Mission of IRSE

The main objective of IRSE is to promote research in school education within a broad socio-cultural context. The core areas of interest are in the educational conditions, environments, actors, aims, contents, processes and outcomes at primary and secondary school levels.

Research and Methodology

In order to accomplish these objectives, the members of IRSE employ a wide range of research approaches: theoretical and empirical as well as interdisciplinary and comparative. Besides the quantitative and qualitative methodology, the mixed-method design is employed. The focus of IRSE also lies in the pedagogical methodology, especially in the relation between the theory and practice, general pedagogy and subject pedagogy, mixed methods, video-based methodology, comparative methodology in the research of curriculum and the contrastive approaches in the research of teacher education.

Intensive work in IRSE has increased professional community awareness. IRSE has conducted curriculum research and research based on videotaped analysis of classroom  situations (video analysis) resulting in the development of the concept of transdisciplinary pedagogy and the tools of professionalism and professional development of teachers (video clubs, VideoWeb, web portal, Didactica viva and others).

Professional Expertise and Studies

IRSE develops expert reports and evaluation studies for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic and its organisations. The research findings are publicly discussed as one of the IRSE objectives is to give voice to research community.

Cooperation within the Faculty and University

Another sphere of IRSE influence within the faculty includes inviting colleagues from the other departments to participate in research projects as well as organizing scholarly activities at the faculty. RSE participates in providing the doctoral study in Educational Sciences Programme at the Faculty of Education by supervising doctoral students and prospective applicants. IRSE offers lectures, seminars and workshops on research methodology and subject pedagogy, as well as hosts visiting scholars from the Czech Republic and abroad.

Lectures and Seminars

IRSE gives lectures and seminars within the long-term cycle called Incentives for Educational and Pedagogical Research and the recent Transdisciplinary Seminar on Professions and Professional Preparation.