Research Activities of EDRC

Conducting Research and research training activities at Education and Development Research Council (EDRC) are organized along the lines of the Divisions within Education and Development. Research activity follows the classic academic model insofar as it is driven by the initiatives of scholars and scientists in developing their own curiosity-driven or practice-based projects or working in collaboration with other research groups.
These collaborations mirror the increasingly multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary character of both basic and applied research which is blurring the boundaries within and between the educational, Technological disciplines and the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. This feature is also reflected in research training, with many of research programmes being multi-or interdisciplinary in character.
Research and research training in EDRC currently facilitates many beginners, which has been built up over the last 10 years through a cluster of research activities. In particular, close collaborations between the EDRC and different institutes create access to excellent complementary facilities for research and research training in highly competitive fields such as applied linguistics and ELT Education, Development, as well as in other areas of Humanities. The Research council not only complements the educational mission of EDRC, but has also promoted strong regional, national and international collaborations in research activity.

 
Academic Research undertaken by EDRC

1. The Continuum of Teacher Education

Examples of possible research topics under this heading:
Initial teacher education; The professional portfolio; The career entry phase, including induction and probation; Continuing professional development, including current needs (individual, school, system), current provision, etc. ; Developing professional learning communities; Standards of teaching, knowledge, skill and competence across the continuum.

2. Teaching in a Changing Society

Examples of possible research topics under this heading include:
Teaching for diversity, inclusion and special educational needs; Teaching for social capital - Teaching for citizenship and moral development; Developing creative, lifelong learners; Using ICT for teaching, learning and assessment; Places and spaces for learning, including virtual learning environments and multimodal texts.

3. Pedagogy

Examples of possible research topics under this heading include:
Effective teaching of literacy and numeracy; Integration of subject themes and cross curricular working; Whole school curriculum policy development and evaluation; Assessing for learning/formative assessment; Pedagogic approaches and perspectives on learning

4. Teaching as a Profession

Examples of possible research topics under this heading include:
Perceptions of the Teaching Council; Effective strategies for partnership between the Council and its stakeholders; Perceptions of teacher professionalism; Perceptions of the role of the teacher; Self-regulation in the teaching profession; Collegiality in teaching; Entry criteria; The development of teaching as a profession (national and international trends); Progression paths in teaching (national/international trends).

5. Core Education Principles and Policy Issues

Examples of possible research topics under this heading include:
The changing context of patronage/ethos; Supply of, and demand for, teachers; Partnership within education; The potential for reconceptualisation of the education system towards an improved teaching and learning experience.