PRACTITIONER RESEARCH


WHY DOING RESEARCH CAN MAKE SUCH A DIFFERENCE FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS


English teachers risk losing ways to define themselves professionally, says Dr Sue Brindley. But by undertaking research they can become informed contributors to the debate on the future of education and society.


A


s English teachers, language is at the heart of all we do. We know that perceptions are shaped by it, realities constructed through


it and truths made evident by it. But in a curious twist of events, as English teachers we have lost a version of language that defines our professional selves, and leaves us without a voice, adrift in a world of policy and compliance. To illustrate, and as part of a research network I run, I interviewed 50 teachers on the notion of teacher knowledge. It is complex and complicated as a concept. But what was most disconcerting was that some 10 interviews in, the teachers I was talking to (all highly qualified people whose professional views I respected) could not give me an answer to the question ‘What is teacher knowledge?’. It was as surprising for them as for me (as one teacher ruefully said “I thought I knew the answer to this”). In looking to solve this puzzle, I came


across a concept which has become critical in my research – access to a professional discourse. Durkheim described two types of discourse – ‘sacred’ and ‘profane’ (emotive terms these days but originally referring to the interpretation of religious texts). The profane discourse enables discussion about ideas in ways that non-experts can understand and take part in. The sacred is through the language of the profession, where English teachers who have never met one another can nevertheless almost immediately enter into meaningful discussion about, in our case, teaching and learning in English. But this is being eroded. The centralisation of teaching through the national curriculum, assessment requirements and inspection regimes


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has led to a diminution of the sacred discourse – so much so that teachers’ voices and expertise go largely unheard outside of the profession. The case of English teaching is perhaps even more painful than most – our subject has itself been changed. The emphasis now on literacy has diminished the professional discussions around literature even further. And as Lawrence Stenhouse said: “Curriculum is the medium through which the teacher can learn about the nature of knowledge”. If access to the nature of knowledge is denied to teachers, what is the effect on students? But how to counteract this? The


restitution of teacher knowledge, and specifically teacher knowledge in English, has to be at the heart of the solution. And the way to achieve that is through teacher research. Teacher research is at the moment,


the plat du jour, and advice, guidance, exhortation and demand are to be found everywhere. Validity, outcomes and reliability are dominant in the debates. Again, these are all worthwhile discussions. But it seems to me the real prize of teacher research is to be found not in


the ‘results’, debatable as they are, but in the act of researching itself. What teacher research does is to build a sense of confidence in the knowledge that is generated – and in so doing reveals once again the language that we once had to talk about knowledge in English. In reclaiming our professional ‘selves’ through a language which demonstrates knowledge and understanding, we also reclaim the subject, English. As one of the teachers I interviewed said: “The identity of people seeing themselves as creators and owners of knowledge ... I think teachers don’t sort of feel strongly enough about that – but they are the owners.” Henry Giroux put it more strongly:


“Teachers must create the ideological and structural conditions necessary for them to write, research, and work with each other in producing curricula and sharing power.” Through language we are able to communicate ideas; through professional language – the sacred – we can also communicate the values that underpin our belief about ourselves as English teachers, and the place of our subject in building a democratic society. Teacher research is the way English teachers can become informed and powerful contributors to a debate about the future of education and society.


Dr Sue Brindley is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University. She taught English in schools for a number of years before entering academe. She is editor of the Journal of Teacher Development.


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