Introduction
Schools are complex, multifaceted sites of learning. Clearly the school’s core purpose is focussed on the learning and achievement of its pupils, but much of the professional learning community literature has emphasised that this core purpose is best achieved when learning is seen as the raison d’etre of the whole school (Hord, 2009; Stoll, 2012; Harris and Jones, 2012a). In such learning communities a premium is placed on the importance of the learning and development of adults as well as on that of the children. Teachers, and indeed other staff, become more accomplished professionals through continuing to develop, and to reflect upon and hone their practice.
In turn, enquiry makes an important contribution to this process of continuing professional development. The integral relationship between learning and enquiry is something that is implicitly understood within children’s learning but we have been relatively slow to recognise its potency for teacher development. Enquiry and research have now come to be seen as one of nine key contributing factors to effective professional development (Stoll, Harris and Handscomb, 2012). In making this claim, drawing on a review of the literature on effective professional learning, inter-related connections are made between research evidence, improving practice and pupil outcomes, and collaboration between practitioners (Box 1).
Box 1: Extract from Great Professional Development that leads to Great Pedagogy: Nine Strong Claims from Research:
Claim 6: Effective professional development uses action research and enquiry as key tools
Commitment to research engagement is an important feature of professional learning because it fosters a proper regard for evidence which can be used to change practice and improve pupil outcomes. It also establishes research communities within and beyond the school that sustain professional learning over time.
(Stoll, Harris and Handscomb, 2012)
Identifying these inter-relationships is significant. It signals that through its contribution to the professional learning of staff, research engagement also connects with and contributes to a range of features that make up the school eco-system , including wider contribution to school improvement.. Indeed this was precisely at the heart of the thinking that initially pioneered the concept of the research engaged school (Handscomb and MacBeath, 2003).