Using research to improve outcomes is something all schools want to achieve.
Yet it can be hard for teachers to do this because of the busy day-to-day requirements of the job. What’s more, if there is no structure to do this and implement new ideas, it could feel like a futile endeavour.
This is why at Windsor Academy Trust (WAT) we developed our WAT Practitioner Researcher programme, giving staff the opportunity to take part in research-grounded and practice-informed professional learning - by engaging with existing research but also by creating their own, practice-informed evidence that can be shared across the trust.
It’s been running for nearly 10 years now and has had a notable impact in areas such as reading for pleasure, retrieval practice and assessment for learning using digital technology. Here’s how it works.
Research-informed teaching: our trust strategy
Selecting staff
At the start of each academic year, staff can self-nominate to join the programme or line managers may encourage them to take part. Around 30 to 50 staff join each year and we aim for each faculty to be represented within each secondary school, and each phase across our primary schools.
The programmes last an entire academic year and require each teacher to attend six continuing professional learning (CPL) sessions designed to develop skills as a practitioner-researcher. From here the programme unfolds in four distinct stages:
1. Identifying an area of research
We first work with each participant to identify their area of research, based on a challenge they are trying to solve. For example, this could be developing subject-specific vocabulary in history to improve key stage 4 writing or how to maximise student competency with equations in science.
More on staff management:
The key is that research practitioners are aiming to solve a common challenge within the trust to benefit as many staff and students as possible. This means we help the researchers refine their initial ideas so the final scope is broadly applicable across schools.
2. Engaging with literature
The research practitioner then undertakes a literature review to identify the best bets for what could work to tackle this challenge and the methods best suited to the contexts and conditions of different classrooms.
This context-specific research is vital for taking the learning and adapting it across the trust and beyond.
We also use Google Classroom to provide themed research areas for the team, including links to seminal research pieces and texts, so they can view and comment on articles related to their research.
3. Research intervention
Once the project plan, including methodology and ethical considerations, is approved by myself, classroom research intervention takes place, usually over 10 to 12 weeks from February to April.
Within this stage is a session around “critical evaluation”, during which robust conversations between the team are encouraged to share findings to date and probe research methodology: what have you discovered so far? Do you need additional measures? How might further qualitative measurements help you to understand the reasons why particular changes have been identified?
Similar collaborative opportunities take place throughout the process with trust subject leaders and leaders of teaching and learning so researchers have opportunities to share the findings and test and challenge ideas in a supportive environment.
4. Celebration and sharing
Findings are then shared across the trust and with external partners via a Research Celebration Event utilising a bespoke site on Google for each practitioner’s research.
The research reports are compiled into an online journal, including supporting resources and video clips of strategies in action.
Event attendees also join individual practitioners for 15-minute blocks of time to discuss their research and consider how their findings apply to their own classrooms.
Putting it all into action
An example of the impact of this work can be seen with one of our research practitioners, Kerrie Tinson, who looked at whether a focus on reading for pleasure could improve engagement and attainment for Year 8 boys.
During the intervention period, students in her sample cohort made six months’ progress in just six weeks.
As a result, we implemented similar strategies across the trust, including weekly shared read-in English lessons, reciprocal reading strategies such as choral and echo reading, and a subscription to an online library to increase access and choice of texts.
Similarly, successful research interventions around dual coding in the history classroom have led to the development of a revision programme focused on dual coding to prompt retrieval and make links between core knowledge at KS4.
Career impact
In the long term, practitioner-led research plays a significant role in the career development of staff, allowing them to lead change and inspire innovation within their departments and across WAT.
The programme also includes an optional pathway to gain a recognised Chartered College of Teaching (CCT) Education Research and Inquiry Certificate, and some go on to pursue a Master’s qualification in educational leadership through our links with the University of Birmingham.
Even more importantly, of course, the work helps to directly shape continuously improving outcomes for the children and young people in our classrooms.
Kirsty Tinsley is head of research at Windsor Academy Trust
