Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 127

Lynch, Smith, Howarth
Definitions of Research
The word “research” usually refers to the seeking of knowledge or the truth about something. Thinking
about a phenomenon, distilling a question that lies at its heart and then seeking an answer to remedy or
better understand the phenomenon is a way of understanding what is meant by research. In a formal sense
research refers to the systematic investigation to establish the veracity of something and is a search for knowledge that involves
inquiry. Notice that ‘research’ is about ‘finding out’ and not about advocacy of a particular line or position.
It is carried out according to procedural criteria so arguments about research are settled by engaging with
the theory to show that it is or is not coherent and credible and arguments about how the data were identified,
collected and interpreted. Simply disagreeing with a research finding is insufficient to win the day unless it
can be challenged on these principles.
Significantly, the antonym to research is ignorance especially when “research-based” is thought to be
important for setting priorities that meet the needs of students, clients or communities in human services
delivery, with some certainty of a positive outcome.
Central to the research process is the collection and examination of ‘data’. The parallel to the ‘assessment
process’, as discussed in previous chapters, is apparent. The process of ‘research’, with its focus on data and
inquiry, expands the scope and usefulness of ‘collected data’ and increases the teaching potentials of the
teacher.
It follows then that “research” for teachers, Hanson (1997, pp. 3, 6, 10) argues, is concerned with “what is
behind their success" and investigating and solving "their concerns" about failures so that they can "adjust
their practice based on their conclusions from the study". Teacher research is then properly pedagogically
focused and engaged with what the current research is saying about improving student outcomes and its
implementation. “Teacher research” in this formulation is therefore an everyday characteristic of modern
teaching work. Let us examine this idea further by reviewing the more traditional views of research and
contrasting those with what we mean by teachers as researchers.
The University of South Australia for example, cites the Australian Code: RAE (2005). Research Assessment
Exercise 54 to define the research expected of academics in a broad way as that which:
“…includes work of direct relevance to the needs of commerce, industry, and to the public and
voluntary sectors; scholarship; the invention and generation of ideas, images, performances, artefacts
including design, where these lead to new or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing
knowledge in experimental development to produce new or substantially improved materials,
devices, products and processes, including design and construction”.
Notice that this definition “excludes routine testing and routine analysis of materials, components and
processes such as for the maintenance of national standards” and “the development of teaching materials
that do not embody original research”. The term “scholarship” is offered by this framework as the way in
which “teachers” can have a role by creating, developing, and maintaining “the intellectual infrastructure of
subjects and disciplines”, in such things as “dictionaries, scholarly editions, catalogues and contributions to
major research databases”.
54
(http://www.unisa.edu.au/res/ethics/resources/codedefinition.asp)
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