Research in Teacher Education – A Topical and Methodological Network Profile
Author(s):
Julia Planer (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2016
Network:
10. Teacher Education Research
Format:
Paper

Session Information

10 SES 11 D, Research in Teacher Education

Paper Session

Time:
2016-08-25
17:15-18:45
Room:
NM-Theatre P
Chair:
Judith Harford

Contribution

This year’s ECER theme is committed to the future role of education research regarding the future of education in Europe as “bricolage from past and present, and from research, policy and practice” (http://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-2016-dublin/) . In analogy, this research sheds light on the development of the research profile of Network 10 by conducting a historical comparative analysis of the Network’s paper proposals between 2009 and 2012.

To what extent are interests of research, policy and practice on a European and national level represented in the Network “Teacher Education Research”? How far are tensions between interests of the profession and the public tangible? The research will give insight into how intensive the network tackles the influence of competing interests on European teacher education research, and consequently, to what extent the network profile is shaped in a process of European interaction. As a porous discipline (Knaupp et al. 2014: 83), external factors such as policy and economy clearly exercise influence on the disciplines of education (Rieger-Ladich 2009, Keiner/Schriewer 2000) .

The Network "Teacher Education Research" considers the identification of emerging themes in teacher education a major objective, as well as the establishment of a distinctive profile for teacher education in in Europe (see http://www.eera-ecer.de/networks/network10/).  This research contributes to the identification of the Network’s research profile by analyzing the topics and themes of the proposals, with a special focus on research, policy and practice, as well as the research methods applied.By presenting these findings at ECER, this is an attempt to encourage the scientific community to adopt a self-reflective perspective.

The analysis of the Teacher Education Research profile is not only anchored in the Network’s major objectives, however, it is also necessary when it comes to ECER’s theme question of the leadership in the field of education research. A global, self-reflective perspective on the developments in Network 10 can offer information concerning European factors of influence (Rieger-Ladich 2009), but it can also be a starting point for the research community to take the responsibility of the direction teacher education research as a Network is heading for: The question of leadership of education research becomes obvious in the proposal analysis: the  individual researchers influence the developments within the community by his and her contribution to education research at ECER, i.e. the paper proposals. Vice Versa, the context of research, i.e. the European research association with its disciplinary and institutional habit forms (e.g. such as the peer review process) (Lempert 2008), has impact on the individual researchers' scientific actions. 

Method

content analysis; qualitative and quantitative methods: As a method, content analysis is chosen to examine the papers submitted between 2009 and 2012. The data was kindly provided by EERA office. The research exclusively concentrates on paper proposals submitted to the Network “Teacher Education Research”. The abstracts of the papers are qualitatively analyzed with regard to topics and themes (1) covered by researchers, and research methods applied (2). (1) Topics and themes An analysis of the papers with regard to their themes has been carried out in order to receive information concerning the topics of teacher education research. A preliminary investigation of the data revealed that teacher education research within EERA can be divided into research concerning teachers, teacher education and teacher education research itself. From this point of view, further subcategories have been found. In the end, a tree structure has been formed, making it possible to assign all papers to thematically matching categories. (2) Research methods Regarding the examination of the methods used in papers of Network 10, the distinction between qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods are drawn. Papers which do not offer a clear reference towards their methodology in this respect were classified ‘unclear’. After this qualitative content analysis, which makes use of aspects of the qualitative content analysis (Mayring 2011), a quantitative data evaluation follows in order to draw historical, comparative conclusions concerning the development of the research profile of Network 10.

Expected Outcomes

This research therefore provides a historical and comparative few on the identity-forming processes of Teacher Education Research and therefore raises questions about possible future directions of Network 10 in the EERA. The themes within the Network of Teacher Education Research can be divided in policy, research and practice, thus revealing a potential of creative development (Meusburger 2009: 210). The analysis of the research methodology reveals that a huge majority of the papers employ qualitative research methods. Whereas 20-30% of all papers described mixed approaches, papers with exclusively quantitative methods are quite rare in Network 10. Although there are some papers with no clear reference to their methodology, those remain few. The findings illustrate the importance of intellectual self-governance in order to shed light on the context we are embedded in as researchers. Since scientific quality criteria have to be seen as a product of the research community and not as a demand of policy, self-governance is the means to enhance quality (Keiner 2011:160), as well as autonomy of Teacher Education Research.

References

Keiner, Edwin (2010): Disciplines of education. The value of disciplinary self-observation. In: Furlong, J. & Lawn, M. (eds.): Disciplines of education. Their Role in the Future of Education Research. London & New York: Routledge. Pp. 159-172 Keiner, Edwin und Schriewer, Jürgen (2000): Erneuerung aus dem Geist der eigenen Tradition? Über Kontinuität und Wandel nationaler Denkstile in der Erziehungswissenschaft. In: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften 22 (1), 27-50 Knaupp, Monika; Schaufler, Sarah; Hofbauer, Susann & Keiner, Edwin (2014): Education Research and Educational Psychology in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – an Analysis of Scholarly Journals. In: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften/ Revue suisse des sciences de l’éducation/ Rivista svizzera di scienze dell’ educazione 36. Pp. 83-106. Lempert, Wolfgang (2008): Erforschen wir auch uns selbst – oder immer nur die anderen? Keine Rezension des Buches von Barbara Friebertshäuser, Markus Rieger-Ladich und Ludwig Wigger (Hrsg.): Reflexive Erziehungswissenschaft. Forschungsperspektiven im Anschluss an Pierre Bourdieu. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. In: Zeitschrift für Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik 104 (2), 294-305. Mayring, Philipp (102008): Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse: Grundlagen und Techniken. Weinheim: Beltz. Meusburger, Peter (2009): Räumliche Disparitäten des Wissens. Zu einigen Kommunikationsdefiziten zwischen wissenschaftlichen Disziplinen. In: Marissa Hey und Kornelia Engert (Hrsg.): Komplexe Regionen - Regionenkomplexe: Multiperspektivische Ansätze zur Beschreibung regionaler und urbaner Thematiken. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 209-230. Rieger-Ladich, Markus (2009): Pierre Bourdieus Theorie des wissenschaftlichen Feldes: Ein Reflexionsangebot an die Erziehungswissenschaft. In: Barbara Friebertshäuser, Markus Rieger-Ladich, Lothar Wigger (Hrsg.): Reflexive Erziehungswissenschaft. Forschungsperspektiven im Anschluss an Pierre Bourdieu. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 153-174.

Author Information

Julia Planer (presenting / submitting)
University Erlangen-Nuremburg
Nuremberg

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