Professional Development

How Our Primary Established A Meaningful Culture of Research

Lindsay Palmer recounts how research engagement became the foundation of professional growth both within her own school and its Multi Academy Trust

Evidenced-based and research-informed

The Mead Community Primary School began developing the use of research informed practice more than seven years ago.  The original aim was twofold:

  1. to support staff to understand the nature and potential impact of engaging in research, and see themselves as practitioner researchers
  2. to ensure that all professional development activity was evidence based and research informed, developing a culture of research engagement

This article outlines how this approach was introduced and how, as the Academy Trust grew,  it  was developed and extended from one school to three schools across the whole Trust.  Critically this includes a focus on the conditions needed to establish a professional research culture and how this has become the foundation to a Trust-wide approach to professional learning and a core strategy for school improvement.

Research informed practice is now fundamental to Trust development activity with all teachers and leaders actively research engaged.  During the past few years our approach has evolved from initial tentative steps to Learning Sets, research book clubs, Teacher Research Groups, Lesson Study, research projects with the Local Authority and the leadership of an Education Endowment Foundation randomised controlled project.  What we do is by no means a finished product.  It is work in progress, aiming to fully embed a research engaged approach throughout the Trust.

Introducing the concept of research engagement  

<--- The article continues for users subscribed and signed in. --->

Enjoy unlimited digital access to Teaching Times.
Subscribe for £7 per month to read this and any other article
  • Single user
  • Access to all topics
  • Access to all knowledge banks
  • Access to all articles and blogs
Subscribe for the year for £70 and get 2 months free
  • Single user
  • Access to all topics
  • Access to all knowledge banks
  • Access to all articles and blogs