Researching Primary Education: Methods and Issues

This book increases understanding of, and provides inspiration for, the conduct of research in primary/elementary education. It discusses and evaluates the selection and development of research methods used for their own innovatory projects. They explore the relationship between their choice of research methods, the frameworks for analysis used and research findings. In so doing they address the topical and controversial issues posed by these methods and alternative data-gathering techniques. These include:

• the case for the use of random-controlled trials to inform policy-making and improve classroom practice
• the role of mixed methods to investigate the social aspects of inclusion
• children as researchers researching their peers
• the relationship between research and teacher development
• an analysis of the portrayal of teachers and education in the regional and national news
• the contribution of qualitative research in cross-national projects.

In research on teaching and learning in primary schools, accessing the views and experiences of children is crucial. Consequently, the possibilities and limitations of data collection techniques for collecting the views of children are central and concerns about validity and ethics posed by the power relationships between researchers and research participants are examined.

This book was based on a special issue of Educational 3-13 International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education.

Rosemary Webb has had a varied career in primary education as a teacher, a professional officer at the National Curriculum Council, lecturer and researcher and became a Professor in the School of Education at the University of Manchester in 2006. She is a past Chair of the Association for the Study of Primary Education (ASPE) and convenor of the British Educational Research Association/ ASPE Special Interest Group on primary education. She has researched and published widely on primary education and on qualitative research.