Building knowledge about teaching and learning

These research projects are to be designed to explicitly build on the TLRI aims: to build cumulative knowledge about teaching and learning; and to build research capability. They are to build knowledge by clearly drawing on existing evidence to take the particular field forward and by taking account of learning from completed TLRI projects and other relevant New Zealand-based research initiatives.

Type I projects: 

The research projects are to have a very clear research design with specific questions that come from an exploration grounded in the literature. They are to be led or co-led by an experienced principal investigator and be designed in a way that explicitly offers opportunities for emerging researchers to develop their skills (so that in time they might develop the expertise required of a principal investigator).

Researcher–practitioner partnerships are to be integral to the design of the project. The partnership, however, is to guide the research question(s) but not drive the project. To this end there is to be a focus on the individuals in the team using their collective expertise rather than on explicitly developing the research skills of the practitioner members of the project team. It is, however, pivotal that all team members have the opportunity to learn. In this collaboration, practitioners might take the role of advisory board, data gatherers, informants, etc. and not necessarily be integral to all aspects of the thinking inside the partnership. It is, of course, necessary that the researchers have clear and consistent regard for practice and practitioners and that the practitioners have clear and consistent regard for research and researchers.

Type II-Smaller scale projects: 

These studies are to be more innovative, with both practice and research valued together. Drawing on the idea that imagining new possibilities requires a team with diverse expertise and interests—so expanding the thinking and solution space—the projects are to focus on questions where both researchers and teachers are exploring new ideas together, possibly examining uncharted territory. Projects are to be constructed in a way that explicitly draws on the questions of the whole project team and be focused not on teachers themselves (as this makes them the subject), but on emerging issues in curriculum, on student learning and/or student voice, or any other important area that researchers and teachers can examine together. It is expected that these projects will mostly be in areas where there is much less research known, perhaps where innovative research designs or topics might be central. In this model it is important that the teachers and the researchers are thought partners together, where the learning of each is augmented by the partnership.

 Request for proposals (RFP)

This is a new category of funding in 2012.  One of the central aims of the TLRI is to build cumulative knowledge about teaching and learning and so the decision has been made to encourage deeper exploration of key strategic issues. There will be a request for proposal (RFP) issued for early childhood education research. There may also be an RFP in the tertiary area but that decision has yet to be taken.

The RFP will be issued in late May, with applications due on 15 August.