From the Editor

DR MARLON MONCRIEFFE, PRESIDENT ELECT, BRITISH EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (BERA), UK

We have had a long era of government policy setting a particular direction for education, with national curriculum aims and contents influencing the delivery of curriculum, and inevitably shaping learning cultures in our schools. With a UK general election on the horizon, this direction of travel may be continued or totally reconceptualized. 

But the transference of any government’s ideology to any school’s curriculum and teaching and learning culture is not a straightforward process. The educational site is a varied political and cultural environment in which teachers and students will produce, reinforce, recreate, resist, and transform ideas about culture (Moncrieffe, 2020). Connecting the dots between pedagogy, curriculum and culture in line with government policy may not always translate to the idiosyncratic nature of school contexts. Therefore, bespoke curriculum design by expert school leaders through evidence-informed research for advancing pedagogy, knowledge and skills for students is indeed required for this complex educational operation of dot-joining. I see that this connects to what the previous guest editorial for Impact Issue 19 identified as ‘the need for research to be developed with close attention to the needs and environments of practitioners and their pupils’ (Francis, 2023, p. 1). 

Impact Issue 20 features four sections of high-quality, evidenced-informed articles that share experienced professional commentaries examining the fundamental connections between pedagogy, curriculum, and culture. 

Section one offers contributions to the timely themes of recruitment, retention, and professional learning. Despite the ambitions set out in the Department for Education’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (DfEDepartment for Education - a ministerial department responsible for children’s services and education in England, 2019) evidence has shown that postgraduate teacher recruitment as measured by the Initial Teacher TrainingAbbreviated to ITT, the period of academic study and time in school leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) (ITTInitial teacher training - the period of academic study and time in school leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)) census (GOV.UK, 2023) was 38 per cent below target in academic year 2023/24 (see Maisuaria et al., 2023). In their article, See et al. explore the breadth of issues in recruitment and retention of teachers by identifying key patterns in teachers’ reasons for leaving the profession. The article identifies effective school leadership practices for supporting teachers’ wellbeing, job satisfaction and ultimately, retention. The authors speak of the need for advancing professional development of school leaders in order to equip them with the knowledge and skills to create a supportive school culture in which teachers feel autonomous and have a sense of ownership over the learning cultures they enact, which the authors argue should ultimately improve retention. In the next article, Howard asks: Can a collaborative approach to curriculum development aid teacher retention? The article points to the central importance of a connective professional culture for instilling teacher purpose. The article argues that ‘the absence of this professional fulfilment has an impact on decisions to leave the profession.’ As with See et al., the argument from Howard is that ‘access to learning communities’, as cultures that foster high-quality professional development in supporting curriculum development and pedagogy, are a key way in which school leaders can champion and support their teaching colleagues, encouraging their development and sense of a place within the profession. 

Following on from this, Barlow et al. share insights from their study to emphasise the importance of CPD being funded and enacted ‘to create a collaborative culture that simultaneously supports teachers’ autonomy’. Connecting or even re-connecting and re-conceptualising school culture for new, more advanced forms of knowledge exchange in curriculum design and pedagogy can involve a re-focus on communication and the language used and applied in the school environment. In their article, Kassim-Lowe and Gear also discuss and share their leadership in professional development, containing three essential elements: innovation culture, research culture and collaborative culture, applied in synergy at the core of school culture.

Increased attention on links between pedagogy, curriculum and culture has more recently come from the Shadow Education Secretary, Labour’s Bridget Phillipson. She spoke at the Centre of Social Justice in January 2024, setting out the need for “urgent” changes to education in England. Should Labour succeed in the forthcoming general election, Phillipson has promised ‘an expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review’. Details of what this may entail remain unclear. But any future reconceptualization of curriculum and assessment is certain to impact on how school culture is promoted nationally and reinterpreted contextually within schools. Perhaps the creation of supportive and inclusive cultures will emerge as a priority, as championed by Elliot Major in his article in section two of this issue. He brings to the fore the notion of an ‘equity-based approach’ to education that encourages teachers to reflect on what unconscious biases and stereotypes may be lingering in school practices that can unintentionally alienate students and parents. He argues for careful use of language used in schools to acknowledge and accommodate the experiences of students and parents from a range of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Sewell and Thacker-Smith also pick up on this, by giving focus to the use of language and definitions around bereavement, and the important role of school leadership in developing inclusive learning environments for understanding the nuances of loss and grief as an important starting point for leaders seeking to establish systemic school support. A recurrent theme across the articles in this section, and particularly seen in the article by Griffiths et al., is the need for school leadership to create a genuine sense of connection and belonging and, importantly, teacher ownership of the learning cultures created in schools, which can ultimately improve both teacher retention and student attendance. 

In section three, with a focus on evidence-informed classroom strategies, in each of their articles Newman and Fernandez provide rich research and teaching insights through their application of metalinguistic modelling in talk and in writing. McCarthy et al. and Ash add to this by offering expert focus on mathematics education. Reframing the possibilities of curriculum and pedagogy through maths teaching that is knowledge-rich and child-centred, their evidence-based studies apply subversive approaches to challenging national policy. Meanwhile, the transformation of curriculum and pedagogy emerges from the establishment of rich communities of practice according to Ashley et al. 

When considering designing and implementing meaningful curricula,  as the articles in section four do so thoughtfully, the effectiveness of interdisciplinarity achieved through collaborative teaching is evidenced by Davies-Crane and Panayi. Communities of practice are argued as powerful dialogic spaces for enhancing curriculum, pedagogy and both teaching and learning cultures. From the same school, Priggs identifies this approach as central to the school context, through empowered professional relationships between subject leader and senior leaders determining and sustaining richness in curriculum, pedagogy and culture. Aye also puts forward a case for interdisciplinary collaboration in considering history and context for practice as the basis of powerful knowledge in art and design education. Central to Sharma’s article is the establishing of a clear and consistent culture within the school as the catalyst for curricular development, rooted in evidence-informed practice and professional dialogue.

It has been my pleasure to support the Chartered College of Teaching in guest editing this important Spring 2024 edition of Impact. The articles within are indeed an impressive range of expert professional contributions, addressing head-on the complexities of drawing links between pedagogy, curriculum and culture in schools. The depth of educator expertise such as that showcased in this edition must be shared more directly with government and future policymakers. Teachers, school leaders and researchers must continue to raise their profiles by sharing their rich professional experiences and expertise, so as to be in the position to influence future educational policy discourse in determining pedagogy, curriculum and culture in our schools.