Interests, topics, problems and questions refining your research project

Complete the following statement about your research. I am studying ___________________________ (TOPIC) because I want to find out ______________(QUESTION) in order to _________________________ (RATIONALE) (This is the problem you contribute to resolving.)

Core interest: the portrayal or ‘representation’ of the teaching profession and its impact on the status of teachers Broad topic: public perceptions of teaching in English society (focusing on areas of professionalism and preparation in secondary education) Narrow topics (towards research questions) What is the definition of a ‘teaching professional’? How is the role of teaching changing in this society? How do the media portray the profession? How do teachers understand their own identities? What are the different theories of the above?

How to formulate good questionsgood Research interest Broad topic Narrow topic Research question Wider problem think about it (hard, and a lot) talk to people – friends, academics, potential participants read – do a preliminary literature review keep a journal or sketchbook of your emerging ideas and reflections X

‘Unpacking’ a question Historical / comparative dimensions Actors: who am I interested in? What are its component parts? What bigger contexts is it part of? How else might it be framed? your students? their parents/carers? teachers? leaders? political actors? yourself? colleagues? individual classes, school days, terms, years, decades, longer? no comparisons, other classrooms/teachers/students, other regions, other societies? what kinds of teaching work best? politics of education (what is it for)? schooling in in/equality? educational professionalism? educational performance social in/justice support and care lifelong learning competition individuals, groups, communities? teaching, learning, school? pedagogy, curriculum, space? relationships? communication? culture, attitudes and discourses? ‘outcomes’ – which? practice, policy, politics?

A good research question… asks about something you do not already know the answer to; is broad enough to allow complexity and specific enough to guide your inquiry (choice of methods, analytical approach); is grounded in a good base of existing knowledge about the theme being addressed (reading, observation and reflection); is socially and/or sociologically relevant; and is researchable (intellectually and in terms of time and resources). A good action research question… is ‘meaningful, compelling and important to you as a teacher’ is authentic and not disembodied; cannot be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’; is ‘manageable and within your sphere of influence’; integrated with your work; open-ended but structured; ‘should be important for learners’ and should benefit students; and ‘leads to taking action’… …with an informed and critical understanding of what the possibilities for such action are. Reference: Gerald Pine, Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies (Thousand Oaks, Sage: 2009). BACK

Complete the following statement about your research. I am studying ___________________________ (TOPIC) because I want to find out ______________(QUESTION) in order to _________________________ (RATIONALE) (This is the problem you contribute to resolving.)

Organising collaborative research Shared inquiry – two or more people work together on a single project, from different positions and making different contributions Parallel inquiry – two people conduct similar projects ‘in parallel’, meeting to discuss issues arising, share data, analyse together, etc. Intersecting inquiry – different people work on separate issues/questions and meet to explore connections Inquiry support – serve as a critical friend for those conducting research