Trainees and school-based practitioners are being encouraged to engage more with evidence-based teaching methods. Teachers are now more responsible for the outcomes of their own practice and are charged with sourcing ‘best practice’ solutions in their pedagogical approaches. And schools are moving more towards in-house professional development approaches that have a clear focus on raising standards in the classroom.

This book focuses on how universities and primary schools can work together to lead, manage and sustain a culture of teacher inquiry. It examines the role of the university in providing a critical perspective on teaching and learning and how academics can support schools by working as ‘knowledgeable others’ and advocates of classroom-based research. As a case study, it explores the journey taken by one particular primary school, in partnership with a university, over a two-year period, detailing how this work has impacted on the professional lives of staff, the children they teach, the overall culture of the school and the impact on school improvement. Chapters are contributed by professional school leaders, university academics and primary teachers and there is a focus on the rigorous examination of models of evidenced-based teaching, practical examples demonstrating some of the best and most sustainable approaches, and positive outcomes.

Ian Menter (AcSS) is Emeritus Professor of Teacher Education and was formerly the Director of Professional Programmes in the Department of Education at the University of Oxford. He previously worked at the Universities of Glasgow, the West of Scotland, London Metropolitan, the West of England and Gloucestershire. Before that he was a primary school teacher in Bristol, England. His most recent publications include A Literature Review on Teacher Education for the 21st Century (Scottish Government) and A Guide to Practitioner Research in Education (Sage). His work has also been published in many academic journals.

Val Poultney is a senior lecturer at the University of Derby. She teaches on initial teacher education and postgraduate programmes. Her research interests include school leadership and school governance with a particular focus on how to develop leadership to support teachers as researchers.

Chapter 1: The self-improving school and evidenced-based teaching: the value of researching practitioners
Chapter 2: Leading primary school inquiry: what do we need to know about school-university partnerships and ways of working
Chapter 3: Case study 1: Peer Critique
Chapter 4: Case study 2: Active Learning
Chapter 5: Case study 3: Colour-coding for Developing Writing in Year 3
Chapter 6: Inquiry as a vehicle to change school culture
Chapter 7: Concluding chapter:‘What we have learnt
References