Anyone can do it? Supporting educational research in other disciplines

This paper addresses the question of how disciplinary discourses shape conceptualisations of educational research, and the implications of this for the promotion of educational (including pedagogic) research among academics in other disciplines.

The promotion of the ‘teaching-research nexus’ is currently a popular focus both within education policy and in the practice of teacher education and development for academic staff. The authors, education academics in an academic development unit, are expected as part of their role to support colleagues in subject departments in developing educational enquiry within their disciplines. Publication is encouraged as a form of dissemination, as a means of raising the institutional profile, and to support the career development of the academics concerned.

Using published examples from a range of disciplines as case studies, we consider here how disciplinary discourses, paradigms and practices shape ideas of what constitutes educational research activity, and how such activity is written up for publication. In particular, we analyse the extent to which educational research by disciplinary academics can be seen as making a positive contribution to the field of educational research in general. We link this discussion to the long-running arguments within HE teacher education about generic and discipline-specific pedagogy.

Finally, we consider the implications: for those of us working in academic development unit; for the dissemination of educational research within the wider academic community; and for the quality of educational research as an academic endeavour in its own right.