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Home > Reflective Teaching in Primary Schools > 5. Deepening understanding > 16. Teacher expertise > Further Reading > Educational aims, learning contexts, classroom processes and learning outcomes


  1. 1. Becoming a reflective professional
       1. Identity
       2. Learning
  2.    3. Reflection
  3.    4. Principles
  4.    Observing [supplementary chapter]
  5.    Enquiry [supplementary chapter]
  6.    Mentoring [supplementary chapter]
  7.    Techniques of enquiry
       [supplementary chapter]

  8. 2. Creating conditions for learning
  9.    5. Contexts
  10.    6. Relationships
  11.    7. Engagement
  12.    8. Spaces

  13. 3. Teaching for learning
  14.    9. Curriculum
  15.    10. Planning
  16.    11. Pedagogy
  17.    12. Communication
  18.    13. Assessment

  19. 4. Reflecting on consequences
  20.    14. Outcomes
  21.    15. Social justice
  22.    Judgement
       [supplementary chapter]

  23. 5. Deepening understanding
  24.    16. Teacher expertise
  25.    17. Professional learning
  26.    18. Professionalism
  27.    Starting out [supplementary
       chapter]
  28.    Improvement [supplementary
       chapter]

Educational aims, learning contexts, classroom processes and learning outcomes

For this exceptional chapter which integrates the ‘expert questions’ posed throughout the book into an overarching conceptual framework, Key Readings offers suggestions for deepening expertise through the use of internet resources. These change relatively quickly and more up-to-date information may be available at: reflectiveteaching.co.uk.

The experience and understanding of teachers and researchers across the world is readily available, but it is often helpfully distilled and contextualised through more targeted national websites.

The Governments and General Teaching Councils of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have relatively clear provision to develop and implement education policy and to support teacher development and school improvement – including the use of research evidence. In particular, they offer parallel websites which are complemented by independent provision from teacher associations, pressure groups, higher education and other stakeholders. For each country below, we list the main Government site, the Education Department, its website for teachers and the national General Teaching Council. 

In England, the situation is more complex. We start clearly enough, with the website of the Department of Education at: education.gov.uk

Then there is the Chartered College of Teaching: https://chartered.college

The Education Endowment Foundation has become increasingly influential not least as a result of its funding from the DfE: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk

The most comprehensive specialist education archive is the Digital Education Resource Archive, managed by the Newsam Library at the Institute of Education, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. This archive is home to material from BECTA (on information technology), the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, Teacher Development Agency, and many other UK organisations. TLRP’s archive is also in the Newsam Library.

For academic papers see the British Education Index at: https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/british-education-index

The TLRP Research Briefings, Commentaries and Practitioner Activities can be downloaded from reflectiveteaching.co.uk.

Other material has been harvested by private companies providing websites such as:

The Centre for the Utilisation of Research and Evidence in Education (CUREE) has made exceptional contributions to producing materials for teachers and there are useful links from their site at: http://www.curee.co.uk

The website of England’s National Teacher Research Panel survives at:

Ofsted remains outside the DfE to symbolize its independence, though its leadership is directly appointed by the Secretary of State:

SSAT (The Schools Network) Ltd (ssatuk.co.uk) replaced the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and is committed to school improvement through ‘inquiry, innovation, inspiration and impact’. They support, for example, the analysis of performance and inspection data from schools. See:

An innovative and independent consortium is that of the Expansive Education Network which seeks to support ‘real world learning’ and a wide range of learning capabilities (see expansiveeducation.net).

In terms of sources of academic research and evidence on teaching, learning and education, almost all of the UK’s universities make a contribution and this will be evident from departmental and faculty websites. Some are configured to maximise the impact of their research, and may encourage participation in events and even collaboration in projects.

The most important UK resource for taking stock of what is known in the social sciences is the EPPI-Centre (Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre) at the Institute of Education, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. Since 1993, EPPI has pioneered methods for selecting and synthsising knowledge of various types in relation to key issues – many of which are educational. See the ‘evidence library’ at: https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/

 For ‘Evidence Informed Policy and Pratice in Education in Europe’, see eippee.eu. This project is based at the Institute of Education in London and provides exceptional access to international research synthesis and reviews.


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