Teacher Education Research Network Developing Teacher Education Research

Teacher Education Research Network Developing Teacher Education Research Capacity Presenters: Bethan Hulse, University of Chester Marion Jones, Liverpool John Moores University Jean Murray, University of East London

The TERN Project Aims of TERN • to foster institutional regional networking ensuring collaboration between research-intensive and teachingintensive universities • to contribute to building institutional research capacity in the participating universities; • to provide a research development programme to enhance existing regional provision and create teams to bid for external research funding; • to develop a) a network sustainable beyond the life of the project and b) an effective model for capacity-building which can potentially be applied more broadly across England.

The TERN Project Location of TERN • Why choose the Northwest? –existing structures (federation, Heads of ITE meet, ESClate centre) –large number of pre-service teachers (6000+) –seven teacher education providers (2 with QR funding, 5 without) –geographical features ( 2 large urban clusters, 1 rural provider) • Why was the Northwest keen to be involved? – raise the profile of the teacher education community – strengthen research networks and attract research funding – involve school-based colleagues in collaborative projects

The TERN Project Research capacity TERN aims to build research capacity in and on teacher education in teacher education through working with the education staff in the participating universities on teacher education because the enterprise will have a substantive focus on research about the education / professional learning of teachers TERN is a social practices model of capacity building

The TERN Project Who is involved? TERN project participants: Research Fellows (44) Mentors (10) universities • Broader: all. Research education staff in the participating Institutional Research Leads (7) Steering Group All teacher education staff in the participating universities

The TERN Project Research Development

The TERN Project Research Development • 5 workshops to include time for teams to work on bids and also research training (fine tuned by mapping exercise of participants and institutions) Workshop 5 disseminating progress on bids; • Blended Learning pedagogy face-to-face meetings are augmented by Virtual Research Environments (VREs) for collaboration in intervening periods; • Use of Teaching & Learning Research Programme / BERA Virtual Research Environments; • Use of other existing resources including the TEG resource.

The TERN Project Research Development Figure 1

The TERN Project Research Themes The broad themes need to have: • a clear focus on research about professional learning and / or teacher education • relevance for research capacity building in the region and nationally • significance and interest for the individuals in the Research Groups • and the work will clearly need to draw on individual and communal expertise.

The TERN Project Research Themes Emergent themes: • Identities in Teacher Education • Cultural and ethnic identity in Teacher Education • M-level initiatives in Teacher Education & employment-base routes • Creativity in the Teacher Education Curriculum • General curriculum issues in Teacher Education • The future for Teacher Education in the shifting policy scene • Discourses & policies of schooling and their relationship to Teacher Education

The TERN Project Central benefits For Research Fellow: Ø Professional learning and career enhancement from participation in research development programme Ø Working within a research team and with a senior colleague as mentor to develop research bid(s) Ø Access to the expertise of other senior researchers / research support staff in developing expertise For Research Mentor: Ø Professional development opportunity for the senior research colleague For institution: Ø raise the profile of the teacher education community Ø involve school-based colleagues in collaborative projects Ø strengthen research networks and possibly attract research funding

The TERN Project Extended possibilities • Further opportunities for supported participation in conference presentations e. g. BERA 09, ECER 09, nationally and internationally • Publication opportunities in professional and national/ international, peer reviewed journals (planned Special Issues etc. ) • Involvement in other aspects of research capacity building nationally (e. g. other ESRC network project) • Broader opportunities for all education staff in participating universities

The TERN Project Participant Feedback It have really enjoyed to listen to well-informed top researchers in the field, particularly benefiting from their engagement and debate. (RF) The TERN project was the right project in the right place at the right time. It was perfect for my situation. (IRL) It’s always good to have quality time to network with like minded colleagues in and across institutions. (RF) I very much enjoyed the meeting. I felt a real team feeling was beginning to emerge. It’s an exciting and much needed venture. (RM) This is just such an opportunity! It is the reason why I wanted to do this job and have this career. (RF)