Supported by 20 years of extensive, international research, this approachable text brings invaluable insights into the underlying problems within education policy, and proposes practical solutions for a brighter future.
Grounded in two decades of international research, this text delves into the fundamental issues in education policy. It offers insightful analysis and practical solutions aimed at improving the educational landscape, making it a valuable resource for policymakers and educators seeking to foster a more effective and equitable system.
There are serious inequalities in participation in post-compulsory education and training related to socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity and other characteristics. Such inequalities are reproduced and exacerbated in higher education. This book is based on a review of research evidence that asks whether these social and familial patterns can be interrupted via educational and other interventions.The answer lies in taking a radically new lifelong approach, considering changes over time and examining earlier life factors that influence participation–such as family, peer group and initial education, all of which help to build the learning trajectory of individuals that leads them to consider higher education. The impressive results make this book essential reading for practitioners and policy-makers concerned with widening participation, and for academics.
Focusing on non-inferential statistics, this textbook serves as an accessible introduction for students unfamiliar with the subject. The author, Gorard, aims to build fundamental statistical literacy by demystifying concepts and presenting them in an engaging manner, ensuring that readers with no prior knowledge can easily grasp the material.
Focusing on the perspectives of teenagers from Europe and the Far East, the book challenges conventional evaluations of schools by emphasizing the importance of how students are treated. It argues that the experiences within educational environments significantly shape teenagers' perceptions of society and fairness, overshadowing the impact of academic performance on their views. This insight calls for a reevaluation of the purpose and assessment of educational institutions.
Focusing on the essence of design, this book offers insights into design notation and a flexible methodology for creating new designs. It presents a variety of standard design models and practical tips for addressing real-life challenges. The content is tailored for readers interested in researching design and critically evaluating the work of others, all conveyed in an accessible manner.
Focusing on the significance of lifelong learning as a strategy for economic growth and social inclusion, this innovative study examines participation in lifelong learning. It addresses the challenges that must be overcome to ensure the effectiveness of lifelong learning policies, providing insights into how these initiatives can be successfully implemented both in the UK and globally.
First published in 1997, this study examines the trend towards markets in UK schools, with a particular focus on fee-paying schools in South Wales, by outlining the varied economic and political arguments both for and against increased parental choice and exploring parents' real reasons for using fee-paying schools. Stephen Gorard destroys the cosy myth that fee-paying schools are large, successful, charitable institutions catering chiefly for a select group of privileged families. Instead, he reveals them as typically privately owned, coeducational and with fewer than a hundred pupils, based in a poorly-converted residential site with few facilities. It is the first book which allows children's voices to be heard fully in the context of debates on the choice of a new school. Gorard has gathered the voices of parents and children via observation, interview and survey, comparing them directly and revealing stark differences in the perception of each generation.
The Trials of Evidence-based Education explores the promise, limitations and achievements of evidence-based policy and practice, as the attention of funders moves from a sole focus on attainment outcomes to political concern about character-building and wider educational impacts. Providing a detailed look at the pros, cons and areas for improvement in evidence-based policy and practice, this book includes consideration of the following: What is involved in a robust evaluation for education. The issues in conducting trials and how to assess the trustworthiness of research findings. New methods for the design, conduct, analysis and use of evidence from trials and examining their implications. What policy-makers, head teachers and practitioners can learn from the evidence to inform practice. In this well-structured and thoughtful text, the results and implications of over 20 studies conducted by the authors are combined with a much larger number of studies from their systematic reviews, and the implications are spelled out for the research community, policy-makers, schools wanting to run their own evaluations, and for practitioners using evidence.
This book presents the doctoral dissertation process as not just a way of getting a qualification or even a method of learning how to do research better, but as a substantial and significant piece of research in its own right.