Towards Good Practice in Research Capacity Building

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Towards Good Practice in (Research) Capacity
Building Mike Wallace, Round 1 RDI
Project Building Management Research
Capacity Training Researchers as Trainers
Chris Taylor, Round 2 RDI Project BERA/ESRC
2007 Residential Summer School

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Session Aims

• Introduce the thinking behind our RDI projects,
  share issues and dilemmas, and raise questions of
  good practice
• Explore these questions in relation to
  participants contribution to research capacity
  building

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Management and Education Research in Context

• Lowest rate of securing ESRC grants
• Eclectic and applied fields with strong normative
  practical focus
• Contestation within the field (challenge of
  rigour plus relevance)
• Demography - ageing profile
• Multiple career entry points (including
  experienced practitioners)

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Contrasts between Management and Education

• Salaries higher in business schools
• But recruitment and retention compete with even
  higher business salaries
• Greater value contestation in field of education
  over ends and means
• Pro-capitalism values tend to frame management,
  public service values tend to frame education

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Research Council Initiative Learned Society
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Dialogue and Analysis

• Conception of academic lifecourse stages
• Research and training roles at different stages
• Demography numbers at different stages now and
  in future
• Existing training provision and identified gaps
  in relation to roles and stages
• Priority development needs linked to tasks for
  roles at particular stages, and to demography
• Range of learning support activities to meet
  priority needs and their potential impact
• Resourcing parameters set by RDI and the
  institutional contribution

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AIM-BAM Joint Plan

• Meet development needs for different roles
• Train management researchers in their secondary
  role as trainers of research students and other
  researchers(AIM RDI project)
• Build capacity of all management researchers in
  their primary role as researchers across academic
  life course(BAM RDI project, other AIM and BAM
  activities)

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Informed by Model of Learning Stages and Learning
Support

• Wallace, M (1999) When is experiential learning
  not experiential learning?
• in Murphy, P (ed) Learners, Learning and
  Assessment London Paul Chapman in association
  with the Open University

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Stages in learning
Existing performance of management research tasks
Challenge to existing performance
Increased awareness, and justification for
development
Rationale for development
Practical ideas on how to develop
Practice in developing performance
Improved performance of management research tasks
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Stages in learning Components of
Learning Support
Existing performance of management research tasks
Diagnosis
Challenge to existing performance
Increased awareness, and justification for
development
Critical understanding
Rationale for development
Practical information
Practical ideas on how to develop
Skills
Practice in developing performance
Integration into skilful performance
Improved performance of management research tasks
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Stages in learning Components of
Learning Support
Previous experience
Existing performance of management research tasks
Task performance
Diagnosis
From research, professional knowledge, theory,
policy
Challenge to existing performance
From personal theories of action
Increased awareness, and justification for
development
Critical understanding
General principles
Specific information necessary for tasks
Rationale for development
Practical information
General research and personal development
Practical ideas on how to develop
Specific for research tasks
Skills
Practice in developing performance
Specific for learning activity
Integration into skilful performance
Range of tasks
Improved performance of management research tasks
Specific tasks
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AIM RDI Project
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Attempt to Maximise Impact

• strategic - train trainers (cascade)
• inclusive - open to all business schools
• fill key gap - logic of enquiry materials
• regional provision - access, networking
• workshop series - depth of learning and impact on
  practice
• informal learning agreement - participants commit
  to series, dean endorses
• levy modest fee for series at outset

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Modular Learning Support Sequence
Preparatory Work Diagnose issues through
reviewing practice, present knowledge Problematise
practice, stimulate thinking through reading
Workshop Sessions Link participants experience
and knowledge to present activity Expert input on
a new research training topic Plan follow-up work
to integrate ideas from input into practice
Follow-up Work Activity to support integration
into practice Prepare for next workshop report
back, diagnose etc
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Problems and Promising Developments

• Modest recruitment to workshop series so far -
  not universally high priority for deans/HoSs or
  potential participants
• Significant number of no-shows, often without
  notice (even though charged)
• patchy response from experts in the management
  field - reliant on goodwill
• but
• participants appreciate inputs and networking
  opportunity
• early evidence of impact on practice

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What is the best balance between

• Superficial practical information giving for wide
  coverage vs sustained guidance for a few on real
  job tasks with feedback?
• Centralised projects which risk dependence vs
  regional or local projects which risk
  unacceptable diversity?
• Open invitation which mainly attracts enthusiasts
  vs mandating which mainly generates
  unenthusiastic compliance?

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BERA / ESRC 2007 Residential Summer School

• Four day residential summer school for education
  research students in Cardiff
• Joint funding with British Educational Research
  Association (BERA)
• Annual event in BERA calendar
• In the past funded under the ESRC Training and
  Development Activities
• Lots of demand from research students
• BUT difficulty in encouraging someone or HEI to
  organise high quality summer school

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Rationale for Summer School

• Political economy of research and funding in UK
  education
• Demographic crisis in education research a
  new cohort of education researchers
• Limited research infrastructure (experiential and
  training) in individual education departments
  exposure to ideas and methods normally unfamiliar
  to students
• Key role for the Learned Society and its
  membership (British Educational Research
  Association)

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Foreseen Problems

• Diverse group of participants
• range of experiences, ages, and approaches to
  empirical research
• Some (many?) not career researchers
• Cost-benefits of capacity-building investments
• Practitioner research issues
• contribution to knowledge in the field, personal
  expertise, apprenticeships to something more
• HE Institutional responsibilites?
• Research supervision and training
• ESRC Recognition

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What is the best balance (2) between

• Life-stage/cycle of the academic researcher vs
  Demographics of (new) education researchers
• (short-term) Practitioner-based research skills
  vs (long-term) Social science skills of education
  research
• The role of HEIs and employers vs Externally
  coordinated/funded activities