In this paper, we explore what is known about teachers' engagement in and with educational research with a special emphasis on teachers' voice evoking their experience of participating in research. This will draw upon international contexts in order to suggest ways of utilising the benefits of research in practice. Our review is framed around five key themes between which there are interesting links. The first theme is purpose and consequence, which highlights the dimensions of teachers' control and autonomy. This is related to the second theme-teachers' learning and affective response. The third theme, agency, addresses the contextual factors influencing teachers' experience of research, which opens up the fourth theme concerning the degree of trust and collaboration that is experienced by teacher researchers. The final theme is contradiction. This phenomenon is understood in the context of socio-cultural theory in that the teacher researcher is evolving practice and questioning the focus on aggregate examination results/targets and its associated technology. While the available evidence of teachers' experience of research is overwhelmingly positive, providing an acceleration of professional understanding and new perspectives, which re-invigorates those teachers who do engage, it is not always experienced as such. Overall, we underline the importance of dialogic approaches and ecological agency, which relate to teachers' multi-dimensional perceptions of and participation in research.

Contemporary interest in student voice has evolved to include participation of ‘students as researchers' in school affairs, which has been encouraged by political developments underpinning the rights of children. Although there has been little exploration of the role of student researchers in curriculum development, this paper provides a case study of their role in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership involving a secondary school in England working on developing enquiry‐based learning. We use Basil Bernstein%s concept of framing and Clarke and Hollingsworth%s model of teacher professional learning to explore the dimensions of consequence when teachers start the process of pedagogic and curriculum innovation. There is considerable evidence of an impact on relationships between students and teachers and it is argued that this is an important lens through which to understand the role of student researchers.

The European Union is concerned about the economic prospects of its member states as they have to compete against newly emerging economies with lower wages and high ambitions. Part of the strategy to deal with this economic shadow is to create a knowledge economy, but in order to achieve this, a shift to a competence-based curriculum model is seen as critical. Since the Lisbon strategy in 2000, policy documents have provided guidelines and tools for member states, but progress has been limited and in several states curriculum reforms which favoured competences have been reversed. This article uses interview data from school students from two projects in England focused on enquiry and learning competence, and analysis which draws on the theories of Bernstein, to illustrate their accounts of the difference between traditional and competence-based models. The data demonstrate the tensions caused by pupils' perceptions of the demands of summative assessment systems, which reflect a very different epistemology from experiential/competence models. The authors conclude that greater pedagogical literacy, attention to professional development, assessment reform and engaging students as partners in curriculum reform are needed.

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This article reports on the use of a visual methods approach to collecting and analysing data in relation to the area of leadership curriculum development. The focus of the study is the structure of the current leadership curriculum for the National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) in England. In particular, the authors explore the extent to which a visual method of data collection enhances their understanding of underlying structures of the NPQs, and the extent to which they can adopt findings from the study to influence the planning and preparation of future programmes. Participants in the study volunteered to attend an international conference workshop on leadership, management and administration. This was the forum for data collection. Purposive sampling ensured a prior knowledge of the theoretical framework underpinning our work and objectivity in that none of the participants were involved in the delivery of NPQ programmes in England. Findings suggest that the current NPQ programme structure lacks the flexibility required in order to provide a meaningful professional development experience. In relation to the theoretical underpinnings of this study, findings also highlight areas to be addressed when undertaking new NPQ programme development and delivery.