Multi-level Collaborative Research and Knowledge Exchange for the study of EdTech and Teacher Development in Bangladesh

Conference Presentation for the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) Conference, Edinburgh, 14th September 2022.

Research on the use of EdTech for teacher development in low- and middle-income countries is growing. Educational needs are often greatest in marginalised low-income rural communities, yet most studies in this area do not focus on the needs of teachers or students in such communities. Few EdTech studies examine the roles of communities of practice in rural schools, despite ample evidence showing the importance of school level collaboration and co-operation for teacher development. This paper presents a novel research approach for examining the educational needs of teachers and students in marginalised rural communities, and the processes of using EdTech at-scale for teacher development in Bangladesh.

Innovative approaches to collaborative practice in research and knowledge exchange operate at three levels: Firstly, the research adapts Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation Research (PEER) methods, previously used in health, co-opting rural primary teachers as ethnographic field-researchers to explore and evidence the experiences of peers within their communities. Secondly, the PEER teacher-researchers will explore the role of communities of practice within local schools, in translating numeracy practices advocated through EdTech resources into teaching and learning practices within their schools. Thirdly, the research leadership team and PEER teacher-researchers will use evidence cafes—a novel form of equitable knowledge exchange—to engage policymakers, educators and rural teachers throughout the research, from inception to completion. Iterative cycles of research will use the evidence cafes to collaboratively make sense of emerging evidence, refine the questions and methods for the next cycle of research, and identify recommendations for policy and practice.

The research will contribute evidence as to how new collaborative processes can get better traction with policymakers and educators, and enable the voices of rural teachers to be heard and acted upon in strengthening policy and practice in the use of EdTech for teacher development.