Keynote 1: Andrew Pollard, Head of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme

In 2002 Professor Andrew Pollard became Director of the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Progarmme (TLRP). His first job was as a salesman for his family's printing business. He then trained as ateacher and held posts at a number of primary schools in Yorkshire, before returning to part-time for a Masters degree, then a PhD, in the Sociology of Education. He is currently based in the Institute of Education, University of London.

"I studied Sociology and Economics as an undergraduate at Leeds. I was particularly keen on interpretative sociology, which is about understanding people's perspectives. There were similarities between this and primary education in the 1970s, in that, in each case, it was very important to appreciate the subjectivity of individuals.

After university I taught at different schools in Yorkshire. Then in the early 1970s, the Houghton Settlement significantly increased teachers' salaries, so both my wife and I decided to take time out to do Masters degrees.

When I finished my MEd I returned to teaching, but continued researching and did a part-time PhD at Sheffield on teacher-pupil interaction and social relationships in classrooms. At the time there wasn't much social science research being done by teachers. By the end of the 1970s, therefore, I had both a PhD and practical experience of teaching. Then I heard about a post in teacher education, with an interest in classroom interaction, at Oxford Polytechnic. I applied for it and got the job. In all, I worked there for five years. During this time I was able to combine research with practical work.

I was initially involved in TLRP as an award holder in a project on Home School Knowledge Exchange with Martin Hughes and colleagues, and I was very interested when the Directorship role for the whole Programme became vacant. The Programme is concerned with developing new understanding which could help 'improving learning' across all stages of the life-course within the UK - not a small ambition. It also seeks to improve the quality of educational research itself. In the late 1990s, educational research had come in for a lot of criticism.

TLRP has developed a great deal over the past few years, and is now over three times bigger than it was in 2002 and involves over 500 researchers in some 60 projects and 20 thematic initiatives. We're particularly committed to engaging with practitioners and policymakers throughout the research process.

I think three things that stand out about TLRP are: a sense of moral commitment to 'improve' learning across the lifecourse and the goodwill this generates; its clear organisational structure and expectations; and an inclusive ethos that promotes appreciation of different research approaches. We are trying to contribute substantively in terms of new knowledge and to improve the quality of educational research. In so doing, we also try to enjoy the challenges that these goals bring!"