Snake oil or hard struggle? Research to address the reality of social injustice in education

In recent years two particular tendencies have coincided to bring about new approaches in educational research. These tendencies may raise questions about the rigour and validity of the research. The two tendencies to be considered in this chapter are: (1) the increasing ‘commercialisation’ of educational research, through the influence of both profit making and not for profit organisations, all of whom are competing for resources within a limited ‘market’ and, (2) the growth of ‘teacher research’ as an important aspect of teacher professionalism. The chapter focuses mainly on England and draws on work undertaken on a range of projects over recent years, most notably on ‘Closing the Gap – Test and Learn’, a nationwide attempt to involve hundreds of schoolteachers in forms of quasi-experimental research. The argument developed in the chapter is that, in the pursuit of social justice in and through education, the engagement of teachers in school-based research is a very positive development. However such engagement needs to be tempered by careful deployment of research methods, an avoidance of a search for ‘easy answers’ and a healthy dose of critical scepticism.