To jump the wave or not: teachers’ perceptions of research evidence in education

Abstract

This article presents a microanalysis of how a group of primary school teachers deals with research evidence in their work. Based on analysis of a group of Norwegian teachers’ interactions over issues of educational research and research-based knowledge, we find that teachers’ representations of educational research particularly center on the following issues: educational research being perceived as circular, ‘polyphonic’, and a matter of accommodation to their experience-based knowledge. These metaphors also shed light upon the dilemmas that arise when research evidence meets teachers’ more contextual knowledge. We conclude that teachers’ practice-based evidence may take new forms with an increased policy focus on research-based evidence, as well as bringing forth challenges for teacher work and professionalism.

Keywords:

• Evidence
• education policy
• research-based knowledge
• professionalism
• teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The Norwegian idiom, ‘jumping on the waves’ is most closely correlated to the English idiom ‘jumping on the bandwagon’.