Learning how to Learn: Using the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set to Support Teachers as Researchers

Teachers need to know what they can do in their classroom practice to help pupils acquire the knowledge and skills of learning how to learn. At the same time, the transfer of knowledge among teachers and between networked schools needs to be investigated and an evidence-based model of knowledge creation and transfer in school settings needs to be developed. The Teaching and Learning Research Project (TLRP) is a £ 23 million programme of research into teaching and learning in the United Kingdom commissioned and managed by the Economic and Social Research Council. The programme aims to " enhance the achievement of learners at all ages and stages in education, training and lifelong learning; develop the capability for transforming the knowledge base relevant to learning into effective and efficient teaching and training practices; enhance the system-wide capacity for research based practice in teaching and learning [and] promote and extend multidisciplinary and multi-sector research in teaching and learning ". (Teaching and Learning Research Programme n.d.). Central to the programme's approach is a commitment to use research in support of " evidence-based teaching and learning " , characterised by Macintyre and Macintyre (1999, p15) as being " concerned with the effectiveness of patterns of teaching and learning, or with 'what works' ". The programme's approach is premised on a view that the improved understanding of educational practices offered by educational research leads to more informed and effective policies and practice through teacher education, the development of curriculum materials and exemplifi-cation of 'best practices'. At the same time, educational research is advanced and sustained by the presence of 'teachers as researchers' engaged in action research on their own practice (Stenhouse 1975), and many of the projects which make up the Teaching and Learning Research Programme have a commitment to involving and supporting teachers in research activity. 'Learning how to Learn' is a project in the second phase of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme and has been running since January 2001. It involves over 40 schools, spread across 6 Local Education Authorities in the UK, in a programme of training and development as part of which they identify areas of potential development of their assessment practice. They are supported in this by an assigned 'critical friend' – a member of the project team who facilitates training and needs analysis, advises on the application of new strategies, and supports teachers who wish to undertake research …