Gill Adams and Michael InglisLiverpool John Moores University

How do I get started with research? Confronting the challenge of becoming research active

AimsThe beginning teacher

educator - shifting identities

Becoming a researchercase 1: Ethiopiacase 2: UK

Where to next?

Geophysics in industry

Science education

An unconscious positivist

A thwarted HoD

Biographical notes

Mathematics/education

Teacher professional

development

‘Scholarly’ habits!

Gill Michael

Teacher educator professional identity

Sub-identities of teacher educators (Swennen et al., 2010):as school teachersas teachers in HEas researchersas teachers of teachers

“…there were not distinct moments when we were only researchers or only practitioners…” (Cochran-Smith, 2005:219)

What is a teacher

educator?

But I teach teachers: there is no time for

research!

Teacher educator as researcher“There’s a desperation for people to do the teaching…that’s the emphasis…I suspect that a lot of people have the desire to do research…but they find when they get here there’s a huge teaching load” (Griffiths et al., 2010:253)

Why is it important for a teacher

educator to be research active?

Teacher educator as researcher?Tanner & Davies (2009) found that being research active influenced the practice of teacher educators in these ways:1. improved knowledge of the literature impacting on

teaching2. increased research capacity, confidence and skills3. greater critical awareness

“To build a culture of reflective practice, research must be an essential part of teacher professional development from the outset” (ibid:386)(our emphasis)

Research? I would love to be

researching but I don’t have time!

I am surrounded by researchers: they seem to be working inside a glass house. I can see

much of what they are doing but cannot find a

way to join them.

Swimming against the flow?

• researching your own practice (Mason, 2002) – pedagogical practice

Beginning teacher educator

•

?

Experienced teacher educator

• ‘original research’• “scholarship of

discovery” (Boyer et al., 1994; in Boyd et al., 2007:16)

Experienced researcher/Professor

Higher Diploma Programme (HDP)A 9 month in-service course in active learning, assessment for learning and action research

Case 1: Collaborative Action Research and the Higher Diploma Programme

Massification in HE:• contradictions e.g. “skilling/deskilling”

(Tessema, 2006)• centralized control (Bekele, 2008)

Case 1: Collaborative Action Research and the Higher Diploma Programme“…impetus for

change/innovation through deepening the participants’ understanding of social processes and developing strategies to bring about improvement” (Noffke & Somekh, 2005:91)

What’s the big

deal with action

research?!

Case 2: The PG Certificate in LTHE

HE/ITE induction

Tailored to needs of teacher educators?

Supporting engagement with/in research

The bigger pictureInstitutional supportTEAN/ESCalateTERN (Murray et al., 2009)

- collaborationSustained award-bearing

courses (HDP, PGCert, MA, EdD/PhD,…)

Where next?

How do I get started with research? Confronting the challenge of becoming research active

Bassey, M. (1999), Case study research in Educational Settings. Maidenhead: OUP Bekele, A. (2008), Application of Higher Diploma Training skills in classroom

instruction: The case of Education Faculty, Jimma University (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Journal of Education & Society, 4(1), pp. 51-72

Boyd, P., Harris, K. & Murray, J. (2007), Becoming a teacher educator: guidelines for the induction of newly appointed lecturers in Initial Teacher Education, Bristol, HEA ESCalate, available at http://escalate.ac.uk/3662

Cochran-Smith, M. (2005), Teacher educators as researchers: multiple perspectives, Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, pp. 219-225

Griffiths, V., Thompson, S. & Hryniewicz, L. (2010), Developing a research profile: mentoring and support for teacher educators, Professional Development in Education, 36(1), pp. 245-262

Holland, D., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and Agency in Cultural Worlds, London, Harvard University Press

Mason, J. (2002), Researching your own practice: the discipline of noticing, Abingdon, Routeledge Falmer

Munn, P. (2008), Building research capacity collaboratively: can we take ownership of our future?, British Educational Research Journal, 34(4), pp. 413-430

References

Murray, J. (2008), Teacher educators’ induction into Higher Education: work-based learning in the micro communities of teacher education, European Journal of Teacher Education, 31(2), pp. 117-133

Murray, J. et al. (2009), Research and teacher education in the UK: building capacity, Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, pp. 944-950

Somekh, B. & Zeichner, K. (2009) Action research for educational reform: remodelling action research theories and practices in local contexts, Educational Action Research, 17(1), pp.5-22

Swennen, A., Jones, K. & Volman, M. (2010), Teacher educators: their identities, sub-identities and implications for professional development, Professional Development in Education, 36(1), pp. 131-148

Tanner, H. & Davies, S. (2009) How engagement with research changes the professional practice of teacher-educators: a case study from the Welsh Education Research Network, Journal of Education for Teaching, 35(4), pp. 373-389

Tessema, K. A. (2006), Contradictions, challenges and chaos in Ethiopian teacher education, Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 4(1) www.jceps.com/?pageID=article&articleID=62

References

Gill Adams and Michael InglisLiverpool John Moores University

How do I get started with research? Confronting the challenge of becoming research active