Educational research and the teacher

Abstract

In the past few years a great deal of discussion has taken place in the UK about the importance of educational research, particularly its value to policy makers and its usefulness to teachers. At the same time a number of influential individuals and organizations have been keen to promote the idea of teaching as an evidence-based profession. This paper analyses the findings of a questionnaire, designed to investigate teachers' views on research and the value they attribute to it. The findings point to the need for the concerns of teachers to be given greater weight when research agendas are set, but they also suggest that if research is to influence classroom practice, then it is vital that teachers are again given extended opportunities for further professional study to provide them with the knowledge and expertise to engage productively both with and in research.