Research: What Potential Does it Hold for Teacher Practitioners?

Abstract

The teaching profession finds itself at the crossroads at this time. because the crowded curriculum and the emphasis on core competencies including literacy and numeracy can have the tendency to push research training into the background. The question should be asked though, is research capability a skill practicing teachers should be engaging with? Is reconstructing the curricula of universities to make research preparation a priority worth pursuing? The following paper considers the issue of research and what it can add to teacher practitioners’ “arsenal” of capabilities. The authors believe that there is value in reconsidering the curriculum of teachers, as there are many ways in which teachers can be informed and inform knowledge about teaching. The ability to apply research capabilities to the teaching context can significantly benefit the profession and more importantly its’ students.