Rachel Lofthouse, David Leat, Anna Reid Newcastle University

1. A review of what is known about teachers’ engagement with and in educational research and a summary of work that looks at participating in research from the teachers’ point of view Rachel Lofthouse, David Leat, Anna Reid Newcastle University

2. Modes of engagement in educational research Colleen McLaughlin (2004) suggests that three purposes can be discerned in the teacher research tradition • Research and enquiry undertaken for primarily personal purposes • Research and enquiry undertaken for primarily political purposes • Research and enquiry undertaken for primarily school improvement purposes.

3. Wider history Kurt Lewin (1946) first used the term ‘action research’ to describe ‘research that will help the practitioner’ Lawrence Stenhouse and John Elliott by Stenhouse (1981), in which the ‘teacher as researcher’ is at the centre of curriculum development and nothing is taken for granted. From this theoretical perspective the focus of teachers’ research should be on how to effect worthwhile curriculum change in their classrooms and schools, through systematic inquiry.

4. Evidence of teachers’ voice Three main sources • Small scale systematic literature review • Key informants • Our own research experiences and reading. Range of evidence • Researchers’ interpretation of experience and evidence gained in collaborative projects • Teachers’ voices quoted by researchers Very little evidence of teachers’ voice in their own words.

5. Questions and themes Core questions Themes • What are teachers’ reported experiences and perceptions of engagement in and with teacher research? • What do teachers indicate as conditions which support or constrain this engagement? • How do these voices and views contribute to an understanding of the wider culture of schools and teacher professionalism?

6. Theme 1: Purpose Purpose can be represented as a dimension with two poles: School control Teacher control This dynamic is complicated if there is another entity involved especially if that ‘entity’ brings critically. e.g. • HE researchers, • a course (such as M.Ed), • a network. Increasingly school control is a proxy for the influence of government policy – teacher research in school improvement mode.

7. Theme 2:Trust, collaboration and relationships In high trust environments where there are strong personal relationships, professionals are more likely to take considered risks and share the outcomes or consequences of their actions. In low trust environments, it is much harder to step outside of habitual behaviours and challenge norms.

8. Theme 3: Research support and teacher agency Support from HE researchers can be vital both for assistance in research processes and providing a valuable reference point Newman and Mowbray (2012) found real teacher admiration for their university lead partner: I think the support of the leader of the group … her expertise, research skills as a practitioner and as an academic was absolutely invaluable.

9. Theme 4: Learning and affective response Teachers are generally very positive about their experiences of engaging in research, and US evidence suggests that research re-professionalises Kershner et al. (2013) drawing on interviews with 15 teachers in a two year, partnership masters programme identify 6aspects of personal and professional learning: • being a learner; • learning as part of professional practice; • widening repertoire; • changing as a learner; • personal growth • adaptive practice. A trainee primary teacher quoted from England in Medwell and Wray (2014): I have really contributed to new knowledge. It’s made think about that … it has made me think a lot more than I do when I am on planning and evaluating treadmill This suggests that research is to a degree an antidote to current pressures.

10. Theme 5: Contradiction and conflict Performativity (the targets culture) is a constraint and teachers’ experiences of research leads them to challenge aspects of school policy Many masters students engaging in professional inquiries are unsettled by looking at learning from student perspectives and reading authors such as Stephen Ball, David Berliner, Jo Boaler and Robin Alexander. Reeves and Drew (2013) gathered evidence from Chartered Teachers and found friction between school improvement as a short term, closed process and action research as a more open discursive process: There is a difference between our (teachers’) understanding of collaboration and the SMT’s definition of collaboration. The SMT find it quite scary that teachers will come up with the content of the project and they are nervous about the whole thing because they don’t feel they have control.

11. Theme 5: Contradiction and conflict • In the Learning To Learn project, contradiction and conflict were never far away (Higgins et al., 2007): • Well it is the initiative …overload really and accountability. The government and their initiatives and the data driven thing, and it does definitely get in the way as you have different pressures and it is not always what you believe in and what you feel is right … it is all the time, you are not performing, your results are not good enough and now the self-evaluation. It (the project) is brilliant in some ways but it does add a lot of pressure because you are continually feeling that you have to be Ofsted ready all the time. • … we are not as enthusiastic as we were… The things that haven’t helped are when you are discouraged from the point of view that you feel not valued, that your work isn’t valued… The other thing that hasn’t helped is that we are not allowed to disseminate as such to other people. We did have one opportunity to give one session feedback but the Head looked disinterested and the rest of the staff felt that it wasn’t particularly important.

12. Theme 5: Contradiction and conflict • HE researchers (reflecting one discourse) can find it difficult to engage with schools as institutions reflecting a dominant political discourse, as illustrated in Jones & Stanley (2010) : • They argue that action research involving university researchers and ‘public stakeholders’ challenges the democratic traditions that underpin critical enquiry. They attribute this friction to a context of micro-politics, embedded in a culture of performativity, driven by national agendas. Thus there were disagreements over obtaining parental consent, questionnaire design, the tone of reports and content of journal articles.

13. Making sense of the themes This emphasises the varying potential impact on teachers’ thinking. It echoes Barnett & Coate’s (2005) differentiation between knowing, acting and being: The domain of ‘knowing’ refers to the core knowledge of a discipline. ‘Acting’ foregrounds skills and actions that students are expected to master and refers to how a student’s expertise grows and develops through activity. The domain of ‘being’ denotes the formation of student’s personality and identity. We see an important distinction between: • Research as a body of knowledge (noun) • Research as a professional learning process (verb) • Research as a social practice (a set of norms and values) networking in all kinds of situations … it’s kind of like being a busybody

14. Making space The metaphor of space is a recurring theme in writing about professionals trying to construct alternatives For example in the context of Scottish Qualification for Headship (SQH), an example of a hybrid between CPD and teacher inquiry, Reeves and Forde (2004) see the members of the course encountering three ‘spaces’ • Space generated by the workplace • Space generated by the course • Space in the workplace ‘conceived as a set of permissions to enact the values and knowledge acquired in the course/project environment’. If you are committed to being a learner and wanting to change and improve, and do things in a different way, and not being afraid of doing that then people have to have permission.

15. Recognising other voices These voices can be very influential, promoting spoken and internal dialogues, which often result in new personal perspectives or even transformations (Hermans, 2001). it then developed on to talking to other colleagues about what they felt was central to developing learning for themselves and for the children … it was just really fascinating to be able to have that professional conversation and really unpick what people feel are important for them and what they feel is important to school and children When teachers engage in research they break their routines – and they are exposed to alternative viewpoints/voices. E.g. • Pupils • Peers • Influential academic writers • Network or partnership leaders • Speakers at conferences • Adults other than teachers (including teaching assistants and parents).

16. Conclusions and implications Local ecologies for teacher research The importance of curriculum development There should be a strong relationship between teacher research and the curriculum. This would address some of the tension between teacher researchers and their school leaders who are over-exposed to narrow modes of accountability. It is vital for the efficacy and integrity of the teaching profession that there are local conditions, within or across schools, which allow teachers to hear other voices, as well as hearing the ‘official line’. This is harder to manage but ultimately more democratic.

17. References Barnett, R. & Coate, K. (2005). Engaging the curriculum in higher education, Berkshire, UK: McGraw-Hill Education. Hermans, H. (2001) 'The dialogical self: Toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning', Culture & Psychology, 7(3), pp. 243-281. Jones, M. & Stanley, G.(2010). Collaborative action research: a democratic undertaking or a web of collusion and compliance? International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 33 ,151–163. Kershner, R., Pedder, D. & Doddington, C. (2013) Professional learning during a schools–university partnership Master of Education course: teachers’ perspectives of their learning experiences, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice Lewin, K. (1946) 'Action research and minority problems', Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), pp. 34-46. McLaughlin, C. (2004) Partners in research: what's in it for you? Teacher Development, 8 (2-3). pp. 127-136. Medwell, J. & Wray, D. (2014) Pre-service teachers undertaking classroom research: developing reflection and enquiry skills, Journal of Education for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, Vol. 40(1), pp. 65-77. Newman, L. and Mowbray, S. (2012): ‘We were expected to be equal’: teachers and academics sharing professional learning through practitioner inquiry’, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 18(4), pp. 455-468. Reeves, J. and Drew, V. (2013) ‘A Productive Relationship? Testing the Connections between Professional Learning and Practitioner Research’, Scottish Educational Review, 45(2), pp. 36-49. Reeves, J. & Forde, C., 2004. The social dynamics of changing practice. Cambridge Journal of Education, 34, 85-102. Stenhouse, L. (1981) 'What counts as research?', British Journal of Educational Studies, 29(2), pp. 103-114.