Winners of new research award announced
24 February 2010
Two colleges will be the first recipients of a new award that recognises commitment to putting research at the heart of practice in schools and colleges at a research conference in London on Friday, 26th February.
South Dartmoor College and the Sixth Form College Farnborough will receive the Research Engaged School/College Award, which was pioneered by NFER and supported by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, Institute for Learning, National Union of Teachers, National College and Education Journal.
The award, developed in response to the growing interest in action research in schools and colleges, is open to whole schools, departments or faculties where a group of people have made the decision to do their own research to help improve learning and teaching.
NFER’s Alison Lawson said: “The reason for the level of interest in the award is simple: recognition of research activity is essential if it is to be viewed as important by the profession, by the educational research community and those with an eye on education practice and policy.”
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For more information about the Research Engaged School/College Award, contact Gail Goodwin on 01753 637159, g.goodwin@nfer.ac.uk
Notes to editors
The award is open to any school or college. Criteria cover:
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values, leadership and culture, for example how research contributes to learning and how senior leaders demonstrate active support
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support systems, for example what time is made available and what mentoring or peer support there is
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research activity, for example how ethical practice and quality is assured
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impact, for example what opportunities there are for sharing results outside the school/college
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sustainability, for example how people are encouraged to get involved in research for the first time and how the institution plans to build research skills, capacity and impact in the next three years.
In addition to the proof required for the set criteria, at least one concrete example of recent research activity must be enclosed with the application. The award does not assure the quality of the research, but does require each institution to provide evidence of its own quality assurance procedure.
About the Research Engaged School/College Award
About the LSIS/IfL/NFER Annual Research Conference