Research communication is an essential component of research-informed practice. Challenge 5 is investigating how to effectively communicate research to teachers and educators, aiming to ensure that research findings enact real-world change.
In the following, we highlight a couple of projects that we have now published and also a few of our ongoing projects. If you are interested in any of these projects – or would like to get involved – then we would love to hear from you so please get in touch.
- We have developed a framework detailing the reflexive journey from research to practice, from communication to implementation of research. We drew together findings from multiple domains to create a six-stage framework which encourages researchers to consider educators’ needs and expectations at every step of the journey. You can read our paper here.
- We have conducted numerous interviews and online surveys, asking educators about various types of research communication to inform the development of effective research communication resources. You can read about one of these projects in a blogpost here, based on the paper here.
- We have also investigated perceived barriers to engaging with research from teachers in primary schools and early years settings. This has helped us understand how different groups of educators engage with research and consider strategies to help overcome some of the most problematic barriers that educators may face.
- Currently, we are conducting a series of online studies evaluating the factors that influence educators’ perceptions and interpretations of research. We have investigated the impact of how we communicate uncertainty in research findings, and also the impact of theoretical backing and endorsement from educators and/or researchers.
- We are now focusing on developing new professional development resources based on some of our findings. We look forward to sharing more details on these projects in the near future.