National and international developments in higher education and the resultant pressure on universities to demonstrate excellence, including excellence in research, had a far-reaching effect on faculties of education who had traditionally focused more on excellence in teaching than on research. In South Africa, as part of transformation policies…

The article explores the issue of protecting the good name and reputation of institutions and organisations in which research is being done. It explores current ethical codes in this regard, as well as legal provision for such protection. The issue of balancing the right of the researchers to share information about institutions in which research…

Effective performance-based instruction is making a sustained and noticeable impact on township schools in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. We document the performance improvement effort made over the past 7 years by Partnerships for Educational Excellence and Research International (P.E.E.R), a team of educators, instructional system designers,…

This article maps out key features of self-study in teaching and teacher development, particularly in relation to social action. As teacher educator-researchers, we have become increasingly interested in how self-reflexivity in teaching and teacher development can illuminate social and educational challenges that have resonance beyond the self and…

Since 1984, the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa has evaluated and rated researchers, using peer review of the recent research outputs and impact of each applicant's work. This article reports on an investigation into the evolution of the research careers of Y-rated researchers (young researchers with potential) in the natural…

The mere fact that a library service is being used does not mean that the service makes a difference or has a positive impact on the user. This has significant implications for Special Library and Information Services (SL&IS) that have to constantly prove that they add value. Because of the difficulty of measuring impact effectively, the…

In this paper, we employ cultural sociology and Braj Kachru's model of World Englishes as theoretical and analytical tools for considering English as a form of capital necessary for widely disseminating research findings from local networks of practice to the greater science education research community. We present a brief analysis of recent…

This paper presents some reflections on the process of creating research, from the point of view of a psychologist working in an academic environment in a developing country which is undergoing social transformation. It explores some tensions between global and local concerns in research, and reflects on the relation between research, art,…

In my investigation I set out to break the HIV/AIDS culture of silence and emphasize the role of the teacher as a researcher and critical change agent in an HIV/AIDS challenged society. My work demonstrates how teachers could play such a role by encouraging learners' participation in sport. The sport, I focussed on in my action research project…

Background/Context: In 1994, the Spencer Foundation embarked on an ambitious experimental initiative to support the preparation of education researchers. Over the 13-year span of the Research Training Grant (RTG) program, the foundation made multiyear awards to more than a dozen leading institutions in the United States and South Africa. This…

Since 1995 I have been engaged in consultancies and since 2001 in research dealing with the language of instruction policies in Africa. To what extent are the policies being implemented? What is the role of research and consultancy when it comes to language policy? What happens when researchers or consultants come up with recommendations which do…

This narrative acts as an articulation of a journey of many routes. Following Part I of the same research journey of rootedness/routedness, it debates the nature of transformation and transcendence beyond personal and political paradoxes informed by neoliberalism and related repressive globalizing discourses. Through a more personal, descriptive,…

In this paper I call for an unequivocal legitimisation of the living "I" in educational research. The paper itself becomes a context that explains this call. It is a report of my action research into my professional learning through working in South Africa, within the context of new policy frameworks for continuing teacher development.…

In study 1, human resource consultants collaborated on knowledge productive learning. In study 2, teacher researchers collaborated in inquiry. The projects demonstrated how professionals use authentic ways of developing expertise to renew their knowledge base and become knowledge productive learners. (JOW)

In this article we argue that understanding the identities that teacher educators construct for themselves is central to effecting innovation within a changing policy environment. The article begins with a theoretical perspective on the nexus of change and identity. It then discusses the central features of identity amongst a group of teacher…