A productive relationship? Testing the connections between professional learning and practitioner research

Reeves, J. and Drew, V. (2013) A productive relationship? Testing the connections between professional learning and practitioner research. Scottish Educational Review, 45(2), pp. 36-49.

Abstract

This article is written in response to a recent report on a review of teacher education in Scotland undertaken by Graham Donaldson (2011). In particular it questions the recommendation that engaging teachers in professional enquiry and research-informed teaching is the way forward for developing the professional capabilities required of “21st Century teachers”. The report reflects an increasing emphasis in the literature on school effectiveness and improvement of the need to further teachers' professional learning and a pedagogic pressure for them to adopt constructivist approaches to teaching that are based on research evidence about how children and young people learn best. Practitioner research is seen by policy makers as an important strategy for achieving these objectives. This article, based on a series of empirical studies, sets out to identify some of the issues revealed by the attempt to use practitioner research as a vehicle for affecting classroom practice within the context of a policy initiative to support the development of accomplished teaching. It argues that, if such a strategy is to be effective, it is important to conceive of it in systemic terms and to confront the challenges involved in developing the sets of networked relations that will be essential if such a strategy is to prove worthwhile.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Reeves, Dr Jenny
• Authors: Reeves, J., and Drew, V.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Creativity Culture and Faith; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
• Journal Name: Scottish Educational Review
• Publisher: University of Stirling, School of Education
• ISSN: 0141-9072
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 University of Stirling, School of Education
• First Published: First published in Scottish Educational Review 45(2):36-49
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.