Understanding the British Educational Research Association (BERA)
Education has progressively gained importance as an academic discipline, marked by renowned research studies and advancements in research methodologies and methods. The British Educational Research Association (BERA) plays a pivotal role in this evolution, serving as a leading authority and a vital support system for the educational research community in the UK and internationally.
BERA's Role and Significance
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) stands as a learned society committed to enhancing research quality, fostering research capacity, and promoting engagement within the field. BERA's core mission is to shape policy and practice by championing high-quality evidence derived from educational research.
BERA unequivocally recognizes and celebrates the diversity of approaches in educational research, and promotes respect for all those who engage with it: researchers and participants, academics and professional practitioners, commissioning bodies, and those who read and utilise the research.
The BERA/SAGE Handbook of Educational Research
The BERA/SAGE Handbook of Educational Research offers a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the research and methodologies that are shaping new understandings in educational research, policy, and practice. This handbook serves as an invaluable resource for navigating the evolving landscape of educational inquiry.
Key Contributors
The handbook benefits from the expertise of numerous contributors, including:
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- Dominic Wyse: Professor of Early Childhood and Primary Education at University College London (UCL), Institute of Education (IOE). His research focuses on curriculum and pedagogy, particularly in the teaching of writing, reading, and creativity.
- Neil Selwyn: Professor in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. His research centers on the role of digital media in everyday life and the sociology of technology in educational settings.
- Emma Smith: Professor of Education at the University of Leicester, researches educational equity and the role of educational policy in reducing inequalities.
- Larry E. Suter: A consultant for educational research with extensive experience in managing and analyzing large-scale international surveys.
Other notable contributors include Socorro Echevarria Aguja, Roser Beneito-Montagut, Amanda Berry, Stacey Bielick, Chris Brown, Mary Brydon-Miller, Lisa Calderwood, Shannon Campe, Kathleen M. T. Collins, Susila Davis, Pamela Davis-Kean, Sara Delamont, and Jill Denner, each bringing unique perspectives and expertise to the field.
BERA and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
BERA actively engages with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), recognizing their implications for higher education and research. Several podcasts and resources highlight this engagement:
- Students’ perspectives on SDGs in Higher Education: Explores how students engage with and address SDGs within higher education settings.
- Managing wellbeing among postgraduate researchers: Focuses on postgraduate researcher (PGR) wellbeing, aligning with UN SDG 3: Health and wellbeing.
- The role of academic leadership on Artificial Intelligence from the Global South: Discusses how enhancing AI literacy among academics in the Global South can contribute to higher education capacity building and foster global partnerships for sustainable development, aligning with SDG 17.
- Civic and political engagement of young people interacting with the SDGs: Explores the experiences of university students engaging with SDG 16 and its intersections with other global challenges at the United Nations Headquarters.
BERA's Initiatives and Activities
BERA undertakes various initiatives to support and promote educational research, including:
- Research-Informed Content: BERA provides research-informed content on key educational issues through podcasts and other platforms.
- Member Voice: BERA gives its members a platform to promote their research and share insights on current issues in education.
- International Research Networks (IRNs): BERA facilitates the formation of international research networks to advance education research worldwide on specific topics.
International Research Networks (IRNs)
WERA-IRNs aim to advance education research worldwide on specific scholarly topics. IRNs are temporary collaborative groups of scholars working on a specific research topic primarily through virtual communications. IRNs synthesize knowledge, examine the state of research, and stimulate collaborations or otherwise identify promising directions in research areas of worldwide significance.
Examples of BERA-supported IRNs include:
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- Building Resilience of Higher Institutions in Africa: Focuses on how African universities can collaborate to build resilience against pandemics.
- Basic and Language Education for Adults with Low Literacy Skills: Encourages international exchange of knowledge and expertise in research and practices in basic and language education for adults with low literacy skills.
- CPD on teaching/learning/supervision skills: Aims to identify what faculty, and emerging scholars consider appropriate content and format of CPD on teaching/learning/supervision skills.
- Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Engaged in conducting research and disseminating our findings on the nature and value of Social and Emotional Learning in supporting youth future readiness.
- Cultural Competence in Preservice Teachers: Aims to enhance cultural competence in preservice teachers using simulation-based methods.
- Digital Academic Leadership (DAL) in the New Era: Promotes research on DAL in HE and provide research- based recommendations for DAL development.
- Education in the Anthropocene: Aims to advance research and research-based knowledge in the educational sciences, in light of the transformation of bioclimatic conditions in the Anthropocene.
- Fostering Equitable, Resilient, and Sustainable Societies: Focuses on how to foster more equitable, resilient, and sustainable societies, education systems, and institutions through developing leaders and educators’ competencies and commitment to promoting common good.
- Communicative Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Students: Investigates communicative strategies used by effective teachers when instructing linguistically diverse students.
- Emotions in Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE): Seeks to foster synergies among researchers who seek to critically analyze representations of traditionally marginalized ancient and Indigenous cultures and wisdom traditions in curricula and textbooks.
- Human Rights Education (HRE): A field of interdisciplinary research that by definition requires a global or cosmopolitan perspective and lends itself naturally to international research collaboration.
BERA Presidential Addresses
The presidential address at the annual conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education is one of the traditional highlights of the program, along with the Radford Lecture. The president is invited to give this address very near the end of his or her term of office, after having led the association through the previous year. On this official platform, each retiring president is given the right to speak to the membership about the key issues that they see impacting on Australian educational research at that particular moment in history, from their own particular perspective.
The presidential address at the AARE conference has an important symbolic function for the association in this regard: it brings us together and identifies us, once a year, as identifiably 'us'-an association of people who share, in all our diversity of epistemological, methodological, political and institutional allegiances, a commitment to educational research that will make a difference in and for our universities, agencies, departments of education, schools and preschools, colleges and community settings. As the president addresses 'us' and shows us who we are, we mark ourselves and re-make ourselves as a group, from year to year.
Addressing Challenges in Education
BERA also addresses challenges and shortcomings in the education sector, such as:
- Teachers’ professional development: BERA has highlighted that teachers’ professional development is often "fragmented, occasional, and insufficiently informed by research."
- The gap between research and practice: BERA aims to bridge the gap between educational research and practical application in schools and classrooms.
BERA actively promotes debate and discussion within the education community, encouraging researchers to engage in public discourse to ensure that research findings are considered and implemented effectively.
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