Improving educational practitioner research
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Mathematics Education Centre
Abstract
Forging better links between research and practice is key to improving the quality of education in schools and other settings (BA/RS, 2018; DfE, 2018). There is growing enthusiasm among education practitioners for their teaching to be
better informed by research. Practitioners who want to be more than critical consumers of educational research, or participants in studies led by academics, often wish to conduct research themselves in their own schools. This is a potentially powerful way to address practical challenges of importance in their own contexts (Coldwell, et al., 2017). The British Educational Research Association report Research and the Teaching Profession (Furlong et al., 2014, p. 27) "stressed that the development of a research-rich culture is vital if schools and colleges are to develop and sustain the capacity for self-improvement", and recommended a sustained "focus on enquiry-based practice ... throughout teachers' professional careers" (p. 6).
It is common for trainee teachers, or practitioners doing masters qualifications in education, to conduct their own small scale action research projects, and support is also available for this kind of inquiry/research through various institutes,
such as the Chartered College of Teaching and the Education Endowment Foundation. However, the quality and value of these research studies is not always high. Without appropriate support, such studies may not produce findings that
can be meaningfully interpreted, and may even embed misconceptions about educational research that can hinder, rather than support, practitioners' critical engagement with wider research (Bennett, 2013). The British Educational
Research Association report mentioned above (Furlong et al., 2014, p. 6) recommended that teachers "need to be equipped to engage in enquiry-oriented practice".
Using mathematics as a case study, this project will examine the nature of the research that practitioners conduct in their schools or other settings, whether as part of certificated courses, school-based or wider initiatives, or self-directed. The project will assess the nature, quality and value of existing practitioner research and contribute to knowledge about how its quality may be enhanced through carefully-designed, structured interventions.
Research questions
The aim of this PhD proposal is to investigate how educational practitioners can be empowered to conduct high-quality mathematics education research within their schools or other settings.
The research questions are:
1. What kinds of mathematics education research do practitioners currently conduct in their schools?
2. How might the quality and value of this research be judged in comparison to other forms of research?
3. What are the contributory factors to any weaknesses in practitioner research, and what interventions might improve the quality and value of practitioner research in mathematics education in schools?
better informed by research. Practitioners who want to be more than critical consumers of educational research, or participants in studies led by academics, often wish to conduct research themselves in their own schools. This is a potentially powerful way to address practical challenges of importance in their own contexts (Coldwell, et al., 2017). The British Educational Research Association report Research and the Teaching Profession (Furlong et al., 2014, p. 27) "stressed that the development of a research-rich culture is vital if schools and colleges are to develop and sustain the capacity for self-improvement", and recommended a sustained "focus on enquiry-based practice ... throughout teachers' professional careers" (p. 6).
It is common for trainee teachers, or practitioners doing masters qualifications in education, to conduct their own small scale action research projects, and support is also available for this kind of inquiry/research through various institutes,
such as the Chartered College of Teaching and the Education Endowment Foundation. However, the quality and value of these research studies is not always high. Without appropriate support, such studies may not produce findings that
can be meaningfully interpreted, and may even embed misconceptions about educational research that can hinder, rather than support, practitioners' critical engagement with wider research (Bennett, 2013). The British Educational
Research Association report mentioned above (Furlong et al., 2014, p. 6) recommended that teachers "need to be equipped to engage in enquiry-oriented practice".
Using mathematics as a case study, this project will examine the nature of the research that practitioners conduct in their schools or other settings, whether as part of certificated courses, school-based or wider initiatives, or self-directed. The project will assess the nature, quality and value of existing practitioner research and contribute to knowledge about how its quality may be enhanced through carefully-designed, structured interventions.
Research questions
The aim of this PhD proposal is to investigate how educational practitioners can be empowered to conduct high-quality mathematics education research within their schools or other settings.
The research questions are:
1. What kinds of mathematics education research do practitioners currently conduct in their schools?
2. How might the quality and value of this research be judged in comparison to other forms of research?
3. What are the contributory factors to any weaknesses in practitioner research, and what interventions might improve the quality and value of practitioner research in mathematics education in schools?
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000711/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2741287 | Studentship | ES/P000711/1 | 01/10/2022 | 30/09/2030 | Matt Lewis |