Evidence linking teacher quality and the ‘performance’ of education systems has led to a widespread emphasis on improving the quality of entrants to teaching. In the USA and UK particularly, policymakers have encouraged entrants who have been highly successful in other careers to switch to teaching, on the assumption that they bring distinctive attributes/competences that will not only enable them to become successful teachers, but to improve leadership and management cultures in schools. This study analyses the numbers of ‘elite’ career-changers entering initial teacher education (ITE) in England, and compares their completion rates with those of first-career entrants. In addition, through semi-structured interviews, it examines the experiences of career transition of 24 ‘elite career-changers’. Theoretically underpinned by notions of motivation, self-efficacy, and professional identity development, the findings suggest that career-changers are primarily influenced by altruistic and intrinsic motivations, and consider previously acquired attributes to be significant positive influences on their self-efficacy. While they report high levels of resilience in adapting to contrasting professional cultures and to the demands of teaching, they also report significant levels of frustration with a perceived lack of acknowledgement from colleagues and school leaders of the potential ‘added value’ contribution they could make at a wider institutional level. These findings are discussed in the context of the presumed system-wide benefits of attracting elite career-changers into teaching, arguing that while previously acquired attributes are enabling them to become successful classroom practitioners, the schools may not be capitalising on potential contributions at a leadership and management level.

Evidence linking teacher quality and the ‘performance’ of education systems has led to a widespread emphasis on improving the quality of entrants to teaching. In the USA and UK particularly, policymakers have encouraged entrants who have been highly successful in other careers to switch to teaching, on the assumption that they bring distinctive attributes/competences that will not only enable them to become successful teachers, but to improve leadership and management cultures in schools. This study analyses the numbers of ‘elite’ career‐changers entering initial teacher education ( ITE ) in England, and compares their completion rates with those of first‐career entrants. In addition, through semi‐structured interviews, it examines the experiences of career transition of 24 ‘elite career‐changers’. Theoretically underpinned by notions of motivation, self‐efficacy, and professional identity development, the findings suggest that career‐changers are primarily influenced by altruistic and intrinsic motivations, and consider previously acquired attributes to be significant positive influences on their self‐efficacy. While they report high levels of resilience in adapting to contrasting professional cultures and to the demands of teaching, they also report significant levels of frustration with a perceived lack of acknowledgement from colleagues and school leaders of the potential ‘added value’ contribution they could make at a wider institutional level. These findings are discussed in the context of the presumed system‐wide benefits of attracting elite career‐changers into teaching, arguing that while previously acquired attributes are enabling them to become successful classroom practitioners, the schools may not be capitalising on potential contributions at a leadership and management level.

The rapid development of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the prospect of national educational information networks renders the evaluation of the educational impact of such technologies an urgent priority. While most research has so far focused on the effects on, and views of, teachers and managers concerning the implementation of ICT, this paper examines the experience of learners. Drawing on data from the evaluations of seven exploratory projects, part of the UK Government's 'Education Superhighways' initiative, the paper examines the potential of ICT to enhance the learning experience, and to dissolve boundaries which traditionally separate learners of differing age, ability, gender and status. Competing discourses position the development of ICT as, on the one hand, transformative technologies which will empower learners, enabling greater control over their own learning, or on the other, as controlling systems whereby learners will be obliged to engage in routinised operations. The evidence presented here generally supports the optimistic discourse, indicating that ICT has the potential to radically transform the learning experience. Except for the most advanced schools, however, explorations of such technologies are still at an exploratory stage, and further systematic research is called for to identify the most successful strategies for their effective integration.

This paper investigates the views of 20 full-time international postgraduate students, many of whom were Chinese, on living, learning and becoming successful students at one university in a multicultural city in the Midlands of England. The qualitative study built on findings from the International Students’ Barometer (ISB) survey for the university, in that it seeks to understand how students’ experience of context (living) interacted with their experience of learning in building their identities as successful learners. Student participants were sampled opportunistically within a purposive framework. Data was collected through audio-recorded individual semi-structured interviews, using as a stimulus participant-constructed concept maps of their perceptions of learning in the university and living in the city. Interview data were transcribed and analysed thematically. The main findings showed that participants enjoyed living in a city with an international culture, although some found it strange initially because they encountered different styles of life and food, albeit including some that they enjoyed at home. They welcomed studying at a university with high international prestige, a wide range of excellent facilities and generally approachable tutors but were shocked by having to undertake unfamiliar styles of independent learning with brief teaching hours. They perceived culture shock as transitional, which declined as they made friends, often with co-linguists, and became familiar with life in the city, work in the university and the extensive support of tutors.

The main factors associated with technology integration have been the subject of research for over a decade. However, the conditions which sustain technological developments have been less frequently investigated. This paper explores this issue in the context of the use of videoconferencing in schools in England. The research took a multiple case-study approach by returning to schools with a reputation for demonstrating innovative policy and practice in videoconferencing, which were the subject of an earlier investigation. Analysis of developments in the interim five-year period led to the construction of a five-level typology of change. Further analysis identified critical dimensions associated with the sustainability of videoconferencing. These included technical and structural factors, as well as policy frameworks and personnel status. The perceived usefulness and relevance of videoconferencing as a learning technology emerges as a central determinant of sustainability, with the conclusion that for policymakers and schools, videoconferencing has become an ‘orphan’ technology.

This paper explores the use of videoconferencing as used in English schools, drawing on data collected over seven years from a number of funded and unfunded projects. A common theme emerging from across these investigations is that the educational use of videoconferencing technology in schools is not a unitary phenomenon. Rather, different assumptions about learning, and the employment of different pedagogical skills facilitate varying patterns of usage and levels of educational effectiveness. Following initial experimentation with videoconferencing (which we characterise as the familiarisation phase) preliminary classroom usage was typically ‘bolted‐on’ to existing practice. Growing confidence in the technology was associated with a wider range of pedagogical techniques whereby videoconferencing contributed to curriculum enhancement. The most advanced usage involved the adaptation of the technology for more innovative approaches in which videoconferencing enabled learner–learner interaction, without the mediation of the teacher. In the paper, the advantages and disadvantages of these varying modes of use are explored. We conclude that innovative deployment of videoconferencing pedagogy is in its infancy in English schools, but that teachers exposed to its potential quickly find new ways of exploiting the pedagogical possibilities offered by the technology.

In the past two decades, as new capabilities for video communication have emerged, their use in educational contexts has steadily increased. Initially located in higher education, the use of videoconferencing for a broad range of learning purposes is now established in many schools. Although a considerable body of literature exists that describes the experience of videoconferencing using traditional pedagogies, much less has been published on the contextual factors that lead to effective learning outcomes and innovative uses of videoconferencing. The purpose of this review is to establish a baseline for researchers interested in the area. In focusing on educational uses in both higher education and mainstream schooling, the review examines the affordances and barriers to effective teaching and learning, with what are increasingly robust and easy-to-use technologies. The paper concludes with a call for further research into the more innovative possibilities of videoconferencing.