PRACTITIONER RESEARCH
There is growing interest in the effectiveness of practitioner research for promoting teachers’ professional learning, particularly as systemic requirements for engagement in and with research and making evidence-based decisions gain momentum. Findings from studies demonstrate that teachers who participate in practitioner research exhibit professional growth in terms of research skills and other professional outcomes, such as enhanced classroom or school-wide practice.
The Practitioner Research Program will provide you with the skills to design, enact and disseminate robust research relevant to your practice. You will enhance your capacity to engage with research as a critical consumer and in research as a practitioner researcher, and you will enjoy the opportunity to share research outcomes with colleagues.
In this six-phase, multi-modal program, you will select an area of interest to research. You will be mentored and provided with training in each phase of the research process – from identifying the research question right through to research methods, data collection and analysis, and interpretation of findings.
You will be required to conduct parts of the research process in your own time, such as writing short summaries, reading articles and collecting data. Examples of past research projects include teaching critical thinking in secondary English; influencing parent engagement; the use of explicit feedback to enhance students’ writing; homework feedback loops to promote conceptual development in mathematics; and the factors influencing the ways in which teachers plan and enact the curriculum.
“Practitioner research is becoming increasingly acknowledged by education authorities across the world as a highly effective means of strengthening educators’ professional development.”
– British Education Research Association, 2014
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
The Practitioner Research Program will build your research capacity and enable you to:
- robustly provide evidence for decisions of practice through research
- develop a set of transferable research skills to continue to answer questions of practice
- create a high standard dissemination product (research paper or a short teacher article) to share research findings
PROGRAM FEATURES
- Six-phase program, held over 10 months
- Six face-to-face or online workshops
- Research project, with support to write a research paper
- Mentoring (face-to-face and online)
- Ongoing peer networking
- Access to all workshop and support materials via the presenters website
- Cost includes a copy of the presenters text, Learning to Research, Researching to Learn (Hilton & Hilton, 2020, Cambridge University Press)
View Program Flyer
WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE
The program is suited to educators in all school-based roles to assist them in making evidence-based decisions and to strengthen their personal research literacy through the design and completion of a rigorous and robust research project in an area of professional interest. Past participants have used their research projects to attain inform school-based change, attain promotional positions (e.g., school leadership, HAT, LT). Some have used the project as a pre-cursor to higher degree studies, including Masters and Doctoral degrees. The program aligns closely with Standard 6 and incorporates elements of Standards 1, 2, and 3
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
Welcome & Preparation
Workshop 1
Workshop 2
Workshop 3
Practical Application
Workshop 4
Workshop 5
Certificate
PROGRAM COST
Please complete the Contact Us form below to request a proposal
CONTACT US
Please complete the form below to discuss how we can support you, your region/Diocese or your school. QELi will make contact with you within 48hrs.
PROGRAM FACILITATORS
The Practitioner Research Program is facilitated by Dr Annette Hilton and Dr Geoff Hilton, who each have over 20 years classroom experience – Annette in secondary schooling and Geoff in primary schooling. They have been education researchers in universities for the past 16 years.
Annette and Geoff obtained PhDs in science and mathematics education and their own doctoral and postdoctoral research projects involved practitioner research. They have conducted over 200 teacher professional development workshops in Australia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, have presented at over 20 international conferences and have written more than 30 peer reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters.
In 2013, they won the Best Research and Practice Project Award at the European Association for Practitioner Research on Improving Learning (EAPRIL) Conference. They recently authored a guide to practitioner research for educators commissioned by Cambridge University Press.