David Gillborn, Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education, has been named among the authors of 40 landmark studies that have had a significant impact on educational policy, educational practice, research methodology and/or educational theory over the past 40 years. The list has been compiled by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) to mark its 40th anniversary.

Gillborn’s book ‘Race Ethnicity and Education: teaching and learning in multi-ethnic schools’, first published in 1990, is listed alongside several classics in the field, including Stephen Ball’s ‘Politics and Policy Making in Education’, Basil Bernstein’s ‘Class Codes and Control, Volume 3’, Heidi Safia Mirza’s ‘Young, Female and Black’, Sally Tomlinson’s ‘A Sociology of Special Education’ and Paul Willis’ ‘Learning to Labour’.

BERA says that "The final 40 come from across the UK (and beyond where they have had substantial impact in UK settings), from a range of academic disciplines, from researchers of every background and every perspective, and from a range of qualitative and quantitative research traditions. Studies were collected from a combination of member nomination, a literature review and discussions with policy-makers and practitioners. At one point we had a long-list of over 120 studies to choose from. We know that not everybody will agree on the final selection but we also know that the ensuing debate will help to bring the discussion of the value and purpose of educational policy to the fore, something that BERA is keen to use its 40th anniversary as a vehicle for."

For more details and a timeline of the 40 selected publications see http://www.bera.ac.uk/project/40at40#1984-1993