Embedding research activities in school

Any activity designed to improve a school in any way should be backed by evidence that suggests that the effort is going to be worthwhile. One of the great joys of working in education is appreciating the differences between schools, although this diversity is one of the greatest challenges to establishing coherent policies across the country. Given this, the role of school-based research is clear; it gives schools the chance to better understand the specific needs and characteristics of their own setting, and the opportunity to inform their own practice to best respond to those needs and characteristics. In Leadership Matters, Andy Buck suggests that ‘an evidence-based approach is about combining one’s own experience, observation and analysis with what external evidence suggests. That way you can work out what is going to work for your students in your setting’ (Buck, 2016). He also suggests that this means that senior leaders are more likely to tell middle leaders what will wor