Students from Black Minority Ethnic (BME) groups continue to experience disadvantages compared to White students in UK Higher Education (Pilkington, A. 2013. "The Interacting Dynamics of Institutional Racism in Higher Education." Race Ethnicity and Education 16 (2): 225–245.). Evidence highlights that an attainment gap exists between BME students and their White counterparts (Office for National Statistics. 2019 . A Guide for the Collection and Classification of Ethnic Group, National Identity and Religion Data in the UK. Accessed May 25, 2019. www.ons.gov.uk; NUS. 2011. Race for Equality: A Report on the Experiences of Black Students in Further and Higher Education. London: National Union of Students. Accessed January 18, 2015. http://www.nus.org.uk/PageFiles/12350/NUS_Race_for_Equality_web.pdf), with BME students increasingly reporting negative experiences (Bunce, L., N. King, S. Saran, and N. Talib. 2019. "Experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Students in Higher Education: Applying Self-determination Theory to Understand the BME Attainment Gap." Studies in Higher Education 1–14.). The findings from a sample of 943 first-year undergraduate students and 210 staff members highlighted no significant differences between White and BME students’ Growth Mindsets and stereotypical thoughts despite the common discourse of minority students being considered lacking in skills, motivation, or aspirations (Burke, R. L. 2015. Successful Strategies and Techniques Used by High School Teachers, School Counselors, and School Leaders to Encourage African American Males to Enroll in College (Doctoral dissertation, Capella University); Douglas, B., C. W. Lewis, A. Douglas, M. E. Scott, and D. Garrison-Wade. 2008. “The Impact of White Teachers on the Academic Achievement of Black Students: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis.” Educational Foundations 22: 47–62; Dotterer, A. M., S. M. McHale, and A. C. Crouter. 2009. “Sociocultural Factors and School Engagement Among African American Youth: The Roles of Racial Discrimination, Racial Socialization, and Ethnic Identity.” Applied Development Science 13 (2): 61–73; Gillies, V. and Y. Robinson. 2012. "‘Including’ While Excluding: Race, Class and Behaviour Support Units." Race Ethnicity and Education 15 (2): 157–174; Johnson, E. 2007. “Schooling, Blackness and National Identity in Esmeraldas.” Ecuador. Race Ethnicity and Education 10 (1): 47–70). The findings are discussed with a need to create an awareness that the achievement gap is a symptom of widespread racial inequities and the potential of using growth Mindsets as an anti-racist tool to address the racial disparity.

The COVID-19 pandemic upended the daily life of every individual throughout the world and has had an impact on every sphere of life. However, its impact on education, especially higher education, is profound. This chapter is based on a recent study, which explored teaching and learning in higher education in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 lockdown. The chapter focuses on how switching from face-to-face to online distance teaching and learning within a short period of time has created educational inequality and the digital divide among teachers and students in higher education in Bangladesh. Based on the findings from the recent surveys (teachers' and students' perspectives), this chapter provides recommendations for the stakeholders to support teachers and students during the emergency remote teaching and learning. It also shows how different strategies could minimize educational inequality and the digital divide during the time of crisis and how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown impacted on the transition and transformation of teaching and learning in Bangladesh.

Emerging technologies and the digital transformation in society have changed the way teaching and learning take place. Therefore, techno-pedagogical content knowledge has become an integral approach in modern teaching and learning. This chapter explores issues related to blended teaching and learning in higher education and highlights the challenges and opportunities it possesses. This chapter also outlines how to overcome challenges to provide effective teaching and learning by exploring literature. Moreover, it categorizes challenges for discussion to identify possible solutions and outlines recommendations. In support of evidence, a case study approach was used along with a review of the literature to draw evidence for a wide range of best practices. According to the findings, the blended teaching and learning model allows students to learn freely, demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways, and develop crucial knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will help them become lifelong learners.

Islamophobia has seen a disturbing rise in British and international contexts; however, we see limited attention being afforded to this in the context of Higher Education (HE), particularly the impacts of this through the lens of staff members. HE continues to frame itself as a post‐racial, secular, progressive, and inclusive space, yet is perpetually opposed due to its surreptitious and violent incidences of racism, classism, sexism and ableism. We discuss here, using liberatory‐based and autoethnographic methodologies, Muslim staff members' experiences and insights of Islamophobia in UK HE institutions (HEIs)—a severely underrepresented group and largely invisible issue in the academy. We highlight the need to expose, challenge, question, and destabilise the continuous victimisation of Muslims within these spaces and beyond. We unpick issues related to intersectionality and different levels of exclusion by exploring the sense of belonging felt by Muslim staff; specific challenges and episodes of Islamophobia faced; and ways the sector can dismantle Islamophobia and begin developing practices to genuinely support anti‐Muslim, anti‐racist inclusion and social justice.

Transitioning from primary school to secondary school is an important and defining stage for many pupils which can bring both positive and negative effects on pupil’s wellbeing. It is a time that involves rapid physical, social and emotional development which can bring about feelings of loneliness, pressure of social acceptance, stress and a rise in depression and anxiety. While not all pupils will experience negative transition-related challenges, and post transition anxiety may settle within the first term, for a number of pupils the transition is an overwhelming process which requires a lot of support. Yet, little is known about the supportive relational practices that might attenuate the challenges pupils face as they move to secondary school. This article investigated the experiences of 8 newly transitioned Year 7 pupils as well as viewpoints and perceptions of 6 secondary school teachers. Specifically, the paper sought to understand the role of social and emotional learning (SEL) during the transition phase and the support systems in place to develop the pupils. The results from the semi-structured interviews highlighted the importance of belonging during this critical phase, followed by the need to improve the social processes and transitional support. Thus, in designing transition support activities, such efforts should strive to acclimate new secondary school pupils by providing inclusive, caring environments and positive connections with educators and peers.

Research demonstrates that pupils do not always have the necessary social and emotional intelligence to cope with the transition to secondary school successfully. This paper explores a context-specific intervention designed to enhance key social and emotional skills after a secondary school transition. The intervention was designed with reference to a school-context analysis of children who had recently transitioned to secondary school. Sixty children aged 11–12 years took part in the intervention which involved six group sessions and the outcomes of the intervention were assessed through pre-, post-, and follow-up self-report questionnaires. Focus groups were also conducted with intervention participants following completion of the programme. Findings demonstrate that the intervention had a significant positive impact on empathy. The focus group findings highlighted ways the intervention helped pupils to address negative emotions, cope and manage difficult problems as well as positive and negative implementation strategies for future interventions. The paper highlights a context-specific approach to support programmes, based on the inclusion of an exploratory phase when designing such interventions. The findings may be of benefit to practitioners, researchers and educational psychologists.