Teachers’ Research Thinking

Abstract

In a world of unpredictable change, we need preservice and in-service school teachers, and university educators who can respond dynamically to students’ diverse needs and the evolving demands on their lives. In this book, research thinking is used as an umbrella term for the raft of skills associated with such responsive teaching. Research thinking is needed so that teachers are both able to react quickly to contingencies and systematically adapt their practice through consolidation and change. The chapters of this book show how responsive research thinking in its various guises can help Preservice Teachers, In-Service Teachers, and University Educators to consolidate, change and connect through each chapter’s use of the Research Skill Development (RSD) conceptual framework. This chapter outlines the need for teachers’ research thinking, the nature of the RSD framework and what research thinking looks like with reference to the framework. This chapter then overviews how each chapter contributes to the book’s theme of research thinking for responsive teaching before concluding with implications of the book for educational theory and practice.