The development of a research culture in secondary schools

Abstract This article is grounded in several types of empirical qualitative data deriving from a sample of four of the six secondary schools participating in a research partnership with the University of Cambridge School of Education. It is argued that each of the four schools has a research culture that fits within a category that can be described as either emergent, established or established-embedded. The body of the article sets out distinguishing features of each of these forms of school research culture, and goes on to discuss the implications that this categorisation holds for current governmental policy with regards to the continuing professional development (CPD) of teachers.