Developing environments for research engagement in English schools: Re-professionalising teachers’ work

This paper examines teachers' research engagement and its relationship to teacher professionalism in the English context, drawing on qualitative semi-structured interviews with early career and experienced teachers, and with middle and senior leaders in three comparative case study sites: a school with designated teacher-researcher positions; a school sponsored by a university; and a loose network of schools where research engagement is coordinated by a key teacher. Findings indicate that whilst teachers’ research engagement is regarded as a critical component of school life across these sites, it has to be managed appropriately. Implications for the teaching profession from our findings are discussed. • Teachers' research engagement is regarded as something that brings benefits to schools and students. • Approaches to building and sustaining research-rich schools are varied in scale and embeddedness in development plans. • Teachers' research engagement varies between consumption of research and production of their own research. • Workload and mismatch of expectations are persistent obstacles in developing environments for research engagement in schools.