The most effective and innovative educators are researchers in their own site. They research their children. They research their pedagogy. Their research leads to new insights, to deepening their personal theories of learning and most importantly, to stronger teaching and learning outcomes for children.

Pedagogical Inquiry Projects provide educators with authentic purpose and context for their professional learning. Through research learning with the children they work with, they also learn about themselves as educators and about broader pedagogical issues. Teachers find these projects very motivating as they are concerned with their context ‘right now’ and not only with a hypothetical group of learners. 

Pedagogical Inquiry Projects are often small in scale but large in learning for the educators involved. When combined with collaborative professional learning structures, they also lead to new understandings, shared practice and a strong professional culture for the whole learning community. 

The team at Lisa Burman Consultants has mentored educators involved in many various Pedagogical Inquiry Projects.  The following are only examples, as the focus must come from the teacher-researchers themselves and be something that has sparked their curiosity or niggled at their ideas about teaching and learning.  Our team does not lead academic research, but guides a process of deep reflection and theory-building.  We balance support with challenge through reflective questioning, analysis of data collected by teachers in their learning environments and critical reflection on professional reading.