The ACE Foundation: Connecting research and professional inquiry

In line with its aim of being 'a voice for the profession', the Australian College of Educators (ACE) has a longstanding commitment to educational research. ACE has been a catalyst for many research projects, such as its longitudinal research on Australia's teachers which has been a valuable tool for education policy makers for nearly four decades (e.g. Logan et al. 1990). The significant changes in the education environment over the past decade and the new demands on the education profession suggest that the research role of professional bodies like ACE can only become more important. However, the rapidity and scope of the change demands an urgent and critical examination of the type and focus of this research effort. The formation of the ACE Foundation presents an opportunity to address this challenge.

The major purpose of the ACE Foundation is to support the education profession and quality teaching in Australia through the promotion of educational research. After its formation in 2002, one of the Foundation's first tasks was to determine the sort of research that it wanted to support-a task that demands theorising an approach to educational research and developing a practical process for implementing the approach. This brief paper sets out the Foundation's first pass at this complex task, focusing largely on conceptual matters. It is intended that the Foundation will subject the ideas contained in the paper to regular critical review, in the light of experience and the continued professional dialogue that it fosters. The paper starts by offering a brief sketch of the contemporary contexts in which education functions and the implications of these for education policy and the work of educators.