CGS Research Centre
“The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.”
– McKinley 2007
As part of its commitment to investing in teachers, CATS Global Schools is pleased to announce the development of our CGS Research Centre, designed to be part of the CGS Professional Development Programme that all CGS teachers undertake. The Research Centre is a major component of professional development that seeks to engage with a wider evidence based approach to teaching and learning. The Research Centre will seek to generate and engage with research that is cutting-edge and reflects best practice so that our students are the recipients of a first class education.
The Research Centre has four major dimensions:
Developing and supporting cross-school practitioner research
The well established programme of practitioner research offers opportunity for new and established teachers to undertake exploration of areas of teaching and learning which impact directly on their own teaching. Extensive support is offered through supervisions with experienced university researchers; access to up to date scholarly research resource; comprehensive online readings and videos on data collection and research methods; research methods teaching; and dissemination within and across schools. through in house conferences, to present on the research undertaken.
CGS has established an online Research Journal to facilitate publication for our teachers, and to ensure research is shared across our family of schools.
CGS will also support involvement in professional networks, including its own subject networks.
Recognising, supporting and disseminating formalised external research such as Masters and Doctorates being undertaken by school staff
Many of our teachers continue their academic career through formalised research at universities, including Masters and Doctoral Studies. Keeping up to date with subject knowledge, and developments in pedagogy and curriculum can only enhance teaching and therefore our students’ learning. CGS is keen to ensure excellent and current knowledge is shared across the schools, and so the Research Centre will be a hub for teachers undertaking externally validated research to post and discuss key readings, research findings and new ideas from the courses they are following.
In this way, CGS will build a knowledge bank that all its teachers can access and which will support critical engagement with evidence based teaching and learning. The CGS Community of Practice thus generated will feed into the creation of an informed and active teaching community.
Develop research to engage with external communities, including UK and international universities
As part of enhancing the CGS research network, the Research Centre will actively promote engagement with university research, welcoming both university lecturers and selected doctoral students to develop and expand its research repertoire. In building a powerful research profile, CGS also invites other top performing schools to work with us, and to exploit the opportunities afforded by collaborative working.
CGS is interested in researching some selected pilot projects in pedagogy and curriculum with national and international partners and invites potential research collaborators to contact us directly through our Managing Director (Schools) Dr Craig Wilson. His contact can be found below. Our Research Centre Board will be glad to consider and give feedback on research proposals that will be mutually beneficial.
Developing school and staff profiles with an appreciation of research as a critical engagement activity
CGS is a welcoming research community but brings a sense of criticality – that is, informed judgement, to its work. Education, nationally and internationally, is a business. Research and evidence is frequently used as part of marketing. Our teachers bring to the various claims made an informed and critical perspective, able through their own research training to evaluate and consider the impact that new approaches will have. Our priority is our students’ success, and all that we do is designed to ensure they have the best educational experience we can offer. Critical engagement has to inform our pedagogical and curricular judgements, and research is the mechanism that allows us to be discerning in our response and adoption of innovative approaches.
The Professional Research Centre at CGS houses a thriving and enthusiastic culture of research informed teachers. CGS teachers are characterised by Intellectual curiosity and intellectual rigour, and professional research is central to that. Investment in teachers is also investment in students, and both are at the heart of CGS.
Contact: Dr Craig Wilson: crwilson@catsglobalschools.com
