Meeting Teachers Half Way Making Educational Research Relevant to Teachers

A focus group of 49 teachers revealed that teachers do use research, but they seek it out under very specific conditions. They also use different criteria than researchers use to judge the quality of research. For teachers, important factors include an ethos of localized learning, a shortage of time, and the primacy of local context. Researchers who want to get their research used by teachers need to adapt it to fit teachers' specific needs.