Subject 7: 014228
Research Practices for Professional Impact
Goals
Goal 1 – Understanding research approaches and assumptions
To critically examine qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research approaches, including the assumptions they make about knowledge, evidence, and impact, in order to interpret educational research with greater rigour and ethical awareness.
Goal 2 – Connecting research to professional practice
To relate research practices to real-world issues in my professional context, particularly inclusion, wellbeing, behaviour, leadership, and staff capability, ensuring research meaningfully informs practice and decision-making.
Goal 3 – Critically analysing research relevant to my field
To identify, evaluate, and synthesise research literature relevant to inclusive education and educational leadership, assessing its credibility, relevance, and applicability to my professional context.
Goal 4 – Understanding pathways from research to impact
To examine how research contributes to improved professional practice, policy alignment, and sustainable change, and how evidence can be used to justify and lead school-based improvement initiatives.
Goal 5 – Reflecting on my learning as a research-informed practitioner
To critically reflect on my learning throughout this subject, identifying how my understanding of research has evolved and how this shapes my professional identity as a reflective, evidence-informed educator and aspiring leader.
Linking Statement
These Subject Learning Goals align with my Professional Context Statement and overall Course Learning Goals, which focus on inclusive practice, reflective leadership, and evidence-informed decision-making within complex educational settings. As an inclusion teacher and emerging leader, I work in contexts where decisions must balance student need, staff wellbeing, policy expectations, and ethical responsibility. Developing strong research literacy is therefore essential to my professional practice.
This subject builds on my learning in Learning and its Trajectories, where I explored how learning develops over time through experience, reflection, and context. That subject deepened my understanding of learning as non-linear and relational. Learning in the Digital Age extended this further by examining how technology, data, and ethics shape contemporary learning and leadership. Together, these subjects positioned me to engage more critically with evidence and complexity.
Research Practices represents a progression from understanding learning and innovation to justifying and designing practice through research. It strengthens my capacity to critically analyse research, understand methodological choices, and apply findings to real-world challenges in schools. This aligns with my aspiration to lead inclusive, sustainable improvement initiatives that are grounded in evidence rather than anecdote.
By developing confidence as a research-informed practitioner, I am better equipped to advocate for inclusive practices, support staff capability, and contribute to meaningful, ethical change within educational organisations.
Wrapping Up
