There are many ways of engaging with and using research. We have designed this Exhibition site to help you engage with and use research to develop your professional practice. All practitioners are encouraged to develop their judgement about what works in their practice to ensure the best outcomes for all learners – research is key to this process.
On this site, you will find sections exploring:
- different types of research; including (collaborative) action research, joint practice development, lesson/ learning study and many more.
- a practitioner-led 'how to' area; packed full of advice, illustrations, templates and resources to help you and your colleagues engage in small-scale research projects to generate improvements to practice.
- multimodal practitioner-led reports; produced by and for practitioners from across the sector and themed for easy access. Reports summarise research question/s, methods, evidence and results.
- academic research; including published research by academic or professional researchers, links to research bodies, data sets and open access research journal portals.
Why engage in practitioner-led research?
Taking part in practitioner-led research:
- can directly benefit learners, by improving teaching, learning and assessment
- can lead to learners having a deeper understanding of, and shaping their own learning journeys
- is a powerful form of CPD for practitioners as they are more likely to commit to changes to teaching, learning and assessment when they have confidence in the potential impacts of doing so from their own experience
- you can meet with other practitioners to plan changes and then return to discuss how they worked in practice.
We can therefore consider practitioner research as a core aspect of professional practice.
How can you get involved in research opportunities?
The ETF offer lots of opportunities to get involved in research, including:
- as a member of the Society in Education and Training (SET)
- as a participant in a Professional Exchange Network
- by working on a collaborative research project on the Outstanding Teaching and Learning programme
- applying to the Practitioner Research programme
You can keep up-to-date with opportunities on the ‘research’ section of the Education and Training Foundation website.