At Eastern Colleges Group in Suffolk, we have embarked on a research inquiry journey across three sixth form colleges including apprenticeship and adult education teams, as well as one HE setting. It is a three-year programme, with all teaching staff completing one course of inquiry each academic year for the next three years.
Our aim is to support our 300 teaching staff to become reflective practitioners about their teaching in a disciplined and structured manner and develop an authentic confidence about their practice. The outcome of the inquiry is a research poster about each staff member’s findings, to be shared with colleagues at an Eastern Colleges Group research conference at the end of June.
We have allocated time on professional development days for staff to engage with their inquiry. At the end of August, we launched the inquiry programme for the year, outlining the milestones and giving time for staff to collaborate together in curriculum areas and complete an initial individual Area of Interest form. Staff have been encouraged to agree a focus together in teams, but the inquiry and the outcomes should be individual. These forms were reviewed before our October PD day to ensure that all staff had understood the aims and intention of the inquiry.
At the October PD day, staff were given time to complete their own individual Research Inquiry form, and were encouraged to read and engage with research to support their question and hypothesis, which had been curated for each college. The inquiry question is very structured and starts with the phrase ‘What impact does…’ – all of the inquiry questions started with this phrase and gave a clear timeline, intervention, and group of interest for the inquiry.
