Welcome to Post-compulsory Perspectives, the ARPCE Blog —a dynamic space dedicated to sharing insights, research, and reflections on practice in Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE). Here, you’ll find regular contributions from our committee members, offering thought-provoking perspectives on the evolving landscape of post-compulsory education. We’ll also feature updates on the latest research developments in FE and HE, alongside guest posts from leading voices in the field. From occasional reflections by our Chair to contributions from practitioners, researchers, and educators, this blog aims to create dialogue, inspire innovation, and strengthen our ARPCE community of practice.
Research that counts: practitioner research and sharing practice
Kerry Scattergood
January 2026
The Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education’s focus is on post-compulsory education, including adult, further and higher education. Our biennial conference is hosted at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, which feels fitting as Harris Manchester is an adult education college. It is an honour to attend Harris Manchester, reflecting ARPCE’s values, but also marks its long history of partnership with further education. In July 2024, the
ARPCE hosted its 5 th international conference at Harris Manchester College, which resulted in a conference-edition of the popular journal, Research in Post-Compulsory Education. It was a fantastic conference with some interesting papers presented, from early-career researchers to experienced academics.
Such events and journals are so important to the scholarship of the post-16 landscape, where academics and practitioners can meet, share research, and challenge what it means to create knowledge in the post-16 sector. However, the ARPCE committee is conscious that the conference and its location, as valuable as we believe it to be, is not always that accessible to some practitioners. We understand the cost can be prohibitive to those practitioners who work in further education colleges and in adult education, and we have tried to be considerate of this in seeking sponsorship and offering bursary places for past conferences. We are also conscious that the traditional ‘conference’ type set up might feel a little intimidating to practitioner researchers taking their first steps presenting their work.
Personally, it took me a while to build up the confidence to share my work, and I know that small-scale writing and presentation opportunities were a part of that journey.
Why are practitioner-focused events important?
Sharing practitioner research in welcoming spaces is important, as it gives practitioners in the post-16 sector the opportunity, time, and space to talk about and think about research in practice. This strikes me as a fundamental pillar of professional learning in post-16 teaching and learning, as it enables a diversity of thought and ideas, and a chance to think through and own our own expertise. However, I think we should be realistic that it is our instinct is to stay with ‘our’ people. It is well recognised that, across the education sectors, people are drawn to likeminded individuals, that “teachers seek answers from other teachers, who do similar work and who understand the practice from similar perspectives” (Martell et al, 2021, p.400). So, creating like-minded, welcoming spaces is important. And without those spaces, if we aren’t able to access more academic spaces, then we are missing out on the opportunity to think together.
Practitioner-focused events
With this in mind, we felt it is important to host some practitioner-focused events, running across the country. These events will follow the research meet approach to ensure they are as accessible as possible: being free to attend, being hosted at accessible locations, and being welcoming by being conscious of the language we use (Jones et al, 2024). Language is so important: it can be used to include people or, conversely, to shut people out. In an attempt to make them as accessible as possible, we planned to run events in different areas, and in June and July 2025 we ran two inaugural ARPCE practitioner research conferences, one in the Midlands at Solihull College & University Centre, and one in the south at Barking & Dagenham College. We are blessed to have colleagues from Scotland and Wales on the committee so, longer term, hope to expand these events to all corners of Britain, to offer opportunities for likeminded individuals to come together to discuss practitioner research and professional learning.
References
Jones, S, Scattergood, K, Ress, J, and Crowther, N. (2024) ‘FEResearchmeet: A further education (FE) practitioner-research-led, initiative to share and develop capacity for research and scholarship across Wales and England: analysing and theorising the period of initial development’, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, pp.428-451.
Martell, M. M., Carney, M. M., Marin, K. A., Hashimoto-Martell, E. A., (2021) ‘Whose research counts? Teacher Research and the Practitioner-Academic Divide’, The Teacher Educator, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp.399-426.