Many guides for teacher researchers are now available and, increasingly, undertaking a systematic investigation of practice is a requirement in initial teacher education and in continuing professional development. The ambition to secure the professional standing of teachers has led to the provision of more courses leading to a Masters’ level qualification as will be the case for all students on teacher education courses at the University of Glasgow, for example. Teacher unions and subject associations also promote an evidence informed approach to teacher development and encourage their members to undertake systematic inquiry into their practice and school leaders encourage staff to participate in learning communities within and across schools.
Extending the teacher’s repertoire
However, the guides which are available are often framed according to the academic convention of undertaking a research project and consequently offer advice in terms of developing a ‘research question’. My experience of working collaboratively with teachers suggests that the starting point needs to be the interest of the individual and their need to know something; this is the basis of inquiry and the impetus to engage in activity that enables the interaction of theory and practice. The starting point in this case is the need to resolve an interruption to the routine of teaching and learning in the classroom and the goal is to extend the teacher’s understanding and pedagogical repertoire so that progress can be resumed. You don’t decide to ‘do some research,’ rather involvement in and with research becomes a necessity after you embark on the search for a resolution to an immediate and practical situation. It is important not to think of this process in terms of dealing with a ‘problem’ in the sense of it being a negative experience as this is more likely to lead to a closing down of interest in exploring options rather than to fostering a spirit of inquiry.
This is why access to pedagogical tools that can open up the interactions in the classroom and enhance the feedback from learners is such a powerful means of stimulating and supporting teachers’ professional learning. The ‘wow factor’ of having a surprising insight into the ways students are thinking engages and challenges without discouraging the teacher. Immediately, questions arise as to why are the learners thinking like that, why haven’t you ever thought like that and how might the learning opportunity presented be developed? The first step in focusing is usually to allow the ‘hunches’ that emerge as you reflect on such experiences to be the guide as to what should happen next.
Professional learning task: Generating a focus
Think of an aspect of your teacher or classroom practice that you would like to develop further. In particular, are there some practical situations that you would like to address, particularly related perhaps to the way students respond and engage with learning. Then with this initial focus in mind generate a range of questions that arise related to why pupils are responding in this way to this aspect of their learning.
Using hunches and finding a focus
Working from a hunch to shaping a question involves first considering what the answer would look like and, therefore, what kind of evidence you need to collect as you pursue your inquiry. The following template was developed with colleagues working in school-university collaborative research partnerships to guide teachers in finding a focus for their inquiry.
| Hunch | Change | Measure | Question |
| I think the fact that students who don’t usually say anything in class contributed had something to do with the way the strategy changed the way I was asking questions | Increased alertness and motivation in class discussions |
Observations of student participation in lessons cross referenced with frequency of the use of open to closed questions by the teacher
| Will using more open questions in class discussions increase the participation of all pupils? |
(Baumfield, Hall and Wall, 20?)