Why Identify an Educational Researcher’s Impact?

Students, teachers, and educational institutions make up a complex yet intangible system of learning.  At the heart of this system is the objectives of each stakeholder – all met in an environment everyone refers to as school, college, or university.

Apart from the system’s heart, there also are its arms and hands.  These may be inclusive of the education system’s front-liners – the teachers, students, and active school administrators and officials.  Now, something’s missing in the picture; where’s the linkage between the heart, arms, and hands? 

That linkage is a heterogeneous composite of differing schools of thought about the teaching practice.  Part of this heterogeneous make-up is the Educational Researcher.  This researcher, focusing either on theories or application, produces significant outputs of which creates an impact on the teaching practice and on the education system as a whole.

Unfortunately, not everyone is appreciative of the educational researcher’s efforts.  How could one tell such lack?  The simple truth is that there goes less and less funding for educational research.  And this is queer; societies all over the world recognise the fact that if they want to lead, they must start by founding their youth with high quality education.  In fact, ‘high quality’ is an oft-used term in association to global competence. 
   
Evidently, this less funding is a result of the ‘marketing adversity’ – which implicates that regardless of threats in funding; an educational researcher must continue to assert legitimacy, as well as their cause’s significance.  Apart from lobbying significance, the research sector should continue to persist in fighting the ignorance that continues to downplay their contribution to their sworn sector.

And the struggle shouldn’t just stick up on affected research folks; it should also encompass the public, or stakeholders.  They might not see it now, but this researcher-dilemma may no sooner be theirs, too.