Exploring teachers’ conceptual uses of research as part of the creation and sharing of research-informed practices

This paper explores what can be learnt from a small scale project designed to help teachers engage with and employ research in a conceptual way such that this engagement impacts positively on their practice and the outcomes of their students. A mixed methods approach comprising pre and post intervention surveys and 15 in-depth interviews was used to evaluate the project. This data suggests our approach has enabled participating teachers to successfully engage with research evidence on effective pedagogic practices: specifically all teachers developed research informed approaches that improved outcomes for both themselves and their pupils. Vitally however our findings suggest that, more generally, the effective use of research/the scale up of research-informed interventions is less to do with the instrumental replication of existing strategies and more to do with understanding why interventions have been successful and how that success might be realised in a new setting and context.