Teacher perspectives of cultivating learning through practitioner enquiry to transform practice

Abstract

This paper reports on the first year of an innovative Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) in Advanced Education Practice, designed to meet the specific staff and development needs of one school in the North West of England. The programme is underpinned by three strands of practice based learning: learning about practice (theory), learning in practice (application) and learning through practice (reflection) through critical reflection. This paper considers professional development situated around teaching and learning and outlines a new approach to cultivating learning, both for teachers and educational practitioners through a collaborative learning model with a Higher Education Institute (HEI). A further strand to the research considers transformative impact on practice including references to personal experience and reflections by the participants. Throughout the report it is evident that school leaders were keen to enhance the performance of staff by supporting them in Masters level study to enhance professional practice and impact on learning. Through questionnaires and interviews, an insight into personal and professional impact, challenges, evaluation, details of the progression, next steps in the small scale research study were considered.