For the last seven years the University of Sunderland’s Centre for Excellence in Teacher Training (SUNCETT) has consistently and successfully delivered the Practitioner Research Programme (PRP), a capstone ETF programme of CPD which combines intensive research training with research supervision, mentorship and scholarship. The PRP, open to teachers from across the Further Adult Vocational and Technical Education (FAVTE) sector in England, has increased progression opportunities for sector professionals; improved educational outcomes for students; changed practice and culture across organisations; raised performance in OFSTED inspections; re-energised sector professionals and enhanced perceptions of research in the FAVTE sector.
Since the inception of the PRP, members of the SUNCETT team have enabled hundreds of practitioners to make real and sustainable improvements in educational practice ‘from the inside’ through SUNCETT-supported practitioner research. To date, the PRP has enabled over 350 practitioners representing 94 organisations with a population of over 80,000 students to complete a 30-credit MA Short Course in Advancing Pedagogy or an MPhil Research Degree.
Some PRP participants progress to MPhil from the MA Short Course, with a smaller number moving on to complete their studies at PhD level. In one case, a former PRP participant was awarded a full Professorship by her organisatation within a few years of completing her PhD when she moved from Further Education (FE) to Higher Education (HE).
