In England, religious education (RE) is a part of the basic curriculum mandatory for all pupils in the compulsory years of schooling. This paper explores how RE and spirituality interact and whether one can contribute to the effective delivery of the other. It explores the experience of a small group of subject leaders working in schools in one local authority area in the West Midlands of England, drawn from schools with a religious affiliation and those without. Using in service training activities, questionnaires and reflective processes, it seeks to elicit their aspirations for the interaction between RE and spirituality (also referred to as meaning-making). The findings suggest the subject leaders have an intention to develop both activity to promote learning and activity to apply that learning to real life experience. This suggests that developing a spiritual dimension to religious education requires a move from the abstract or theoretical and from knowledge acquisition towards increased engagement, making a personal response and considering what difference can be made as a result. As such, a spiritual dimension to learning cannot be passive. The project has the potential to impact policy and practice on both national and international levels, given its focus on values and pedagogy rather than specific curriculum content.

The theoretical framework of this article considers the significant place of education in the socialisation and enculturation of children. This requires that student teachers develop critical pedagogies as a means of promoting equity, pupil voice and democratic structures in schools. Key to this is Cole's concept of ‘isms' and ‘phobias’, and the need to prepare student teachers to address them, and to evaluate both formal and hidden curricula. This article outlines the findings of a small-scale study that explored student teachers' views on elements of issues-based education, the content of their training courses, and their personal priorities and apprehensions. It involved student teachers in eight universities in England during 2008–09. This article outlines the full range of responses to the survey and students' reasons for their priorities. The findings provide a context for providers of initial teacher education to consider the content and focus of their programmes.

This paper considers the nature and definition of controversial issues in primary education, exploring how they may be deemed controversial in different ways according to context. Drawing on research undertaken with student teachers in their final year of study at universities in England, it explores the issues that they feel apprehensive about facing in their first teaching post and those that they feel it is important to explore with children. It identifies issues relating to relationships, religion and belief and bereavement as being of significant concern, suggesting priorities for teacher training courses and contrasting these with research undertaken a decade earlier.

Bullying is defined in a variety of ways in different contexts, and each individual school in England is required to develop its own working definition, parameters and policy. This paper explores a variety of definitions from government and third sector organisations in the UK, making comparison with those from other contexts. In particular, it considers whether bullying is repeated behaviour or experience, and how labels such as target, victim and perpetrator have the potential to damage individual identities. It highlights common themes and differences across definitions and interpretations, comparing them with those of staff (n =131) drawn from research in 16 schools in one large local authority area in England, detailing their conceptions and experiences of bullying. These staff identify whether, where and how bullying is encountered in their settings, how they address such issues, and whether there are particular stimuli on which they focus. It concludes that a redeveloped, clear and understandable definition of bullying is needed that is accessible to all stakeholders in schools, including children. This needs to be inclusive in its focus, unambiguous and applicable across a broad range of settings, leaving aside the historical baggage associated with the subject.

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) promotes institutional change guided by values in the face of scientific and societal discontents. RRI is conceived largely as an incremental, progressive transformation in the ways scientific research and (mainly) technological innovation are done and in what these processes produce. RRI advocates engaging across scientific specialisations and among diverse scientific and societal stakeholders, including citizens, to improve the relevance and robustness of research and innovation outcomes. Increased public engagement and knowledge co-creation are considered key mechanisms for reconfiguring relationships among science, innovation, and society. In this chapter, we first outline the foundational conceptualisations of RRI, including their major differences. We then consider how RRI seeks to drive transformation in research and innovation through incremental institutional change and the emergence of RRI as both a community of practice and an object of quantification practices. Finally, we consider three translational challenges that may shape the future of RRI.