Abstract

This paper argues that the relationship between educational research and educational practice
cannot be reduced to the simple application of knowledge gained from research conducted by
others. It contends that far from teachers being passive consumers of knowledge produced by
others, often in the form of ‘blueprints’ or ‘recipes’ for good practice, teachers are in fact creators
of new educational knowledge as well as potential generators of and contributors to educational
theory. It asserts that the new learning involved in putting an idea, concept or theory
from educational research into educational practice is a process of inquiry and therefore an
important and legitimate form of educational research. The paper discusses how an approach
to the continuing professional development of teachers, based upon practice-focused educational
research and inquiry-based pedagogy, coupled with a programme of dedicated research
support, can enable teachers to produce significant, well-theorised and systematic educational
research, leading to improvements in educational practice. This paper concludes that a practicefocused
and inquiry-based model of educational evaluation and improvement offers education
and policy professionals in the Vocational Education and Training sector (and potentially in the
schools sector) an alternative to current technical-rational, top-down approaches to inspection
and improvement in educational contexts.

Keywords
educational evaluation, educational improvement, educational research, further, adult and vocational
education (FAVE).