Increasingly, there are expectations internationally that schools will use research to inform their improvement initiatives. Within this context, this paper brings together findings from two large-scale Australian studies - the Monash Q Project and the University of Newcastle’s Quality Teaching Rounds Project - to explore educators’ patterns of engagement with research. The combination of these studies provides data from a larger and more diverse sample (n = 774) than other recent Australian studies, and integrates insights from direct and indirect approaches to investigating educators’ research engagement. The analysis highlights several common themes associated with educators' research use including: the perceived credibility of different sources; the relevance and usability of research; and affordances of access to research and time to use it well in practice. Newer and more nuanced insights include: the interrelationships between collaborative and directed research use; the need for research to be convenient in terms of access and usability; the role of trusted colleagues in helping to bridge gaps between research and practice; and educators’ distrust of research itself. The paper argues that these insights provide important cues as to how systems and school leaders can help educators to increase and improve their use of research in practice.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	schools, research use, research engagement, education, evidence use
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Education systems
Research Field:	Teacher education and professional development of educators
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Schools and learning environments
Objective Field:	Policies and development
UTAS Author:	Cirkony, C (Dr Connie Cirkony)
ID Code:	153727
Year Published:	2022
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2022-10-04
Last Modified:	2022-11-08
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