How do we make sense of research-informed teaching in the School of Education?

Following a successful application to internal competitive call for a School of Education research award, we were awarded £1000 for this research project. By listening to staff engaged in teaching across the School of Education we have learnt about their conceptions of research-informed teaching. Research methods included the use of anonymous data collection through a post box to encourage all staff engaged in teaching to have a voice. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with a small number of colleagues to get a better understanding of the barriers and the facilitators to research-informed teaching in the School of Education. In this way we have explored staff views about both the use of research in the content of their teaching and in the pedagogy of their teaching. The following questions have been investigated:
1. What views of research-informed teaching are in the literature?
2. What do staff say when asked what the term means?
3. How do staff use research in their teaching?
4. What are the barriers to research-informed teaching?
5. What are the facilitators to research-informed teaching?
6. How do staff engage in research of their own practice?