Let's play, doctor
Monday 18 September
In many countries, play within healthcare settings is a novel concept. Cambridge PhD candidate Paulina Pérez-Duarte Mendiola hopes to change that.
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PEDAL conference on play and mental health calls for children to be “at the heart of all policies”
Monday 11 September
The power of play in promoting children’s mental health, and the urgent need for childhood to become a defining ‘lens’ for policy-making, were central themes at this year’s PEDAL Conference at the University of Cambridge.
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Later Roman students were deliberately given “difficult” Latin as a passport to prestige
Monday 7 August
We might think that the average Roman found studying Latin straightforward, but new research suggests that even students in Late Antiquity were expected to find literary Latin hard going, and learned it partly to differentiate themselves as the ‘cultured few’.
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Clare Brooks appointed Professor of Education
Thursday 27 July
Clare Brooks, a leading authority on teacher education whose work emphasises its wider social context, impact and purpose, has been appointed to a Professorship in Education at the University of Cambridge.
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Research by Faculty PGCE trainees available in latest issue of JoTTER
Wednesday 12 July
Pupils’ perspectives on home learning during the pandemic, Year 6 students’ take on British values and the potential role of ‘insider knowledge’ in religious education are among the thought-provoking topics in JoTTER: the Faculty of Education journal written by new teachers.
Helping adolescents to feel competent and purposeful – not just happy – may improve grades
Thursday 6 July
Encouraging adolescents to feel capable and purposeful – rather than just happy – could improve their academic results as well as their mental health, according to new research which recommends changing how wellbeing is supported in schools.
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Read the full story.
‘Two for the price of one’ French lessons at the museum put the meaning back into language learning
Friday 23 June
An innovative approach which integrates language learning with other subjects has exhibited notable benefits in a project undertaken by the University of Cambridge, suggesting that it could be successful in schools.
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Lockdown children played on, study finds, despite being stuck at home
Wednesday 14 June
Children displayed a resilient capacity to continue playing during peak COVID-19, a study has found, even though their options to do so became more limited while under stay-at-home orders.
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Limited resources leave school leaders with few options to manage poor behaviour
Tuesday 6 June
School leaders in England feel compelled to continue using a system of escalating punitive measures to manage student behaviour, even though they recognise it fails some pupils, new research suggests.
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Read the full story.
Focused interventions for girls with disabilities fuelled ‘life-changing’ impact on aspirations and self-esteem
Wednesday 31 May
An evaluation of UK Government-backed education programmes in lower-income countries shows that interventions which deliberately target girls with disabilities can reach far beyond the classroom, potentially transforming their aspirations and self-esteem.
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Read the full story.
Pre-primary education “chronically” underfunded as richest nations drift further away from 10% aid goal
Wednesday 17 May
International aid for pre-primary education has fallen further behind an agreed 10% spending target since the COVID-19 outbreak, according to new research.
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Cambridge partnership teachers to join trials exploring whether ‘Mind-management’ model beats burnout
Thursday 11 May
Teachers from the University of Cambridge’s partnership schools will participate in follow-up trials of a mind management programme that evidence suggests could reduce burnout and improve wellbeing in the profession.
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Educating for Harmony
Friday 21 April
Can India’s alternative schools help us learn to live together? Newly-published research by Dr Jwalin Patel, undertaken during postdoctoral research at the Faculty, suggests they might hold lessons for educators in the West who want to rethink their practice.
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Read the full story.
New resource launched to support mental health in the earliest years of life
Wednesday 19 April
A new toolkit promoting a more co-ordinated and consistent approach to supporting the mental health of babies and young children has been released as part of a campaign encouraging guaranteed, high-quality services in the earliest years of life.
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Don't sort by relevance
Thursday 6 April
Many academics may be inadvertently conducting literature searches that prioritise the “greatest hits” of white, Western, male authors, despite being aware of the need to diversify their sources, a report suggests.
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Chat GPT. We need to talk.
Monday 3 April
What do AI chatbots like ChatGPT mean for education? Researchers Steve Watson and Vaughan Connolly argue it's time to move on from reductive debates about bans or wholesale adoption, and focus on using it safely, effectively and appropriately.
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Harsh discipline increases risk of children developing lasting mental health problems
Friday 31 March
Parents who frequently exercise harsh discipline with young children are putting them at significantly greater risk of developing lasting mental health problems, new evidence shows.
Worldviews in the RE classroom: Game-changer or “spurious” RE-brand?
Tuesday 28 March
The idea of reframing Religious Education around the concept of ‘worldviews’ has provoked intense debate in the sector in recent years, following a 2018 report which proposed its formal integration into RE. Studies and associated discussions at the Faculty of Education have been trying to understand the proposal, the controversy, and determine how far it should define the future of RE in schools.
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Science journals update guidelines after study highlights incomplete reporting of research
Wednesday 22 March
Several scientific journals have amended their submission guidelines after an analysis identified numerous research studies that had been published with crucial information missing.
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Eureka! The educational pilot encouraging young learners to find their inner scientist
Wednesday 15 March
A Faculty teacher-educator has been working with schools in Cambridgeshire on a new approach to fostering students’ interest in STEM subjects, that focuses on getting them to self-identify as scientists.
Who children play with may be key to their early communication skills
Tuesday 14 March
Who children play with in their earliest years at school could be more important for their early communication than their fundamental social skills, new evidence shows.
“We can teach BAME authors and still do Shakespeare”: The school reframing debates on inclusive education
Thursday 9 March
A Cambridgeshire school is creating its own policy on inclusive education, after research highlighted multiple representation gaps in the curriculum, and the critical role of teachers in addressing them.
Jason Arday appointed Professor of Sociology of Education at University of Cambridge
Thursday 23 February
The renowned sociologist, Jason Arday, is to become a professor at the University of Cambridge: the latest chapter in a remarkable academic career, which began after he overcame illiteracy in his late teens.
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One week of empathy lessons may significantly improve emotional awareness
Thursday 16 February
A pilot study by Faculty researchers working with Empathy Week suggests that just one week of 30-minute empathy lessons measurably improves students’ emotional awareness.
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Read the full story
Object lessons: Cambridge launches short course for teachers on museum and object-based learning
Tuesday 31 January
The University of Cambridge is launching a short course for teachers to help them integrate museum objects and collections into their practice through “object-based learning”.
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Memes-field Park? ‘Digital natives’ are flirting with Jane Austen’s vision of the ideal man all over again
Friday 27 January
A newly-published analysis shows how Jane Austen's works and heroes such as Mr Darcy are experiencing yet another rebirth as the 'meme idols' of Gen Z.
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Can science find better ways to say, “Hello”?
Tuesday 17 January
More effort than ever is being put into building awareness of science and the public and ethical challenges it raises, but many people still regard scientists and their work with suspicion. Scientists themselves, meanwhile, often address these concerns late in the research process – and sometimes not at all. The Faculty of Education’s newest research centre is dedicated to addressing both problems from new and inventive angles. It all starts with learning to say ‘Hello’.
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Read the full story.
Parents don’t always know best: How Hilda offers young readers an education in good disobedience
Thursday 5 January
Hilda, a series of graphic novels about an 11-year-old girl in a magical realist world, has acquired an international fanbase and critical acclaim. As a new study explains, there is more to its appeal than sheer escapism.
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Read the full story
Digital assessment offers route to developing computational thinking outside computing classrooms
Monday 19 December
Researchers have trialled a new approach to testing students’ ‘computational thinking’ in terms which go far beyond the programming skills learned in computing lessons.
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Read the full story.
Stalled social skills, ruptured learning
Monday 28 November
School closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have “severely ruptured” the social and emotional development of some of the world’s poorest children, as well as their academic progress, new evidence shows.
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Most young people’s well-being falls sharply in first years of secondary school
Wednesday 23 November
Research based on data from 11,000 students charted an across-the-board fall in well-being, regardless of circumstances, between ages 11 and 14.
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Read the full story
World’s poorest children missing out on ‘crucial’ early childhood education
Monday 14 November
Chronic underfunding of care and education in the first few years of life is holding back children’s healthy development in the world’s poorest countries, a new report shows.
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Read the full story.
Faculty-supported work on ‘hologram patients’ named as one of the best inventions of 2022
Friday 11 November
A new approach to medical training which involves expert contributions from members of the Faculty of Education has been included in Time Magazine’s 200 Best Inventions of 2022.
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Read the full story
Plug and play: Music education’s not-so-quiet revolution
Monday 7 November
Digital technology has yet to redefine music education, but there is growing awareness that it could. Jennie Francis, who leads the Secondary PGCE Music course at the Cambridge, and James Tuck - a musician, educator and Cambridge graduate - explain how music technology could make the subject more exciting and accessible than ever before.
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Read the full story.
Not just about headteachers: getting to grips with leadership and learning
Tuesday 25 October
Leading and learning are often mentioned in the same breath – but when we talk about ‘leadership’ in education, what (and who) do we mean? In January, the University of Cambridge will be running a course for current professionals on ‘Leadership for Learning with Dialogue’. Drawing on decades of international research on the subject, its aim is to equip teachers and other practitioners with a working knowledge of what it means to ‘lead’ for learning – and how this can enable meaningful and positive changes in schools, universities and beyond.
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Poor professional development may explain failure of push to promote physical health in primary schools
Monday 24 October
The government’s £320 million drive to help primary schools promote children’s physical health is in danger of failing because most of the teacher development it funds is ineffective, new research on similar initiatives suggests.
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Read the full story.
Could a Latin American-style community takeover inspire new solutions in Britain's least equal city?
Wednesday 19 October
A group of Cambridge students are organising a Latin American-inspired ‘community takeover’ of part of their university, to explore how the approach might help to address inequalities within the city.
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Read the full story.
"Tink" outside the box: Lessons learned from trials with Tinkering in lifelong scientific learning
Friday 14 October
The outcomes of a pan-European project which trialled the hands-on learning approach known as ‘Tinkering’ show that it could be used to develop the STEM skills of adults who are underserved and underrepresented in those subjects.
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Assessments of thinking skills may misrepresent poor, inner-city children in the US
Wednesday 12 October
Some assessment tools which measure children’s thinking skills may have provided inaccurate information about poor, urban students because they are modelled on wealthier – mostly white – populations.
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Read the full story
Students in Rwanda confound pandemic predictions and head back to school
Friday 7 October
Data from Rwanda, including some of the first published information on school enrolment rates in the Global South since the COVID-19 outbreak, suggest a widely-predicted spike in drop-outs has ‘not materialised’. Researchers warn, however, that a slower-than-expected decline in numbers may now be underway.
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Read the full story.