Strengthening a research-rich teaching profession: an Australian study

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on the background, context, design, and findings of a collaborative research project designed to develop a future roadmap for strengthening an Australian research-rich and self-improving education system. Building on the BERA-RSA Inquiry into the role of research in the teaching profession in the UK (Furlong, 2013), the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA), Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) and Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE) initiated a national study across education systems and jurisdictions to identify ideas, issues, challenges and opportunities to strengthen teacher education and education policy development through research. The mixed-method study, inclusive of focus groups and an on-line survey collected data from pre-service teachers, teachers, academics and leaders across schools, universities and education departments. A set of recommendations highlight the need for research literacies to be embedded at all stages of a teachers’ career and that the profession would benefit from professional learning strategies where teachers are positioned as both critical and discerning consumers and active producers of research. The importance of teachers being able to respond to data within their own set of contextual factors was a key message.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• research
• research literacies
• knowledge mobilisation
• teacher professional learning

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the three funding bodies for their financial support of this work, namely the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA), Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) and the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE).

We would like to acknowledge all team members of the Strengthening a research-rich teaching profession study. Professor Simone White, Professor Joce Nuttall, Professor Barry Down, Professor Sue Shore, Professor Annette Woods, Professor Martin Mills, Dr Katherine Bussey.

We would also like to thank Professor Ian Menter (Oxford University), who was a member of the BERA-RSA Inquiry steering committee and later became a critical friend to the study and was crucial in its early conceptualisation and design.

We also thank the many teachers, teacher educators and academics, systems’ leaders, and teacher education students who gave their time, perspectives and trust to the research team.

Finally we thank the members of the reference group and the associations who they represented for their support of this research.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Simone White

Simone White is Professor and Associate Dean (International and Engagement) in the Faculty of Education at QUT. Simone's area of expertise is Teacher Education and her publications, research and teaching are all focused on the key question of how to best prepare teachers and leaders for diverse communities (both local and global).

Barry Down

Barry Down is Professor of Education at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. His research focuses on young people’s lives in the context of shifts in the global economy, employment, poverty, (dis)engagement and school change.

Martin Mills

Martin Mills is the inaugural Director of the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research at the IOE. He researches in the area of social justice, pedagogies, school reform, teachers’ work, teacher education, alternative education and gender.

Sue Shore

Sue Shore is an Adjunct Professor with Charles Darwin University and was Inaugural Director of the International Graduate Centre of Education (2014 - 2018).

Annette Woods

Annette Woods is Professor of Education in the faculty of Education at QUT. Her research focuses on multiliteracies, social justice, curriculum and pedagogy.