CANTARNET (Canterbury Action Research Network) was established in 1996 to provide opportunities for those involved in our school-based Postgraduate MA in School Development to meet and learn together. This programme now operates within CELSI (Centre for Education Leadership and School Improvement), a department within the Department of Professional Development in the Faculty of Education. Teachers and other education professionals are supported in initiating and managing change in their own schools, based upon systematic inquiry integrated with their everyday practice. The focus of the work is derived from individuals' own concerns and responsibilities, negotiated within the context of school development priorities. Academic study through connection with the University enables teachers to support their work with wider research and test theory in practice in order to develop new knowledge and understanding in their own professional contexts.

View the School Development Pathway in the Online Prospectus|.

Network Activities

We hold conferences on Saturday mornings during term time as part of the wider postgraduate academic and professional community, usually with a keynote address, workshops, structured discussion and time for informal interaction and conversation. Please visit the CANTARNET home page |details of forthcoming conferences.

We publish a network journal, The Enquirer, whichincludes teachers' accounts of their research and development work and captures the changing school improvement discourse surrounding our work. School-based groups sometimes compile their own editions.

Access the journal|

The following book explores this approach to teacher leadership and school improvement and charts its development through collaborative action research at Canterbury Christ Church University:

Frost, D., Durrant, J., Head, M. and Holden, G. (2000) Teacher-Led School Improvement, Routledge Falmer.

Further publications about teacher-led development and school improvement

Frost, D. and Durrant, J. (2003) Teacher-led Development Work: guidance and support, London: David Fulton Publishers

Durrant, J. and Holden, G. (2005) Teachers Leading Change: doing research for school improvement, London: Paul Chapman Publishing

Durrant, J. (2005) Teachers Leading Change: frameworks and key ingredients for school improvement, Leading and Managing Vol.10 (2),pp.10-29

Frost, D. and Durrant, J. (2002) Teachers as Leaders: exploring the impact of teacher-led development work, School Leadership and Management, 22 (2)
pp.143-161

Frost, D. and Durrant, J. (2003) Teacher Leadership: Rationale, Strategy and Impact, School Leadership and Management, 23 (2) pp 173-186

Durrant, J (2007) Improvement Matters: an integrated approach to the question of impact. Professional Development Today, 10:2 pp.6-12