Bridging the teacher/researcher divide: Master’s-level work in initial teacher education

Abstract

There is much current debate about the purpose and usefulness of educational research and the perceived communication gap between teaching professionals and academic researchers. UK government intervention into initial teacher education has in recent decades contributed to this divide by favouring school-based training. The most common route into teaching in England remains, however, the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, provided by higher education institutions and therefore required to comply with the higher education qualifications framework. The majority of initial teacher education in England therefore lies at the cusp of these two worlds, pulled in apparently opposing directions. The ‘teacher-as-researcher’ movement is widely seen as a bridge spanning these tensions, though there is discussion about the quality of practitioner research as well as about the appropriateness of a rigorous academic approach for investigating practice. This article offers examples of the use of small-scale research projects as a valid means of ‘discovery learning’ in pre-service teacher education. It argues that induction into research techniques as a means of exploring practical challenges can lead to knowledge production and ownership.

Keywords:

• initial teacher education
• Master’s-level requirements
• practitioner research
• personalised learning