Studying teachers' interests and the questions they pose about their educational practice

It is well known that most teachers appear to take little or no interest in the activities and findings of educational researchers. In two successive studies, experienced senior high-school teachers’ interest and the questions they pose about their educational practice were studied to establish insights for teacher education and teacher-educator researchers. In the first study, 81 teachers’ research reports for obtaining a master’s degree were analysed and the results were validated by questioning another 39 teachers and having them pose questions about their practice. The results showed that students’ cognitive learning was the teachers’ main priority. In the second study, 22 teachers completed a questionnaire about themes from educational research related to cognitive learning. The results showed that the teachers were interested in the topics of cognitive growth and insightful and engaged learning. How to practise these topics regularly was important to the teachers regardless of their teaching discipline. Implications for teacher-educator researchers are discussed.