Measuring the ‘Quality' of Educational Research: Reflections on the Australian Experience

Abstract

In the last ten years in Australia researchers have come under intense scrutiny as assessment measures of research quality have dominated their work. While these initiatives have made highly visible the work of some educational researchers, at the same time, they have made invisible the scholarship and work of many others in education faculties and schools of education. In this paper, I explore some of the tensions and complexities of the educational research context in Australia. I draw on my experience as a researcher, teacher educator and academic manager to examine the discourses that shape educational research in Australia. I provide a profile of educational researchers and how they are positioned in the current research climate, who is funded and what is funded, and what counts as ‘quality’ research. I conclude by suggesting the need for broader and more inclusive categorisations of educational research and educational researchers and better recognition of the diversity of education academics.