factor
facts
faculty
false consciousness
falsification
fatalism
feedback
feeder school
fees
flashcard
flexi-schooling
an arrangement whereby a learner attends school on a part-time basis, being home-educated for the rest of the time.
flipped classroom
an approach to teaching, largely confined to the university sector currently, where new content is made available in advance online, or in videotaped format, with which learners engage in their own time, so that classroom activity is solely focused on activity related to that content. It thus frees up time and allows for more teacher-learner interaction. It is dependent on learners engaging with the material in advance and so claims of its value need to be framed in that context. (see blended learning)
flow
folio
formal curriculum
formal operational
formative assessment
forms of knowledge
a term from the work of P.H.Hirst (b. 1927) for different classes of knowledge which can be identified by their having distinct concepts, logical structures, and ways of judging truth and falsity. Hirst's views have been influential in curriculum design but are the subject of considerable criticism. Hirst identifies seven such forms of knowledge: mathematics, physical science, religion, philosophy, literature and the fine arts, moral, and interpersonal (see disciplines; domain).
foster care
foundationalism
free school
a private school organised as an alternative to the traditional state or independent school, often featuring a flexible curriculum and progressive teaching methods. In England since 2010, it is the term used for an extension of the 'academy' school movement, indicating a school independent of local authorities but funded by central government.
free will
freedom
the absence of restraints or oppression; the capacity to exercise self-determination, autonomy. Education and schooling have typically been seen as promoting individual and group freedom in that an educated person is deemed to have more freedom, or opportunities to exercise such, than an uneducated person. Other critics see schooling as impairing and restricting freedom, serving as a form of social control or indoctrination (see emancipation; negative liberty; positive liberty).