Product reviews for Teacher-Led Research

It seems that teaching becomes more and more complex from one generation to the next and, so far, teachers have effectively used their expertise and experience to deal with that complexity and the uncertainty it creates. Teacher-Led Research is a handbook for current and future educators who want to innovate and exploit that complexity for the benefit of students in their classrooms and beyond. Churches and Dommett provide the research tools for teacher-researchers to navigate uncertain pathways, test ideas and ultimately influence the education policies and practices of others.

Action research in education has been used by teachers to effectively investigate their own practice. Now Teacher-Led Research provides the means by which teacher-researchers can take the next step and undertake research capable of teasing out the difference between context-specific findings and general principles that stand up to rigorous testing.

Time and again we see that research findings from the related fields of education, psychology and neuroscience have a powerful impact in education when they are effectively utilised by teachers. Teacher-Led Research, with its clarity and gradual construction of sophisticated ideas, provides a foundation upon which educators can bring together their experience and expertise with rigorous research methodology. The education profession, and the students with whom we work, cannot help but benefit from the support provided by Churches and Dommett.

When Blaise Pascal wrote his much borrowed line -˜I have made this longer than usual, because I have not had the time to make it shorter,' he was recognising how difficult it can be to make complex ideas concise. Churches and Dommett have obviously taken the time to capture the essence of research and its methodologies and in doing so have produced an essential handbook for teacher-researchers.