Introduction – why practitioner research?
Teacher educators face the challenge of motivating teachers and student-teachers to engage in professional development as lifelong learners. One approach is to help them see value in researching their teaching. When framed as a useful procedure for problem-solving, rather than an academic burden, practitioner research can increase motivation to teach, help teachers address challenges and lead to meaningful innovations that benefit students.
Teachers often have assumptions about what’s going on and what works in their classrooms, but these assumptions may often be inaccurate or, at least, incomplete. For this reason, simply reflecting on teaching can be less powerful than conducting systematic practitioner research. Practitioner research allows teachers to inquire into their own practice and gain new perspectives by developing research questions, gathering classroom data and analysing that data to get deeper insights. Following on from this kind of exploratory research, a teacher can go further by planning new actions and evaluating their effects, in one or more ‘action research’ cycles. Exploratory inquiry followed by action research has been called ‘Exploratory Action Research’ (see Smith & Rebolledo, 2018; 2022).
The main goal of this article is to show how teacher educators can introduce and support practitioner research in a way that is accessible and engaging for teachers and student-teachers.
Addressing objections to practitioner research
A common objection to teacher-research is that it is too time-consuming, adding to the already heavy workload of teachers. This perception often stems from a narrow view of research as something involving literature review, large-scale surveys and detailed report-writing. In reality, practitioner research can be more straightforward and manageable. It begins with a real issue in the teacher’s own context, not a gap in academic literature. Instead of detailed surveys, teachers can use less time-consuming methods like student reflections to gather data. And a report doesn’t necessarily have to be written.
Another point to make is that many teachers already engage in research-like activities, such as information-gathering for lesson content, eliciting student feedback or searching for new teaching ideas. Practitioner research can be portrayed as a formalisation and enhancement of these everyday activities. Teacher-research helps teachers to be more intentional and systematic about gathering data and using this to reflect on and improve their practice.
It’s important, then, to distinguish between academic research, which usually seeks to generate new generalisable knowledge, and practitioner research, which is more concerned with understanding and solving immediate, context-specific problems. By emphasising the practical, problem-solving nature of teacher-research, teacher educators can make it seem more accessible and down-to-earth.
The importance of mentoring
A key initial challenge in introducing teacher-research is overcoming the misconceptions teachers – and, indeed, teacher educators themselves – may have about what research entails. Many teachers may see research as abstract or irrelevant to their immediate needs. Mentoring plays a crucial role in changing these perceptions and guiding teachers through the research process (Smith, 2020; 2022).
Teacher educators can provide concrete examples of how other teachers have used research to address challenges in their classrooms. In this way, they can demonstrate that practitioner research is not just for academics or academically inclined educators, but a useful procedure that is accessible to all teachers. Collections of reader-friendly teacher-research reports or ‘stories’, such as those gathered together in Cambridge University’s developing CamTree Exploratory Action Research – British Council collection,can be used to show teachers and student-teachers that practitioner research is both feasible and valuable, even in challenging contexts.
Effective mentoring is particularly crucial for those new to teacher-research. Different kinds of knowledge and mentoring skills (see Smith, 2020; 2022) are needed to guide teachers through the research process – from identifying research questions to collecting data, analysing findings, and implementing changes in the classroom. This ongoing support is essential to help teachers gain confidence and stay engaged with the research process.
Incorporating practitioner research into teacher education
For in-service teachers, practitioner research offers a structured form of professional development. Rather than relying solely on externally provided workshops, teachers can take ownership of their learning by investigating challenges in their classrooms. For example, in British Council projects like those represented in the CamTree database, teachers have used research to improve student engagement, implement interactive teaching methods and address many specific classroom challenges of importance to them and other teachers which do not tend to be addressed in generic training. There are currently a number of valuable teacher-research mentoring initiatives taking place with in-service teachers in various parts of the world, and one aim of both MenTRnet – a developing international network of mentors of teacher-research – and the online International Festival of Mentoring Teacher-Research in ELT (2024/25) is to map and draw lessons from such initiatives as well as to inspire others to engage in or organise teacher-research mentoring themselves.
In pre-service teacher education programmes in colleges or universities, a practitioner inquiry mindset can be nurtured through research methods courses, stand-alone modules on classroom investigation and/or in the context of teaching practice itself (the ‘practicum’). There have also been cases of student-teachers writing graduation dissertations based on their own practitioner research. In all of these cases, students can learn to bring together theory and practice by exploring their own teaching concerns, using exploratory and/or action research as a basis for their studies.
For pre-service teachers, incorporating practitioner research into teacher education helps to develop the habit of self-reflection early in their careers. Rather than just learning pedagogical theories, student-teachers can learn to ask critical questions about their own teaching practices, assess the effectiveness of different strategies and adjust their strategies based on data. This fosters a mindset of continuous improvement.
Expanding engagement in practitioner research
Teacher educators can also help spread the reach of practitioner research beyond their own training situations. This can be done through collaboration with NGOs or local education authorities, or by using the training college or university as a base for a project with local teachers. For example, an ongoing British Council project in Thailand, centred on King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, is systematically developing the expertise and involvement of local mentors in support of Exploratory Action Research. An initiative like this can create a network of teacher-researchers and mentors who support one another and spread practitioner research practices more widely. Another inspiring case is the independent Network of English Teacher Researchers in Uzbekistan (NETRUZ), which has been set up to offer voluntary support and training in Exploratory Action Research to teachers in that country.
Teacher associations, such as AINET in India or ATER in Rwanda, can also play a critical role in promoting and supporting teacher-research. These networks can provide mentoring, share research examples and offer resources that empower teachers to engage in their own research. International networks like MenTRnet and IATEFL’s Research Special Interest Group, as well as initiatives like the online International Festival of Mentoring Teacher-Research in ELT (2024/25), also provide opportunities for showcasing successful examples and can inspire other teachers or teacher educators to get involved.
Teacher educators as practitioner researchers
Finally, teacher educators, too, can benefit from engaging in practitioner research. By studying their own teaching practices, teacher educators can identify areas for improvement and refine their approach. Engaging in self-study or self-research allows educators to model reflective practice for their students and, when reported, can contribute to the broader field of teacher education.
For example, teacher educators can research the effectiveness of different instructional strategies in helping student-teachers develop reflective practices. Findings from self-research can be shared with colleagues, presented at conferences, or published in academic journals, contributing to the collective knowledge base of the profession. In this way, practitioner research serves not only to improve classroom practice but also to advance the field of teacher education.
Conclusion
Through practical examples, user-friendly resources, effective mentoring and engagement in self-study, teacher educators can help teachers and student-teachers see the value of practitioner research and support them in engaging in it. Doing so can help empower teachers to take ownership of their professional development, solve real classroom challenges, and, potentially, contribute to broader knowledge when their research is shared.
References
Smith, R. (2020). Mentoring teachers to research their classrooms: A practical handbook. British Council.
Smith, R. (2022). Mentoring teacher-research: from situated practice to ‘global’ guidance. In Wyatt, M. & Dikilitas, K. (eds.) International perspectives on mentoring in English language education. Palgrave Macmillan, 229–247.
Smith, R. & Rebolledo, P. (2018). A handbook for Exploratory Action Research. British Council.
Smith, R. & Rebolledo, P. (2022). Exploratory Action Research for enhanced teaching and learning. British Council.