The Central Region School Trust’s Disciplinary Inquiry Programme uses a model of action research and will apply and securely embed academic research within the practices and pedagogies of classroom teachers. It will empower teachers to become more professionally engaged in wider research to improve practice in the classroom.

Process

During the Disciplined Inquiry Programme, teachers will: 

• CHOOSE an area of research that is of professional interest to them
• READ widely around this area to select a small number of texts to focus upon
• ESTABLISH a methodology to evaluate the efficacy of the research
• REVIEW their experiences against the literature in a written assignment.
• CELEBRATE their research with other teachers who have completed the project

The process is supported by our work with John Tomsett, author of the ‘Huh’ curriculum books who has a range of experience in educational research. This support will be across 2.5 CPD days (one full day and three twilight sessions), and email support to ensure staff are well supported without having substantial impact on curriculum time.

Benefits

It is a process that is beneficial to the school and the teachers who participate in the project. It ensures a culture of research and evaluation of practices within a school environment as well as wider dissemination of the research to the rest of the school through training opportunities. It also allows teachers to personalise their own Continuing Professional Learning & Development through advanced research practice by investigating lines of inquiry that interest them. Our experience of similar action research projects has substantially enhanced levels of retention and preparedness for promotion.