The impact of education research on teaching: the perceptions of Greek primary school teachers

Abstract

This paper reports a small‐scale study of the perceptions of primary school teachers in Greece regarding the impact of research evidence on their profession and their own practice. A qualitative approach is adopted. It analyses teachers’ accounts of their reading habits, their experience of research and their professional practice, and attempts to find links between them. Teachers’ personal characteristics, such as their age, studies, experience and satisfaction with their profession, are also taken into account in an effort to find out whether they affect teachers’ perceptions of the impact that research evidence has on their practice. The paper suggests that teachers’ studies and experience may be important factors in determining the way they view the contribution of research evidence to practice. Although the small sample of Greek teachers who were interviewed seem to be interested in reading research reports, their own practice does not make extensive use of research findings. It is suggested that to increase the impact of research on the teaching profession it would be necessary to involve teachers in research more actively.

Notes

1. Greek primary schools cater for children between the ages of 6 and 12.

2. Pedagogical Academies (PAs) were teacher training institutions established in 1933 by the State in its effort to improve the quality of such training. They were created according to the German model and the ideas of the great pedagogue, Spranger. This model was successfully modified and adapted to the Greek context by Paleologou (see Evagellopoulos, 1998). The course of study gave special emphasis to professional training and the practice of teachers and for this reason two primary schools were attached to every PA. The level of study was both secondary and tertiary (Papanoutsos, 1978). After the Second World War, Glenos proposed that teachers needed to be trained for four years at a PA, equivalent to a degree from a university department (see Bouzakis, 1991). For reasons related to the political situation in post‐war Greece the demand by teachers for studies at tertiary level became a reality only in 1982 (Bill 1268). However, PAs and university departments of primary education worked together until 1988–89. The demand for degrees from PAs to be recognised as equal to university degrees led to the creation of ‘Exomoiosis’ (meaning ‘equation’ or ‘equivalence’)—post‐initial training courses set up by university departments.

3. School Advisers are experienced teachers with a postgraduate qualification who are responsible for supervising the implementation of innovations, training of teachers and professional development in a number of schools in a district.