Research-Informed Teacher Learning: Critical Perspectives on Theory, Research and Practice(Routledge Research in Teacher Education)

Research-Informed Teacher Learning explores career-long improvements in knowledge building and the skills required in curriculum reform, transformations in teaching methods, alterations to assessment, and restructurings in school administration and management. This extends to meeting the needs and interests of different and diverse students and groups of students, mentoring student teachers and beginning teachers, and supporting experienced teachers, so they are all responsive to their local school-communities, thereby contributing to democratic schooling and the public good. The book mainly focuses on the professionals working in teaching and teacher education from pre-service training and development through early-mid career and into later stages of career mobility. It pinpoints the ways that practitioners need to be involved in the design and delivery of changing models of teacher education which helps in the development of their own professional activities at all levels of the teaching service. Dedicated to the late Professor Carey Philpott, the book takes his ideas forward, particularly in the current conjuncture when teacher learning is curtailed and constrained by power brokers, politicians and policy makers in various undemocratic ways. This book will be of great interest for academics and researchers in the fields of teacher education, educational policy and politics, and lifelong learning and development.

Table of Contents:
1. Research-informed teacher learning as professional practice.  2. Community-oriented Pre-Service Teachers: The limits of activism.  3. New directions in Headship Education in Scotland.  4. Musing on teacher mentoring and calls for clinical practice.  5. The ‘view from now’: what are the effects of recent changes to ITE Policy for the future?  6. The problem with randomised controlled trials for Education.  7. Professional Learning Communities as sites for Teacher Learning.  8. Teacher learning: Schön and the language of reflective practice.  9. Teachers’ professional knowledge work on poverty and disadvantage.  10. Supporting Student Teachers with Minority Identities: The Importance of Pastoral Care and Social Justice in Initial Teacher Education.  11. What Do We Mean When We Speak of Research Evidence in Education?

About the Author :
Lori Beckett is an Adjunct Professor at the Griffith Institute of Educational Research, Australia, and Visiting Professor at the School of Education, Bangor University, Wales. She also works with the Vere Foster Trust, Ireland.

Review :
Research-informed Teacher Learning, edited by Professor Lori Beckett, serves two significant purposes. The first is to honour the work on the professional learning of teachers of the late Professor Carey Philpott. The second is to disseminate and develop further the central proposition of Carey's work that research must be one central intellectual resource to ensure teaching is a research-informed profession and as such, to ensure teachers are able to take leadership of the profession. Research-informed Teacher Learning succeeds admirably on both counts. Emeritus Professor Bob Lingard, The University of Queensland, and Professorial Fellow, Australian Catholic University Policy makers in particular need to take notice of this important new collection. In the global neo-liberal conceptualization of education performativity and accountability are valorized and the role of the professional teacher and teacher educator is too often defined and delimited by a focus on results and outcomes. A radical shift is required that places attention on the role of education as a public and social good that can make a difference in the lives of young people and contribute more equal and healthy societies. Urgent consideration should be given to educational professionals and practitioners as purveyors of public good and more general questions asked about the purpose of education. This book is timely in offering such a critique. It pays homage to Professor Cary Philpott, to whom the book is dedicated, and the important question he asked: ‘Who has all the answers in education (and why should we believe them)?’. The reflections of contributors offer a wide ranging, nuanced and critically reflective response that should be of interest to a wide range of educational stakeholders. Professor Joanne Hughes, UNESCO Chair/Director of the Centre for Shared Education, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast This insightful and timely book builds on the considerable legacy of Carey Philpott in the field of educational research. The chapters in the book use Carey’s work as a springboard to address a wide range of important contemporary questions about teacher learning, the complex relationships between theory and practice, and what constitutes effective research in education. This book is essential reading for teachers and teacher educators. Ian Thompson, Associate Professor of English Education, University of Oxford. This crucial book answers some critical questions about teaching and teacher education. Can the traditional model of ‘teacher education 1.0’ be challenged? Can practitioners manage their own professional learning in the classroom, researching real problems of practice that help them build professional knowledge with their colleagues and community? Can educators critically and creatively respond to policy that works to constrain social justice for some children but also pro-actively advocate for better informed policies? The contributors assembled here say yes. They provide evidence of how research-active professionals can lead change, show us that this ambition is still alive and well in our profession, and give us much-needed hope for the future of our profession. Jo-Anne Reid, Professor of Education, Charles Sturt University This excellent book, bringing together a distinguished group of critical scholars, has important messages for teachers and teacher educators that deserve to be read. Taking a cue from the late Professor Carey Philpott, each contributor goads teachers to think about ‘from whom and how’ they can learn more effectively in order to encourage research-informed critical conversations among professional communities, including teacher unions. This is so urgent in the face of ever-changing government policy directions, inspired by global neo-liberal agendas with their emphases on performativity and accountability that not only threatens the status of teachers but also to eradicate their professional judgement. Research-informed teacher learning will surely help to safeguard teachers’ roles as professional educators marked by professional autonomy and professional self-determination. The book is a credit to all concerned and a fitting memorial tribute. John Carr, Former General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) and Chair of the Vere Foster Trust. This book provides an insightful and lively continuation of the work of Professor Carey Philpott and his exploration of the issues surrounding teachers’ professional learning. It provides a clear discussion and dissection of the thorny issues of models for teacher education, and how the conceptual space between theory and practice may be bridged. In doing so, this book starts to do just that: providing an essential resource for teacher educators, teachers, education researchers and those involved in constructing professional learning policies. The tripartite golden threads of theory, research and practice run through each chapter to build to a powerful conclusion, to motivate, inspire and celebrate the professional discourse in teachers’ professional learning. Graham French, Postgraduate lead & Tutor to the Outdoor Activities PGCE Group, School of Education and Human Development, Bangor University