EERA Blog
European Educational
Research Association
Using eTwinning to improve learning outcomes when teaching English in rural areas
eTwinning provides students with an opportunity to practice English skills actively while developing ICT skills.
Resisting the marginalisation of children’s right to play
Why have educators accepted that the right to play occupies the margins of early childhood education and care – and should we resist this status quo?
Does current curricula hinder student understanding of complex global water systems?
We are failing to teach young people how water systems work, how we engage and affect those systems, and how we ensure the sustainability of these systems, argues Dr Sinem Demirci
Using ChatGPT in an educational technology course for maths teacher candidates
There has been a lot of discussion in educational research circles about the use of AI in education, in particular, ChatGPT. We asked doctoral research assistant, Bengi Birgili to tell us about how she is using (and teaching the use of) ChatGPT in the classroom. Dr Birgili introduced a fully flipped university context from the view of a researcher instructor. In this post, she explains how she and her students used ChatGPT in an instructional technology course offered in the Spring 2023 semester. This blog post includes not only her ideas and experiences but also those of 30 pre-service teachers studying in the mathematics education department in the faculty of education in Istanbul,...
The importance of diversity training for educators in predominately white places
The state of future education as a discipline will be possibly influenced by the importance it places on a conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical need to shift the emphasis toward transformative classrooms working for positive change through cultural diversity (Banks, 2020). Awareness of issues around race equality, inclusive growth, and community cohesion has heightened following George Floyd’s killing in the USA in 2020, and the Black Lives Matter Movement. This increasing awareness is particularly pertinent in Britain in areas of historically low ethnic diversity which have lately experienced a rise in ethnic minority populations, and where inclusive growth is a challenge.The...
Beyond Research: The transformative power of the Emerging Researcher’s Conference
EERA’s Best Paper Award is part of EERA’s strategy to promote emerging researchers and support high-quality research in the field of education. The award is specifically designed to motivate young researchers to turn their conference presentations into full papers suitable for publication in research journals. We asked the winner of the EERA Best Paper Award, Aigul Rakisheva, to tell us about presenting her research at ERC 2022, the invitation to participate in the Best Paper Award (BPA), and the effect it had on her career and her life.Participation in ERC 2022The process of writing the manuscript began long before the competition. Initially, I prepared an application to participate in...
Be different at ECER 2023 Glasgow with SERA-ECR
The Scottish Educational Research Association Early Career Researchers (SERA-ECR) invites attendees of ECER in Glasgow to participate in a fun and thought-provoking video series. We asked Hermione Miao and Carrie Walton, SERA-ECR network co-convenors to tell us more about their August action plan at ECER. The SERA Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Network supports ECRs in Scotland to develop their capacity and capabilities as researchers within a supportive network and to share their research and connect with colleagues in education and the broader academic community. The network co-convenor (Hermione Miao and Carrie Walton) organise monthly SERA_ECR events, currently featuring: E for Edit...
The perceptions of minoritized pupils on student-teacher relationships
At ECER 2023 in Glasgow, Julia Steenwegen from the University of Antwerp will present her research about the minoritized students, and their perceptions of the student-teacher relationships in mainstream and supplementary schools. We asked Julia to give us an overview of her research, and the implications for minoritzed students in Belgium, and beyond.Student reflectionsThis is the response of a pupil when asked about the differences between her supplementary school and her Flemish mainstream school as part of a project investigating minoritized pupils’ views on the relationship to their teachers.Some background - Minority students in Flanders, BelgiumAgainst a backdrop of persistent...
Using nonviolence to reconceptualize inclusive education in the Global South
My doctoral research has been exploring how developing a philosophy of nonviolence can help offset discrimination and exclusion in Chile, a country that has attempted to tackle the issue of inclusiveness through a Global North narrative that has focused primarily on disability and special needs. This blog post explores how nonviolence education can promote a sense of equality and inclusion not purely from such perspective, as has been the norm for the last two decades, but from one anchored in an understanding of cultural, economic, sexual, and ethnic diversity.Previous assumptions on inclusivityThe very nature of my research project has inclusiveness at its core; not exclusively as a...
The UK Sustainability and Climate Change policy paper – An analysis
In April 2022, the UK Department for Education (DfE) published a policy paper laying out a strategy for the education and children's services systems on the topic of sustainability and climate change. Dr Athanasia Chatzifotiou, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sunderland in the UK took a closer look at the policy paper to help us understand its provisions and proposals.Key Messages The Strategy identifies the importance of sustainability and climate change aiming to reach teachers and other professionals engaged in a variety of children’s service systems. The Strategy has limitations that emanate from the language used and its actual content that is not presented in a clear and...
You’ve been hired! Exploring the future of learning design using speculative methods
The latest annual survey from the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) highlights the changes in the profession of those who work in the spaces where technology, teaching, and learning intersect. The brokers who work in these vital in-between places of education have been referred to as “third space professionals”. A range of titles is reported in the ALT annual survey by respondents, with the most common being “learning technologist”. For real, paid work, people apply for more prosaic-sounding jobs than that of a “third space professional”. There may be gaps, if not tensions, between academic parlance and how we speak in the real world. If this resonates with you, and you are a...
EERJ Special Issue: The Bologna process – diverse harmonisation
The European Educational Research Journal (EERJ) was created by EERA to further the aims of the association and its members, educational researchers across Europe. It is a scientific journal interested in the changing landscape of education research across Europe. It publishes double-blind peer-reviewed papers in special issues and as individual articles. As part of the ongoing cooperation with EERJ, the EERA blog will share updates and information about upcoming and published special issues and articles alongside blog posts from EERJ contributors. You can find out more about the EERJ and the benefits of a European journal presenting international educational research at the end of this...
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