Investigating research mobilities: A methods resource

Abstract

We aimed to work alongside teachers as far as possible to understand how they encountered research in their everyday lives. Being mindful of their workloads, we wanted to find ways for them to record their everyday encounters with literacy research that were least intrusive but would, at the same time, provide opportunities for them to discuss these records in small groups with the research team.Teachers were recruited to the project during the academic year 2021/2022. Invitations were circulated to a range of national and local literacy and teacher research networks and groups via email lists but also through social media and newsletters. Our recruitment materials called for teachers with a particular interest in the teaching of literacy/English from different types of primary schools and areas of England.Our initial approach invited teachers to work longitudinally through a series of activities beginning with a workshop that introduced the project and elicited teachers' stories of encounters with literacy research in their everyday lives. Between March and November 2022, twenty-one teachers participated in several workshops, focus groups, and interviews. All these were held online; they were all recorded and transcribed.