Research-based Teacher Professional Development (R-TPD) is an approach to professional development that unites research and professional learning within projects designed to investigate and innovate within educational settings. Researchers and teachers work together in planning, implementing and reflecting on co-constructed educational pathways that aim to bring about change.
Each project is based on five principles that characterize R-TPD as a specific approach and constitute both commitments and open questions.
Clear focus - a well-defined explication of the purpose of the research in terms of professional learning and development for the teachers directly involved and a focus on documenting and analyzing the outcomes in terms of change.
Co-construction - the creation of an R-PD group of which the researcher(s) and teachers are members, in which the different roles of the participants are clarified and in which objectives and objects, values and methodological choices are negotiated and clarified.
Context-specific - a focus on the specificity of the contexts - institutional and non-institutional - in which R-PD takes place, maintained at all stages of the research through an analysis of the constraints and resources.
Documentation-based - an ongoing and systematic discussion among research participants on the documentation of results and processes implemented in school and professional development contexts.
Impact-directed - a process of monitoring the impact of the outcomes of R-PD within schools, both for educational and teaching innovation and for teacher professional development.
CRESPI is committed to an open access policy for the dissemination of the outcomes of its research projects. The principal channels employed are our website, public archives, scientific journals, scientific conferences, webinars, workshops and meetings with stakeholders. We endeavour to create a dialogue with teachers, student teachers, school leaders, learners, families, experts and other educational professionals, decision makers and politicians.
This group focuses on extra-school settings within Vocational Education and Training (VET) and socio-educational services, exploring the transformative potential of R-TPD to enhance the educational professional roles operating in these contexts, with a view toward learning, inclusion, and citizenship.
The documentation for this working group is only available in Italian. For further information about the research please contact Elena Luppi (elena.luppi@unibo.it) and Paolo Sorzio (psorzio@units.it)
