Teachers' Perspectives on Educational Research: Knowledge and context

In recent years there has been considerable debate in the UK about the impact and value of educational research. At the same time, the Teacher Training Agency (TTA), the body with responsibility for funding teacher education in England, has been keen to promote the idea of teaching as an evidence-based profession. This paper analyses the findings of a TTA questionnaire, designed to investigate teachers' views on research (which projects had previously influenced them and which issues they would like to see researched in the future) and the value they attributed to it. The findings point to the need for the concerns of teachers to be given greater weight when research agendas are set and funding allocated, but they also suggest that if research is to influence classroom practice, then it is vital that teachers are again given extended opportunities for further professional study alongside those who are conducting research.