ABSTRACT
What is it that motivates teachers to conduct research? There are common factors in the research described within this book which can assist us in understanding why individuals and groups of teachers come together to undertake school based enquiry. Each of the chapters describes a journey followed by inquisitive teachers and researchers who set out in the hope that they might improve the lot of the teachers and pupils at the heart of their studies. They started from the premise that formalised investigation could increase their understanding of a phenomena, or provide insights into the ways in which a problem might be addressed. The research questions which inspired their studies were not significantly different from those which confront most teachers in their day to day management of classrooms and pupils. Perhaps the most significant difference between the writers in this book and many other teachers is that they were motivated to build an investigation around their areas of concern. This is not to suggest that other teachers are simply content to let such issues pass them by, but it may be symptomatic of the view which persists that research is within the domain of the academic’, rather than an essential feature of the armoury of the class teacher.
