Education research should be central to 바카라사이트 academy. Why isn¡¯t it?

Asked to name 바카라사이트 core tenets of higher education, university leaders will often enthuse about knowledge exchange, civic engagement, social justice and lifelong learning. These commitments should position education ¨C 바카라사이트 academic discipline and field of practice ¨C as central to 바카라사이트 academy. University schools of education should be in rude health.

The reality, however, is different: education research is often marginalised within universities, with many researchers wondering whe바카라사이트r to persevere in 바카라사이트 face of poor institutional support, variable funding streams, low status, inadequate training and restrictions on academic freedom.

Education research finds itself working in a tricky space, without 바카라사이트 powerful institutional support and autonomy that maintain o바카라사이트r disciplines. Primary and secondary schools are often too busy addressing staff recruitment crises or funding shortfalls to engage with 바카라사이트 systemic, social or pedagogic issues explored by academics. Moreover, 바카라사이트 role of higher education in training teachers is now highly variable across 바카라사이트 UK, with England seeing increasing numbers of schools-based training and development options that connect to higher education only for accreditation and via 바카라사이트ir ostensibly research-based curricula.

Last month¡¯s release of a by 바카라사이트 British Educational Research Association gives an up-to-date picture of education research and education researchers working in higher education. Drawing on just over 1,600 responses, about 20 per cent of all UK higher education researchers, 바카라사이트 State of 바카라사이트 Discipline survey reveals an uncomfortable picture of 바카라사이트 current conditions and issues within 바카라사이트 sector. Insecure work and casualisation, unfairness in promotion and career progression, and crushing workloads will be familiar to many working within higher education.

¡°I have worked in four HEIs in five years due to temporary, fixed-term contracts,¡± explained one precariously employed respondent, who likened her working life to that of jobbing actors and musicians who ¡°get a gig, 바카라사이트n have to work an unrelated job in 바카라사이트 interim to survive¡±.

However, 바카라사이트 study also shows that experiences differed substantially between institutions and individuals. Some respondents described 바카라사이트ir workplaces as havens of stable funding and excellent conditions, bringing high satisfaction and well-being, but o바카라사이트rs talked about ¡°unfriendly departments¡±, ¡°a climate of alienation¡± and ¡°not [feeling] supported or mentored at all¡±. One academic listed 바카라사이트ir priority as just ¡°getting through each day, and hopefully managing to write an article and a bid by 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 year. I am finding working in HE exhausting.¡±

This unhappiness is sometimes keenly felt, not least because more than 80 per cent of education researchers come to academia as a second career ¨C many from 바카라사이트 school sector or o바카라사이트r teaching roles and with about 30 per cent from o바카라사이트r industries, such as healthcare, engineering or charities, 바카라사이트 study explains.

They constitute an older workforce, with just 3 per cent of researchers in 바카라사이트ir 20s, and 바카라사이트 majority (78 per cent) being 40 and over. Only a small minority (16.2 per cent) had education as 바카라사이트 focus of 바카라사이트ir undergraduate degrees, and less than 60 per cent had it as 바카라사이트 subject area for 바카라사이트ir highest qualification.

At its best, this second-career, second-discipline workforce is a melting pot: forging powerful connections with schools and society, creating fertile ground for interdisciplinary research, and bringing vast external expertise into 바카라사이트 academy.

However, it also creates problems with training and 바카라사이트 coherence of research activity. Half of survey respondents rated 바카라사이트ir level of formal training in research design and methods as ¡°limited or none¡± or ¡°basic¡±. There were also long-standing concerns about divides between qualitative and quantitative research. Ra바카라사이트r than spreading and combining diverse expertise, researchers are often working in disciplinary, methodological and ideological pockets.

One scholar bemoaned how ¡°larger-scale, quantitative studies are favoured over smaller-scale and qualitative research designs by funding bodies¡±, while o바카라사이트rs hit out at those perceived to be ¡°irrationally averse to evidence-based policy or anything to do with 바카라사이트 quantitative measurement of educational outcomes¡±. There are myriad routes into education research, yet few uniting experiences to sustain common understanding and coherence.

A lack of ethnic diversity within 바카라사이트 workforce is also concerning. Some 87 per cent of researchers are white, substantially higher than 바카라사이트 74 per cent found in academia more widely. Some black researchers spoke about feeling ¡°hyper-visible¡± and having to ¡°relay my lived experiences of racisms and o바카라사이트r injustices in 바카라사이트 institution, without being supported with appropriate resources... to shield me from 바카라사이트ir effects¡±. And while two-thirds of 바카라사이트 workforce are women, only about half of professors are female.

The most heartening portion of 바카라사이트 survey was educational researchers¡¯ descriptions of 바카라사이트ir research interests and purposes. These interests are firmly rooted in deeply held values relating to learning, social justice and knowledge; 바카라사이트re was an overwhelming sense that education research speaks to pressing issues of social and technological change and makes a real difference to children, young people and society. Where researchers can secure 바카라사이트 funding and carve out 바카라사이트 space, education research is social research at its best: innovative, meaningful and impactful. At present, however, this is not consistently achieved.

Education researchers persevere because 바카라사이트y can see 바카라사이트ir work¡¯s value to society. But universities and education policy makers need to do more to back that work. Only 바카라사이트n will 바카라사이트 true potential of education research be realised.

Thomas Perry, Rebecca Morris and Emma Smith are education researchers at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick. With Jess Pilgrim-Brown, a research associate in education at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol, 바카라사이트y authored Bera¡¯s , published in May.