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Education Research in Planning

Introduction

There is evidence of an increasing membership of what is now the Higher Education Academy (formerly the Institute for Learning and Teaching) amongst academic staff within planning schools throughout the UK. There is also an interest in writing about educational research by planning academics. This indicates a commitment to improving learning and teaching, as well as demonstrating how professionals are seeking to improve their own practice. The Educational Research in Planning SIG believes there is a need to more fully understand, analyse and disseminate aspects of professional teaching practice within the discipline. For example, whilst action research is currently being undertaken by a number of individual academics, there is a case for greater dissemination and shared learning between planning schools.

The interest in the teaching of appropriate knowledge and skills and approaches to learning is being generated by both a generic and a more subject-specific interest in educational research. In planning, particular milestones such as the work of the Royal Town Planning Institute Education Commission’s (2003) Final Report, the Egan Review, and the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (2004) Policy Statement on Initial Planning Education may be identified as raising important questions about planning education. How is this being supported by educational research? The impetus for this SIG was based on a perceived need to ensure that appropriate material on learning and teaching is identified, and that the academics involved in enhancing pedagogical practice are assisted to disseminate in peer-reviewed educational journals.