Research Mobilities

In this episode, teacher Laura Heads and researcher Gill Adams discuss the shifting meanings and contexts of credibility when it comes to literacy research.

What researchers mean by research credibility may differ from the markers of credibility that matter to teachers. Different teacher priorities and pressures influence their understanding of credibility. Some may want research that provides answers to classroom problems; others may prefer research that questions their assumptions about children’s literacies. Finding the time to critically gauge the credibility of research can become difficult. All this makes considerations of credibility messy, contextual and complex. Much like literacy research itself, there are no easy answers, no one correct way of doing things. Critical conversations within professional communities can offer teachers valuable signposts, provide some space for reflection, and empower them to question research.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website: https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, teacher Ross Watson and researcher Debra Myhill explore the discrepancies between the various practices of researchers and the messages teachers receive about research.

Simplistic research guidelines overlook the complexities and differences within learning spaces that generalisations cannot account for. Teachers rarely have the time and space to critically reflect or share ideas about research amongst themselves. Moreover, the narrative of research having “the answers” ignores the ways in which teachers can raise questions and practice can inform research. The episode advocates for more collaborative spaces to develop and change relationships among teachers and researchers. By working together in communities, they can have conversations about different possibilities, limitations, nuances and contexts. Consequently, research will not be a product that is given to teachers, but rather a process that researchers and teachers engage in collaboratively.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, teacher Vikki Varley and researcher Sinéad Harmey talk about the value of teachers conducting their own research in their classrooms.

Such projects can not only have a positive impact on their students but also provide learning opportunities for the teachers themselves. These research projects give teachers time to dwell and reflect on their own thinking and practice. They end up contributing to their professional and personal development. This episode also explores the different ways in which both teachers and researchers can tune into each other.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, head teacher Emily Edwards and researcher David Shannon discuss some of the barriers and opportunities for teachers engaging with literacy research.

Since teachers have to juggle multiple roles, priorities and pressures in schools, they are rarely able to spend time critically reflecting on/with research. Decreasing opportunities for social interactions with colleagues also means informal opportunities to share new research ideas are lost. Collaborative relationships between universities and schools can offer a way to not only increase teachers’ involvement in research but also enable researchers to embed their work in these communities. Such collaborations can provide both with opportunities to learn from each other.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, researcher Navan Govender and teacher Simon Collis reflect on how different literacy partners can work together to bridge the gaps between them.

Classroom practitioners work at the meeting point of different stakeholders and their diverse ideas, practices and perspectives. Navigating these contested spaces alongside competing pressures can be a challenge. One way forward is increasing partnerships between researchers and teachers by co-constructing research. This can help teachers exercise their professional, creative and critical capacities to turn the research they engage with into something that better serves them and the people they serve.  

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, researchers Fiona Maine and Sarah McGeown discuss how bringing together different research methods and philosophies can create a richer understanding of children’s diverse and complex literacy lives.

Research from different disciplinary backgrounds is often perceived to be at odds with each other. But by looking at similar issues from different perspectives, they all have valuable insights to offer. Listening to the different types of research that’s out there and valuing this difference of research viewpoints can transform both policy and practice. Such recommendations can also make room for teachers’ professional judgements and enable them to think about what works best for their own contexts.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, researcher Julia Gillen and teacher Daisy discuss how classroom practitioners can access and incorporate a wide range of research in their work.

Limited forms of research make their way into schools and restrict how teachers are expected to engage with these ideas. Additional pressures mean that many teachers are unable to critically engage with research or draw on their own expertise and experience. However, there are different avenues that expand multiple approaches to research. More people, projects and organisations are inviting teacher voices to inform the kind of research that is undertaken and to better understand how this research can reach people in the classroom.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

In this episode, researchers Cathy Burnett and Parinita Shetty explore how research is communicated and how some information gets lost along the way.

Research comes from a particular point of view where some things are in focus and others are left out. However, the nuances and complexities of diverse research contexts are not always evident in research communications. No one piece of research can provide the answer when it comes to children’s literacies. Instead, what research can do is provide insights, ask questions or provide alternative ways of looking or thinking about practice.

This podcast is produced for the Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education project. You can find the episode transcript and more information about the Research Mobilities project on our website:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/researchconversations/

This episode looks at how researchers can collaborate with designers to visually represent their research to new audiences. Professor Cathy Burnett chats with designer/researcher Layla Gharib about how the process of developing the images together resulted in new ways of thinking and working. They also explore how these images provide space to invite different interpretations, questions and conversations.

You can find the episode transcript, resources and images on our project blog:

https://research.shu.ac.uk/rmple/2023/11/29/different-ways-of-looking/

This podcast is produced by the ESRC-funded Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education research project. Through this project, we want to understand how literacy research evidence moves to and between primary teachers and what happens to it as it does so.