The Idea of ‘Basic Research’ in Language and Practice

Today, there is increasing concern about the health of basic research, yet considerable disagreement about its definition. This paper examines the way in which the term is used in everyday practice. Drawing upon interviews with British and American scientists and policy-makers, we identify six different definitions currently in use. Given the utility and flexibility of the concept, it is useful to ask what function it serves, and whether we should develop new terminology.     

Doctoral supervisors’ and supervisees’ responses to co-supervision

With the increasing demand for doctoral education, co-supervision, understood as the formally agreed supervision of a research student by two or more academics in doctoral programmes, has become common practice in postgraduate circles in the UK. If supervision with one supervisor is complex due to personal, academic, ethical and sometimes cross-cultural issues, having two supervisors makes this process sufficiently challenging in practice to be specifically investigated in research, not least because of the additional communication issues. However, co-supervision is under-explored in the academic literature. In this article we look at the experience of co-supervision as reported by co-supervisors and those supervised by them in a UK university department within an arts and social sciences faculty, and aim to contribute to the literature on co-supervision by considering co-supervisors’ and their supervisees’ perspectives on co-supervision practices. Amid a general welcoming of the practice, with both parties seeing co-supervision entailing learning opportunities – for co-supervisors, learning from colleagues; for supervisees, learning from two experienced researchers – we report shared and specific concerns of these two groups. Time is a concern for both groups, but in different ways. Particularly interesting is the issue of harmony between the co-supervisors, including in feedback, the desirability of which will be perceived differently within any co-supervisor–supervisee relationship. The need for awareness-raising for co-supervisors as regards what their supervisees may feel but may not articulate may be greater for co-supervision than solo-supervision arrangements, given the additionally complex web of institutional and interpersonal relationships co-supervision entails.     

Narrating experiences of sexism in higher education: a critical feminist autoethnography to make meaning of the past,challenge the status quo and consider the future

Increasingly, the third-level sector across the world has acknowledged a hopeless track record of promoting and retaining competent women in leadership roles. However, change, in terms of women’s contribution and participation, has been minimal at least, or gradual at the most optimistic. In this paper, a woman with more than two decades experience as a full-time academic in the field of higher education relates her sense of loss and purposelessness when attempts to reach for a higher level position were consistently unsuccessful. Using autoethnography she relates her experiences of sexism in higher education, and the ways in which sexism turns into oppression through silencing. She proposes how her experiences point to the need for change, and she indicates that training to reduce gender bias has been proven to improve feelings of workplace fit for participants who collaborate with people who have addressed their gender bias.     

Primary homework in England: the beliefs and practices of teachers in primary schools

This study examines teachers’ views about and practices in homework in primary schools, based on questionnaire data from 235 primary teachers and 19 in-depth interviews. Findings suggest that teachers prioritise contradictory goals and act in ways that support only some of these. Reading with parents is a universal form of homework and other homework focuses either on English or mathematics or takes a project-led approach. Integration of homework into class learning is problematic. Teachers are concerned about the possible effects of homework on educational inequality and questions are raised about teachers’ perceptions of homework as a signifier of good parenting.     

Delayed Disaster Impacts on Academic Performance of Primary School Children

Social disruption caused by natural disasters often interrupts educational opportunities for children. However, little is known about children's learning in the following years. This study examined change in academic scores for children variably exposed to a major bushfire in Australia. Comparisons were made between children attending high, medium, and low disaster-affected primary schools 2–4 years after the disaster (n = 24,642; 9–12 years). The results showed that in reading and numeracy expected gains from Year 3 to Year 5 scores were reduced in schools with higher levels of bushfire impact. The findings highlight the extended period of academic impact and identify important opportunities for intervention in the education system to enable children to achieve their academic potential.     

African American Women's Preparation for Childbirth From the Perspective of African American Health-Care Providers

Preparation for birthing has focused primarily on Caucasian women. No studies have explored African American women's birth preparation. From the perceptions of 12 African American maternity health-care providers, this study elicited perceptions of the ways in which pregnant African American women prepare for childbirth. Focus group participants answered seven semistructured questions. Four themes emerged: connecting with nurturers, traversing an unresponsive system, the need to be strong, and childbirth classes not a priority. Recommendations for nurses and childbirth educators include: (a) self-awareness of attitudes toward African Americans, (b) empowering of clients for birthing, (c) recognition of the role that pregnant women's mothers play, (d) tailoring of childbirth classes for African American women, and (e) research on how racism influences pregnant African American women's preparation for birthing.     

‘Just reading’: the impact of a faster pace of reading narratives on the comprehension of poorer adolescent readers in English classrooms

Poorer adolescent readers are often regarded by teachers as unable to read whole narratives and given short, simplified texts, yet are expected to analyse every part in a slow laborious read‐through. This article reports on a mixed methods study in which 20 English teachers in the South of England changed their current practice to read two whole challenging novels at a faster pace than usual in 12 weeks with their average and poorer readers ages 12–13. Ten teachers received additional training in teaching comprehension. Students in both groups made 8.5 months' mean progress on standardised tests of reading comprehension, but the poorer readers made a surprising 16 months progress but with no difference made by the training programme. Simply reading challenging, complex novels aloud and at a fast pace in each lesson repositioned ‘poorer readers’ as ‘good’ readers, giving them a more engaged uninterrupted reading experience over a sustained period. However, the qualitative data showed that teachers with the additional training provided a more coherent faster read and better supported poorer readers by explicitly teaching inference, diagnosed students' ‘sticking places’ mid‐text and created socially cohesive guided reading groups that further supported weaker readers and also stretched the average/good readers.     

Comprehensive support for peer relationships at secondary transition

Peer relationships represent a major source of concern to children transitioning to secondary school. They also offer a potentially important source of support to adjustment and academic progress. However, strategies to support peer relationships at secondary transition have received little attention in previous research. This semi-structured interview study obtained accounts of current practice from staff in a small but nationally representative sample of English secondary schools. A theoretical approach to thematic analysis indicated substantial use of evidence-based strategy types, while a complementary inductive analysis highlighted issues in work with parents. There were many similarities across schools in the content of their support for peer relations at transition, however important process differences were found between high and low support schools in the quality of strategy implementation. A framework is presented to support this aspect of educational psychologists’ work with schools in promoting successful transition to secondary school.