Routledge Research-Informed Teacher Learning: Critical Perspectives on Theory, Research and Practice (Routledge Research in Teacher Education)

Research-Informed Teacher Learning explores career-long improvements in knowledge building and the skills required in curriculum reform, transformations in teaching methods, alterations to assessment, and restructurings in school administration and management. This extends to meeting the needs and interests of different and diverse students and groups of students, mentoring student teachers and beginning teachers, and supporting experienced teachers, so they are all responsive to their local school-communities, thereby contributing to democratic schooling and the public good. The book mainly focuses on the professionals working in teaching and teacher education from pre-service training and development through early-mid career and into later stages of career mobility. It pinpoints the ways that practitioners need to be involved in the design and delivery of changing models of teacher education which helps in the development of their own professional activities at all levels of the teaching service. Dedicated to the late Professor Carey Philpott, the book takes his ideas forward, particularly in the current conjuncture when teacher learning is curtailed and constrained by power brokers, politicians and policy makers in various undemocratic ways. This book will be of great interest for academics and researchers in the fields of teacher education, educational policy and politics, and lifelong learning and development. Review Research-informed Teacher Learning, edited by Professor Lori Beckett, serves two significant purposes.The first is to honour the work on the professional learning of teachers of the late Professor Carey Philpott. The second is to disseminate and develop further the central proposition of Carey's work that research must be one central intellectual resource to ensure teaching is a research-informed profession and as such, to ensure teachers are able to take leadership of the profession. Research-informed Teacher Learning succeeds admirably on both counts. Emeritus Professor Bob Lingard, The University of Queensland, and Professorial Fellow, Australian Catholic University Policy makers in particular need to take notice of this important new collection. In the global neo-liberal conceptualization of education performativity and accountability are valorized and the role of the professional teacher and teacher educator is too often defined and delimited by a focus on results and outcomes. A radical shift is required that places attention on the role of education as a public and social good that can make a difference in the lives of young people and contribute more equal and healthy societies. Urgent consideration should be given to educational professionals and practitioners as purveyors of public good and more general questions asked about the purpose of education. This book is timely in offering such a critique. It pays homage to Professor Cary Philpott, to whom the book is dedicated, and the important question he asked: ‘Who has all the answers in education (and why should we believe them)?’. The reflections of contributors offer a wide ranging, nuanced and critically reflective response that should be of interest to a wide range of educational stakeholders. Professor Joanne Hughes, UNESCO Chair/Director of the Centre for Shared Education,School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast This insightful and timely book builds on the considerable legacy of Carey Philpott in the field of educational research. The chapters in the book use Carey’s work as a springboard to address a wide range of important contemporary questions about teacher learning, the complex relationships between theory and practice, and what constitutes effective research in education. This book is essential reading for teachers and teacher educators. Ian Thompson, Associate Professor of English Education, University of Oxford. This crucial book answers some critical questions about teachin