Developing an Understanding of the Factors that Influence Teacher Engagement in Action Research and Professional Learning Activities in Two English Primary Schools

This study explores how teachers in two primary schools in London interpreted and
perceived their engagement in action research as a professional learning experience.
The study also explored the factors that teachers perceive to impact upon their
engagement in wider professional learning experiences in primary schools. This study
is timely as there are few examples of research that have investigated whole-school
teacher engagement in action research. As teacher engagement in research continues
to be promoted at a national level, there remains a lack of qualitative research on the
impact of engagement in collaborative action research on teachers within a primary
school. This study is also timely because it has investigated theories of workplace
learning in relation to conceptions of teacher learning experiences within a school. The
extent to which the learning environments in schools afford formal and informal
opportunities for teacher learning is presented as a factor for consideration.
The study took a case study approach to investigating teacher perceptions of
engagement in action research. Questionnaires with twenty-four teachers and
interviews with twelve teachers across both schools resulted in qualitative data which
was explored and interpreted for emerging trends. Data analysis was influenced by a
constructivist interpretation of grounded theory to provide deeper understandings of
patterns that emerged in relation to perceptions of action research and experiences of
workplace learning.
This study identified that there is a complex patchwork of influences that impact upon
teacher engagement in professional learning, and that significant factors in this
engagement include the expansiveness of the institutional learning environments and
individual dispositions to learning. These factors influence individual teacher learning
experiences in different ways. A model for teacher learning is presented in this study
that reflects the key factors that need to be taken into consideration when planning for
formal and informal teacher professional learning activities in primary schools.