Some researchers’ understanding of primary teaching: comments on Mant and Summers’ ‘Some primary‐school teachers’ understanding of the Earth's place in the universe’

This article is a critique of a research paper taken as representative of its kind. We believe that the work under review exhibits important defects in conceptualizing the relationship between knowledge and teaching and in turn between educational research and the improvement of practical teaching. If educational research is to contribute to the improvement of teachers’ practice, it must adopt a more sophisticated view of what teaching is and, consequently, more sophisticated methods of enquiry.