Doing research to find answers to your questions

Abstract

Research has the potential to be an important source of professional development for teachers (Atay, 2008). It enables them to link theory and practice, and to practise theory while theorising practice. It provides teachers with the means to engage in informed pedagogy and it makes better teaching possible (BERA-RSA, 2014). However, due to certain deep-seated beliefs about the nature of research and about who is entitled to conduct it, classroom practitioners sometimes shy away from engaging in this activity (Borg, 2009). Certain inhibitive beliefs lead some teachers to conceive of research as something that has to include statistics and complex kinds of analysis, or has to involve proving a hypothesis. They may see research as something far-removed from their practice and daily concerns or, in the worst case, as having no relevance for them and their work. They may come to associate research exclusively with academia and refuse to consider the possibility that it could ever form part of their professional identity and practices. Narrow conceptions of research make certain teachers feel alienated from this activity and discourage them from seeing it as something that can lead to professional growth. In this summary, we argue that research is much more varied than some might believe. Rather than being something inaccessible to teachers, it is actually one of the best ways for classroom practitioners to find answers to questions about their practice.