TEACHER AS A RESEARCHER: TO BE OR NOT TO BE? Mario Mäeots University of Tartu, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, Institute of Education, Centre for Educational Technology (ESTONIA) Abstract This paper presents some reflections on the concept of teacher as a researcher. It describes the results of two studies. In the first study, 44 Estonian pre-school and basic school teachers were surveyed in order to identify their understanding about the concept of the teacher as a researcher. They were asked to describe the role of the teacher as a researcher, their motivation to adopt research activities in their work, and the main obstacles preventing a teacher from acting as a researcher. The results show that although doing research is important according to teachers, they fail to practice it themselves due to lack of knowledge and time. In the second study, 49 Estonian teachers were asked to describe the phases that are necessary for conducting research. Based on the results three types of teacher researchers emerged: Inquirers, Analyzers, and Seekers. Overall, the teachers believe that teacher research activities help improve their teaching, but need support in applying research related activities. Keywords: teacher research, teacher research skills, teacher professional development, teacher training. 1 INTRODUCTION The expectations society or policymakers have of teachers’ is always changing. According to international policy documents (e.g., see the European Commission report Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes, http://eose.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ communication_rethinking-education_2012.pdf) or in national educational policy documents (e.g., see Estonian Occupational Qualifications for Teachers, http://www.kutsekoda.ee/en/kutsesysteem/ tutvustus/kutsestandardid_eng) teachers should nowadays be innovative, digitally competent and learner-oriented. In order to meet all of these requirements teachers need to undertake continuous professional development with constant reflection on their work. This involves analyzing their teaching with valid (i.e. research-based) methods – in other words, teachers should act like researchers. 1.1 Teacher research Teachers are practitioners whose main task is to apply meaningful teaching methods to support student learning. Most of these teaching methods are usually learnt during pre-service teacher training courses or after attending in-service courses. Over time these practical experiences accumulate and form certain routines in a teacher’ practice [1]. Routines are on the one hand good (e.g., keeping discipline in class) but not for applying flexible and innovative teaching methods (e.g., flipped classroom, inquiry-based learning, self-regulated learning). Professional development can support the development of these innovative methods. One component of teacher professional development is teacher research. Drawing from the literature teacher research is seen as a reflective practice aimed to support professional development focusing on individual development or contributing to the development of public knowledge [2]. Admiraal et al. state that there are three main goals for teacher research: (1) improving teaching practice, (2) increasing professionalism, and (3) extending the knowledge base [3]. Other studies have shown that teacher research has a positive impact on developing and deepening teaching expertise [4, 5]. For example, Martell [6] studied teachers’ who attended a teacher research professional development course where they learned topics like “introduction to teacher research” or “research methods”. During the course, teachers conducted several inquiry-related activities or were asked to make reflective journal entries. Data was collected during and after the course (e.g., using questionnaires, interviews or making observations). A key result of this study is that teacher reflection practices showed positive improvement. Moreover, these improved reflection practices led to more effective learning and teaching. Still, teachers emphasized that teacher research is difficult without professional help [7]. Thus, teachers need support in applying research related activities. There are Proceedings of EDULEARN17 Conference 3rd-5th July 2017, Barcelona, Spain ISBN: 978-84-697-3777-4 6413