Tangible impact

The ETF’s Practitioner Research Programme has seen over 300 teachers from across the further adult vocational and technical education sector in England conduct systematic research into educational practice ‘from the inside’.

Maggie Gregson and Paul Kessell-Holland look at the difference it has made

Since the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) was first established, providing support for practitioners to conduct systematic research into the educational challenges they face has been a critical part of its CPD strategy for the sector.

Some of this research has been in the form of collaborative projects between teams of practitioners and organisations, while other projects have been of a more individual nature, where the focus is on addressing educational concerns identified by individual education professionals.

The importance of this work to the sector has been documented many times, and is now reflected in the current Ofsted framework, which counts participation in research activity as one of the most effective forms of teacher CPD. The Practitioner for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT) has supported over 300 teachers from across the further adult vocational and technical education sector in England (representing 94 organisations with a population of over 8,000 students) to conduct systematic research into the improvement of educational practice ‘from the inside’.

In addition to this, some 250 PRP practitioners have successfully undertaken a 30-credit MA in advancing pedagogy, laying foundations for their future research journeys.

Enabling the wider research community to recognise the value of practitioner research is critical in ensuring that its contributions to raising standards of teaching, learning and assessment are not overlooked or dismissed by individuals and institutions with responsibility for educational improvement.

Because this form of educational research does try not to prove that particular approaches