Educators' learning, development and working lives

Our research focus is on the learning, development and working lives of educators, examining the ‘lifeworlds’ not only of teachers but also of early years professionals, learning support staff, play-workers, and youth workers. We consider current education practice, debates and policy, proposed and potential changes, and the impact these have or could have on teachers and their professional development, as we seek to make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge in this area.

Whether our focus is on reforms to education policy and practice, the creative use of digital technologies in the classroom, or how learner participation can enhance learning, our understanding of how these elements affect the educators themselves is crucial. Insight into these issues will enable educators to make the most of opportunities and address the challenges of learning and teaching in context.

Our research challenges the current orthodoxy, including ideas promoted by the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM), and explores alternative ways to help professionals achieve their goals.

Research approach

We work collaboratively with local, national and international teams interested in gathering evidence and evaluating the effectiveness of different approaches to learning and professional development. By contributing to understanding about all aspects of educators’ lives, we hope to transform the educational environment through our research-based evidence.

Research themes of particular interest include:

educators’ initial, early and continuing professional learning and development
the role of video technology in facilitating professional learning and development
educators’ use of digital tools
professional identities
educator wellbeing
educator retention
mentoring and coaching
professional migration and boundary crossing
pedagogy in formal and informal contexts.

Research projects

Our research projects focus on challenging orthodoxies about teacher knowledge to stimulate debates in educators’ professional communities throughout the world.

We have contributed to a ground-breaking global collaboration to support structural transformation of higher education institutions in Latin America, and to improve the relevance of these institutions in promoting balanced social development, equality and social cohesion.

We have explored the potential of commercial off-the-shelf computer games to support learning in both Indian and English classrooms, and researched the possibilities and challenges of using new technologies to enhance teaching and learning of practitioners.

In addition, our research has focused on creative people who teach and considered how their narratives of learning influence their practice and pedagogy as educators. Explore our project pages below to find out more about how our team is having an impact on the working lives of educators around the globe.

Research team

Leaders

Professor Andrew Hobson

Professor Avril Loveless

Other members

Dr Sara Bragg

Dr Patricia Castanheira

Visiting researcher

Dr Jen Colwell

School of Education members

Dr Melanie Norman

Doctoral researchers (Students)

Ozlem Dagman

Catherine Manning

Centre for Learning and Teaching members

Dr Adrian Chown

Output

Hobson, AJ, Maxwell, B, Stevens, A, Doyle, K & Malderez A (2015) Mentoring and coaching for teachers in the Further Education and Skills Sector in England: summary report. London: Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Hobson, AJ, Maxwell, B, Stevens, A, Doyle, K & Malderez, A (2015) Mentoring and coaching for teachers in the Further Education and Skills Sector in England: full report. London: Gatsby Charitable Foundation.

Seminars on Refraction in educational policy. Challenging the neo-liberal agenda at the Erasmus Intensive Programme and Education for Democratic Intercultural Citizenship (EDIC) at the University for Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, Netherlands, May 27-7 June 2013

Using commercial off-the-shelf computer games in the classroom: Findings from the Unbox21 Project seminar with Dr Tim Rudd at the University of Brighton, 15 May 2013.

Loveless, A (2012) Body and soul: A study of narratives of creative people who teach in I.F. Goodson, A.M. Loveless and D. Stephens (Eds.) Explorations in Narrative Research, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Rudd, T & Goodson, IF (2012) Developing a concept of refraction: exploring educational change and oppositional practice. Educational Practice and Theory 34(1).

Cross-professional Studies on Nursing and Teaching in Europe of National Case Reports to WP 6.

Goodson, IF & Lindblad, S (Eds.) (2010) Professional Knowledge and Educational Restructuring in Europe. Rotterdam Boston and Taipei: Sense.

Sources/links

University of Humanistic Studies (Netherlands) EDIC

Collaborations

Mentoring and coaching across the professions

Professor David Clutterbuck, David Clutterbuck Partnership

Zoltán Csigás, European Mentoring and Coaching Council

Mentoring and coaching in the Further Education and Skills Sector

Sheffield Hallam University

Strengthening education systems in East Africa

Kenyatta University

Moi University

EDIC project

Professor dr. Wiel Veugelers, Programme Coordinator, University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht

Professor Buxarrais Estrada, Faculty of Education, University of Barcelona

Professor Tirri, Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki

Dr Moree, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague

Professor Papanaoum/Dr Kestinou, Faculty Philosophy and Education, Aristotle University Thessaloniki.

Professor Oser, Faculty Pedagogy and Psychology, University of Fribourg

PROFKNOW project

University of Gothenburg, Sweden

National and Kopodistorian University of Athens, Greece

University of Joensuu, Finland

University of Barcelona, Spain

University of the Azores, Portugal

St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City University, Ireland

University of Stockholm, Sweden

TEPP project

Mauritius Institute of Education

States of Guernsey Government, Education Department

Unbox21 project

Dr Baldev Singh, Imagine Education

Dr Bryan Berry, Science Learning Centre (South West)

Funding

Aga Khan Foundation

The ALFA III program is a European Commission program for cooperation abroad, €3 million

British Council, £40,000

European Union Sixth Framework Programme, £1,000,000

Gatsby Charitable Foundation

The Lifelong Learning Programme fund the travel and accommodation of participating partners and students at all EDIC programme events.

School of Education Research Grants, £4,000

Awards, recognition, impact

The Body & Soul research was presented at the International Symposium on Narratives, Context and Learning. University of Brighton, 16/17 May 2011.

The findings from the PROFKNOW project have been widely disseminated through published journal articles and two definitive professional education books.

Our research team presented findings at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in Dublin, Ireland (2005) and Ghent, Belgium (2007).

During this project, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) presented Professor Ivor Goodson with the inaugural Michael Huberman Award for Outstanding Scholarship on the Lives of Teachers.

Professor Ivor Goodson was also give an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Gothenburg and made a Laureate of the Phi Delta Kappan Society in the USA.

Educators' learning, development and working lives

Research approach

Research projects

Mentoring and coaching across the professions

Mentoring and coaching in the Further Education and Skills sector

Strengthening education systems in East Africa

Body and soul: Creative people who teach

EDIC: Education for Democratic Intercultural Citizenship

PROFKNOW: Professional knowledge in education and health

TEPP: Technology Enhanced Pedagogy and Partnerships

Unbox21: Preparing school for 21st century learning

Understanding schools' attitudes towards international teacher recruitment for shortage subjects

Mentor education and development in the Further Education sector in England