Teacher Action Research

As per our school vision of ‘Succeeding together by loving what we do’, Governors and school leadership are keen to provide staff with opportunities to develop their practice.  

Each year, teachers take part in carrying out an Action Led Research project.  Projects have a shared school focus and are completed over an academic year. 

Research is shared and discussed with key findings discussed as a group of staff.  Once key findings from the research has been understood, staff give consideration as to how this can be applied in the classroom.  Teachers assess the children prior to and after the intervention to measure the impact of the particular approach upon pupil outcomes.  

Based upon the work of Ryan and Deci (1985), teachers are provided with the core needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness, three key needs which research would suggest builds upon their motivation towards their job.  Given the impact that this has on our children, this is something we are keen to instill in our staff.  

So how do we provide these three needs in our approach?

 

Autonomy - Teachers have a say in how projects run in their own classroom.  What may be of interest for one teacher, may be different for another.  Each class is different and as such ,we trust our teachers to do what is best for the children in their care.  By giving teachers choice, we believe it empowers them and allows them to explore their own interests.  

Competence - Like the children, we are all on a journey of learning.  Learning never stops and it is important to ensure that we invest time and resources into developing our teachers to be the best they can be.  Staff who are confident in their ability instill confidence in their pupils.  

Relatedness - A key aspect is how staff work together.  Action research projects begin with collaborative discussion.  Time is provided to staff to work alongside one another and refine their projects throughout the year.  Once completed, staff share their progress and the outcome of their projects with fellow staff and members of the governing body.

We are currently within our second year of completing Action-Led research projects.  

Please see the slides and links below to see a small selection of some of last year’s Action-Led research projects.  

Click on the video's below to find out more. Press pause if a slide goes too fast!