discourse on epistemologies of ignorance, it argues that deficits in legal literacy on the part of the wide range of stakeholders involved in HRE can manifest in multiple guises, including: ignorance as a strategic choice for political ends; ignorance as a conscious, rational and practical (not necessarily self-interested) choice; and inadvertent ignorance or such that is unconsciously selective in nature. By approaching the issue from this novel standpoint, the overarching aim of the paper is to illuminate the prospects and possibilities for tackling instances of such ignorance going forward.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 3","pages":"1521-1537"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4138","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144503094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lin Ma, Yanan Dong, Haowen Jiang, Xin Wu, Huiwen Wang
{"title":"Supporting the supporters: How peer mentoring engagement reduces citizenship fatigue for sophomores in universities","authors":"Lin Ma, Yanan Dong, Haowen Jiang, Xin Wu, Huiwen Wang","doi":"10.1002/berj.4139","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4139","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Although peer mentoring has been widely adopted in universities, in which sophomores serve as mentors to help freshmen quickly adapt to university life, less attention has been given to the effect of these programmes on mentors. To address this gap in the literature, the impact of mentors' engagement in peer mentoring on citizenship fatigue in Chinese universities was investigated and framed within the conservation of resources theory. We collected data from 401 peer mentors across two survey waves and explored how and when engagement in peer mentoring affects mentors' citizenship fatigue. The results showed that higher engagement in peer mentoring significantly enhanced mentors' perceived meaningfulness, which in turn reduced citizenship fatigue. Additionally, mentor self-disclosure strengthened the positive relationship between engagement in peer mentoring and perceived meaningfulness. These findings highlight the importance of psychological resources in reducing mentors' citizenship fatigue and suggest that universities should support mentors by providing mental health resources and encouraging open communication to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of peer mentoring programmes.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 3","pages":"1538-1558"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144503093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Research–practice partnerships in education: Lessons from the United States","authors":"Rachel France","doi":"10.1002/berj.4132","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4132","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In response to a proposal to reframe the ‘research into practice’ agenda in UK education using partnership working, this paper examines a type of collaborative research known as a research–practice partnership (RPP), drawing on models established in education in the United States. It examines their characteristics and what has been learnt from several decades of experience before reflecting on the relevance of this literature for the UK context. RPPs can allow researchers to gain a better understanding of practice problems and, by involving practitioners and local policymakers, the resulting research is likely to be more relevant to local users. The paper highlights the importance of relationship building, considerations around locus of power and issues related to boundary working. It considers aspects of the underlying research infrastructure in the United Kingdom relevant to partnership working, including the role of local authorities, research funding structures and the general research environment. Changes to the Research Excellence Framework and funders' requirements, as well as shifts in policy approaches to research, all suggest that support for more collaborative working in the United Kingdom may be growing.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 3","pages":"1469-1480"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4132","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144502990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A study on the social integration of international secondary students in Canadian high schools","authors":"Yingling Lou","doi":"10.1002/berj.4135","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4135","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Research on the international secondary students (ISS) is scarce compared with the proliferating literature on their tertiary counterparts. This paper focuses on social integration experiences of ISS from diverse ethnic backgrounds, the undergirding macro-, meso-, and micro-mechanisms, and the supports needed for their successful integration. It draws on a subset of data from a longitudinal qualitative study through an interdisciplinary conceptual framework. This study employs multiple case study designs with critical intercultural hermeneutics as an interpretive approach. Research methods involve (a) serial interviews with six ISS that spanned the 2022–2023 school year; (b) in-depth interviews with their parents, homestays, teachers, and agents; (c) online observations of the students’ virtual communities; (d) documents; and (e) research journals. It uncovers three mechanisms undergirding ISS’ social integration challenges: lack of ethnic proximity, a departmentalised classroom system and capital defence. This study suggests that stakeholders and researchers of ISS must obviate deficit-oriented and assimilationist perspectives, which attribute social integration challenges solely to ISS’ limited knowledge of mainstream culture and language. Instead, a paradigm shift is necessary to redefine the criteria for successful social integration as harmonious interaction with students from diverse ethno-cultural backgrounds, encompassing both culturally dominant and minority groups, with educators playing a central role in fostering this integration.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 3","pages":"1498-1520"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4135","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144502988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephen Hills, Matthew Walker, James Guinn, Aubrey Kent
{"title":"The GCSE attainment gap: Assessing the influence of permanent school exclusion","authors":"Stephen Hills, Matthew Walker, James Guinn, Aubrey Kent","doi":"10.1002/berj.4133","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4133","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Permanent school exclusions continue to be a topic of keen interest to UK schools and policymakers. The debate over the practice has recently intensified owing to the perceived negative outcomes directly resulting from the exclusion event. Research has indeed shown that pupils who have been permanently excluded are at a greater risk for a variety of negative life outcomes when compared with their non-excluded peers. However, that disadvantaged groups are disproportionately represented among those excluded has not been accounted for in empirical testing. Accordingly, previous measures of the influence of permanent exclusion may have over-estimated its negative consequences because they have not controlled for disadvantageous pupil characteristics. This is a critical limitation of the research owing to the influence of confounding variables and sample selection bias. Using the National Pupil Database and a full cohort of UK pupils (<i>N</i> = 590,092), our analysis tracked a sample of 1490 pupils permanently excluded in year 11 of the English education system in 2018/2019. Using capped GCSE points as the academic attainment variable, we find that permanently excluded pupil scores were nearly 25 points lower than their non-permanently excluded peers. However, when controlling for disadvantageous pupil characteristics, this difference was cut roughly in half. As such, we conclude that permanent exclusion is neither the catalyst of disadvantage nor a continuation of disadvantage on the same trajectory, but rather an accentuation of existing disadvantage. In other words, the existing trajectory of disadvantage gets steeper following the permanent exclusion event. Therefore, considering that the GCSE attainment gap found is equally attributable to both permanent exclusion and disadvantageous pupil characteristics, policymakers should both limit permanent exclusion to being a last resort and provide additional support for pupils at risk of being permanently excluded. Including a permanently excluded pupil's GCSE attainment in their former school's academic league table data incentivises schools to act in the best interests of these highly disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 3","pages":"1481-1497"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/berj.4133","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144502951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of critical thinking instruction on Chinese college students with varying baseline critical thinking abilities: A quasi-experimental study","authors":"Qiongjiang Song, Yuhan Liu, Qinggen Zhang","doi":"10.1002/berj.4131","DOIUrl":"10.1002/berj.4131","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study aimed to contribute to the substantial body of research on critical thinking (CT) interventions by determining whether the effectiveness of two CT interventions (generic and infusion) varied according to students' baseline CT levels. Using a quasi-experimental design, we collected data from two universities, with 167 participants from University A and 76 from University B. Students' CT skills were measured before and after the interventions using the National Assessment of Collegiate Capacity (NACC) CT assessment. The analysis employed paired <i>t</i>-tests to evaluate within-group changes and independent <i>t</i>-tests with moderation analysis to compare CT gains between experimental and control groups across different baseline CT performance levels. Results showed that infusion CT interventions, rather than generic CT interventions, had a beneficial effect on these students' CT. Notably, the effectiveness of these interventions depended on students' baseline level of CT skills, suggesting that, while CT interventions may not result in substantial improvements for students with high and low baseline levels of CT skills, those with moderate levels can benefit significantly from these interventions. This study contributes to research on the effectiveness of embedding CT within course contents and differentiation based on baseline skills in maximising the impact of CT interventions within an educational context.</p>","PeriodicalId":51410,"journal":{"name":"British Educational Research Journal","volume":"51 3","pages":"1445-1468"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144503039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}