Enabling teachers to better teach through engaging with research

In recent years educational authorities across Australia have been paying increasing attention to improving the learning outcomes of all students in schools, or as it is more pointedly stated, getting schools to focus more on their core business of teaching and learning. Saint Augustine’s Primary School and Southern Cross University in Coffs Harbour Australia have established a ‘Teachers as Researcher’s Initiative’ (TARI) as a vehicle to improve the teaching of teachers. There are three key elements that make up the TARI. These elements are: (1) a partnership with a local university, (2) the introduction of a coaching, mentoring and feedback regime and (3) the embedding of a research culture. While we discuss each element individually for clarity purposes, the reality is that each element is connected to the others in equal measure such that the orchestration of each in required doses is what makes the TARI work. This is a comment about the important role that the school’s leadership team plays in enabling the project to succeed and have the desired impact. In this article we provide an insight into the TARI for those who are wanting to refocus their school and their teachers.