John Furlong | |
---|---|
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Educationist, author, and academic |
Awards | Order of the British Empire, The monarch of the United Kingdom |
Academic background | |
Education | PhD in Sociology of education |
Alma mater | Enfield College of Technology City University, London |
Thesis | Social Interaction in the Classroom: a participant observation study of pupils' classroom life (1978) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Oxford Green Templeton College |
John Furlong is a British educationist,author,and academic. He is an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Oxford,an Emeritus Fellow of Green Templeton College,Oxford,and an adviser to the Welsh government on Initial Teacher Education (ITE). [1] Since 2015,he has been Vice President of the British and Foreign School Society (BFSS),which supports equal educational opportunities for children and young people. [2]
Furlong's sociological research has focused on issues in education including disaffected pupils,the impacts of classroom language on learning,new technologies on learning,and teacher education. He is the editor of eight books and author of further eleven books,including,Education –an Anatomy of the Discipline,Teacher Education in Transition:re-forming professionalism? and a memoir,Islands –in Search of brave new worlds. In addition,he has published over 100 articles,book chapters and reports. He is the recipient of the Order of the British Empire for his services in educational research [3] In 2014,the Oxford Review of Education published a special issue celebrating his lifetime contribution to the sociology of education. [4] and in 2023,his 2003 paper 'BERA at 30;have we come of age?' was chosen by the British Educational Research Journal as one of the 10 best papers of its decade. [5]
Furlong is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences [6] and has been a member of Research Excellence Framework (REF) sub-panels in Education in the UK and in Hong Kong.
As he describes in his 2023 memoir Islands;in search of brave new worlds,after graduating,Furlong decided to pursue a career in education rather than business. In 1971,he became a teacher of social studies in an inner London secondary modern school,at the same time enrolling on a PhD programme at City University,London. His thesis,"Social Interaction in the Classroom;a participant observation study of pupils’classroom life",focused on the lives of Afro-Caribbean teenagers at the school where he taught. [1]
Following his PhD,Furlong undertook two post-doctoral research fellowships as a classroom ethnographer,the first at Manchester University where he focused on the role of language in classroom teaching [7] and the second at Brunel University where he studied disaffected pupils in outer London comprehensive schools. His research on the latter topic contributed to his first single authored book,The Deviant Pupil;sociological perspectives,published in 1985.
Furlong began his academic career as a lecturer in the sociology of education at the University of Cambridge,a position he held for 11 years. During this period,he focused on exploring the social factors that contribute to disaffection from school. In addition,he led two research projects where he examined the contribution of schools to student teachers' professional learning [8] and a national study of changing patterns of provision for teacher education in the 1990s. [9] In 1993,he was appointed a professor and then Head of the Department of Education at Swansea University;in 1995 he joined Bristol University again serving as Head of the Education department. While at Bristol,he led an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project exploring the impact of computers on young people's learning at home. [10] In 2000,he moved to Cardiff University as a professor in the newly formed School of Social Sciences. While there he led an ESRC project which analysed the impact of new technologies on adult learning at home. [1]
In 2003,Furlong joined Oxford University as the Director of the Department of Education. He is now an Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow of Green Templeton College.
From 2003 to 2005 he served as President of the British Educational Research Association (BERA). He also chaired the BERA-RSA Inquiry into Research and Teacher Education from 2013 to 2014. [3] In 2014 he was appointed as an Advisor to the Welsh Government on Initial Teacher Education and in 2017 as the Chair of the Teacher Education Accreditation Board for Wales. [11]
Furlong is best known for his work on teacher education and educational research policy. He has authored several books on these topics including his book Education –An Anatomy of the Discipline which was recognized as the best educational research book of the year by the British Society of Educational Studies in 2014. [12] In addition,in 2022,he and colleagues from Oxford were awarded the BERA Public Engagement and Impact Award for the impact of their research on the reform of ITE in Wales. [13]
During his period as president of BERA,Furlong emphasized quality,diversity,and inclusivity in educational research;he later led an ESRC-funded project exploring the issue of quality in applied and practice based research. [14] In his book,Education –An Anatomy of the Discipline he discussed the past and present state of the education discipline in universities and also explored the nature and organisation of educational research. [15] Tickner praised the book in her review,stating that "The author of this compelling book,John Furlong,develops and sustains a thesis that addresses precisely what the title assumes. To do so,he reaches into the history of education to question where we are today and where we may be in the near future…This book makes a significant contribution to relevant education debates that implicate,among others,governments,policymakers,teacher educators,teachers and students. It grapples with difficult issues with detail and firmness and articulates how critical these are for the future of education in a contemporary neoliberal world." [16] In his book,Knowledge and the Study of Education:An International Exploration,he has also explored the construction of education as a field of academic study in different countries around the world. [17]
Furlong's research has also covered the impact of technologies on learning [18] and highlighted how young people acquire computer expertise. [19] He investigated the role of computers at home in creating a new educational environment for young people and explored the way in which learning is associated with the affordance of technology. [20] In addition,he described how child consumers were constructed through public policies and private practices. [21] In his book,Adult Learning in the Digital Age he has explored the dynamic relationship between adults and technology in diverse learning settings in the twenty-first century and recommended ways to use new technologies in a learning society. [22]
Furlong has worked on teachers’education,its nature,its importance and its reform. In his book,Teacher Education in Transition:Re-forming Professionalism? he examined the impact of policy changes across England and Wales in the 1990s. [9] Subsequently,he discussed the changes in teacher education policy during the New Labour government's two terms in office (1997–2010) arguing that the government had moved away from individual professional formation towards direct guidance and notions of collective responsibility. [23] [24] In addition,he has researched and written about the role of mentors and tutors in supporting student teacher learning. [25] In his book,Mentoring Student Teachers:The Growth of Professional Knowledge,he emphasized the need to define the specific responsibilities of teachers when serving as mentors and also suggested that an understanding of teacher learning processes is essential for a mentor. [26]
Furlong has also contributed to a number of policy reviews of initial teacher education (ITE) including national reviews of Wales [27] Brunei,the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. [28] In his second,2015 review of ITE in Wales entitled "Teaching Tomorrow's Teachers," he presented options for improving initial teacher education based on close collaboration between universities and schools. He was subsequently invited by the Welsh Government to oversee the fundamental reform of the sector in order to establish a new system of teacher education based on those principles. [29] [30]
Education is the transmission of knowledge,skills,and character traits and manifests in various forms. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework,such as public schools,following a curriculum. Non-formal education also follows a structured approach but occurs outside the formal schooling system,while informal education entails unstructured learning through daily experiences. Formal and non-formal education are categorized into levels,including early childhood education,primary education,secondary education,and tertiary education. Other classifications focus on teaching methods,such as teacher-centered and student-centered education,and on subjects,such as science education,language education,and physical education. Additionally,the term "education" can denote the mental states and qualities of educated individuals and the academic field studying educational phenomena.
Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific study of human learning. The study of learning processes,from both cognitive and behavioral perspectives,allows researchers to understand individual differences in intelligence,cognitive development,affect,motivation,self-regulation,and self-concept,as well as their role in learning. The field of educational psychology relies heavily on quantitative methods,including testing and measurement,to enhance educational activities related to instructional design,classroom management,and assessment,which serve to facilitate learning processes in various educational settings across the lifespan.
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity. It draws knowledge from several fields like sociology,anthropology,psychology,economics,etc. It is related to an interdiscipline or an interdisciplinary field, which is an organizational unit that crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought,as new needs and professions emerge. Large engineering teams are usually interdisciplinary,as a power station or mobile phone or other project requires the melding of several specialties. However,the term "interdisciplinary" is sometimes confined to academic settings.
A teaching method is a set of principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught,partly by the relative expertise of the learners,and partly by constraints caused by the learning environment. For a particular teaching method to be appropriate and efficient it has take into account the learner,the nature of the subject matter,and the type of learning it is supposed to bring about.
A teacher,also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator,is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge,competence,or virtue,via the practice of teaching.
Educational research refers to the systematic collection and analysis of data related to the field of education. Research may involve a variety of methods and various aspects of education including student learning,interaction,teaching methods,teacher training,and classroom dynamics.
This is an index of education articles.
Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs,policies,procedures,and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge,attitudes,behaviors,approaches,methodologies and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom,school,and wider community. The professionals who engage in training the prospective teachers are called teacher educators.
The British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics is a United Kingdom association for people interested in research in mathematics education.
Evidence-based education (EBE) is the principle that education practices should be based on the best available scientific evidence,with randomised trials as the gold standard of evidence,rather than tradition,personal judgement,or other influences. Evidence-based education is related to evidence-based teaching,evidence-based learning,and school effectiveness research.
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) is a membership association and learned society committed to advancing research quality,building research capacity and fostering research engagement. BERA's aim is to inform the development of policy and practice by promoting the best quality evidence produced by educational research.
Stephen A. C. Gorard is a British academic who specialises in the sociology of education. He is Professor of Education and Public Policy at Durham University. Stephen Gorard is the most published and cited UK author in education,and in the top ten academic journals worldwide.
Ronald Eugene Anderson,also known as Ron Anderson,was an American sociologist. He was a Professor Emeritus at University of Minnesota in Twin Cities where he taught sociology from 1968 to 2005. His early work focused on social and institutional factors shaping the diffusion of technology-based teaching. Since 2007,his work has focused on web-based compassion and world suffering.
Robin Alexander is a British educationist and academic known particularly for championing the cause of primary education,for his leadership of the Cambridge Primary Review,and for his research and writing on education policy,culture,curriculum,pedagogy,dialogic teaching and comparative and international education. He is currently Fellow of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge and Professor of Education Emeritus at the University of Warwick. In 2011 he was elected Fellow of the British Academy (FBA),the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences and chaired its Education Section 2018-21.
The National Council for Educational Technology provided advice and support for schools and colleges in England,Wales,and Northern Ireland on educational technology,in particular the use of computers for teaching and learning.
Sara Delamont DSc Econ,AcSS FLSW is a reader in the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. She was the first woman to be the president of the British Educational Research Association and the first woman Dean of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Dr Delamont's research covers many different areas and disciplines including anthropology,feminist and gender studies,the sociology of education,food,professions and qualitative research methods.
Ivor Frederick Goodson is a British educationalist. He is a professor at Tallinn University.
Rosamund Sutherland was a British mathematics educator. She was a professor emeritus at the University of Bristol,and the former head of the school of education at Bristol.
Susan Sentance is a British computer scientist,educator and director of the Raspberry Pi Foundation Computing Education Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. Her research investigates a wide range of issues computer science education,teacher education and the professional development of those teaching computing. In 2020 Sentance was awarded a Suffrage Science award for her work on computing education.