Research in Teacher Education - Volume 12, No. 1. May 2022

We begin this issue of RiTE with an article from Fiona Byrne that explores pedagogical strategies used to encourage meaningful engagement in asynchronous discussion forums on a distance learning module in a London-based university. Her article presents findings from a small-scale action research project on discussion forums, providing readers with an analysis of pedagogical interventions that encourage critical thinking and meaningful engagement. Mick Doyle and Miles Thomas explore, in their study, teachers' perceptions of pupils' social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, and facilitating factors for provision following the Covid-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with UK secondary school teachers (n = 15). Their research reinforces the need to further explore teachers' voices in SEMH research. 
In an article by Tracie Trimmer Platman, the author argues that youth work is best placed to focus on the personal and social development of young people in centres and clubs and that this ought to be a serious and significant part of local communities, with support from schools, colleges and universities, which, inevitably, have space and resources currently inaccessible. Rukshana Beigi writes about her small-scale study using narrative inquiry, in which student educators tell their stories and are able to explore and examine creativity in their lived experiences. This informs how they view and understand the critical role of nurturing creativity in children, but also how as educators they think about, and allow for, a creative pedagogy in practice. Huw Humphrey's paper explores the ideological clash around a single issue – educational rigour – using Paulo Freire's concepts of freedom, dialogue and identity in teaching and learning to re-evaluate the idea of rigour in initial teacher education (ITE) in England. In the face of curriculum frameworks and market-led reviews of ITE, Humphrey's paper offers ways of reformulating teacher education around outcomes that will deepen student teacher identity and freedom and their ability to critique effectively the system of which they will soon be a part. The engagement of young people with lived experience of PMLD helps social work students to consider their attitudes and assumptions, while learning new communication skills from the young people. In their article Gosia Kwiatkowska and Kathryn Stowell focus on a partnership between the RIX Research Centre at the University of East London and Charlton Park Academy, a special secondary school in south-east London. The authors present their model of an Advocacy Pathway as part of social work readiness for practice. Joanne McWhinney-Tripp's article explores performativity within the context of English schools in order to draw parallels with the Scottish context and forecast a potential future for Scotland’s schools with particular attention to the impact of performativity on teacher identity. 
Our guest writer this month is Professor Pete Boyd, Professor Emeritus in professional learning at the University of Cumbria, UK. His purpose in writing his paper is to provoke discussion of challenges that our 'post-truth' world presents for the development of research-informed practice by schoolteachers, and to consider the implications for teacher educators. 
As always, we hope that you enjoy the collection of articles in this issue of the periodical. If you are interested in writing for this publication, please contact members of the editorial team.
 

Cite as: Gerry Czerniawski (2019) 'Editorial' Research in Teacher Education, Vol 12  (No.1). Available at: https://www.uel.ac.uk/our-research/research-school-education-communities/research-teacher-education-volume-12-no-1-may-2022