Research Skills for Teachers

Book excerpt: Understanding research principles and developing a small-scale research project is increasingly required of both pre-service and in-service teachers at early childhood, primary and secondary levels. In Research Skills for Teachers Beverley Moriarty provides an accessible guide to every aspect of education research appropriate to the needs of the beginner. The book helps readers identify their area of research interest and then focus their topic into something manageable yet original and sustainable. There are comprehensive, readable explanations of key concepts and technical terms, and realistic examples throughout show how ideas can be put into action. The text adopts an iterative approach, encouraging readers to revisit research questions, research design and methodology as they progress through the stages of planning and execution. The book provides clear guidance on core issues including: *Understanding and completing a literature review *Quantitative and qualitative approaches * Developing interviews and surveys * Analysing data * Ethical issues and dilemmas Featuring an accessible, step-by-step approach and rich with case studies and exercises, this is an essential tool for anyone embarking on a career in teaching. 'I found this text highly accessible, authoritative and well structured... The examples and boxes provided are effective ways to organize a complex and often opaque process for novice researchers, especially pre-service teachers... The frameworks, notebook activities and tables are intuitive and useful.' Dr Alexandra McCormick, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney