A synthesis of research, inquiry and practice: teachers' perspectives of knowledge development through research

In the past decade in the UK, the drive to implement changes to the role teachers assume in educational research has gathered momentum. This is, in part, evidenced in the establishment of a government-designated What Works Centre for Education to determine evidence of "what works" in education to inform practice (EEF, 2016), the designation of schools as ‘Research Schools’ responsible for bringing evidence into practice (DfE, 2016) and changes to the Teacher Professional Standards in Wales. This is not uncontested, particularly in terms of the assumptions underpinning the concept of what works in education (Biesta, 2014; Sheldon, 2016). Using responses to a mixed methods survey, this paper employs quantitative analysis to determine the evidence teachers currently use to inform practice and their perspectives on the value of research evidence to their practice, and a qualitative analysis of specific questions to understand their interpretations of some of the terms currently being used in this context. Initial analysis indicates that teachers currently engage with a range of evidence to inform practice and recognise the value of research informing practice. However, teachers’ hold differing interpretations of the terms "research" and "inquiry," which are used interchangeably throughout the literature. This is an important distinction which has implications for the discourse focused on teachers becoming teacher-researchers