Research evidence and reflective teaching

Steve Higgins considers the relationship between research evidence and reflective teaching and argues that they are complementary in supporting the development of teachers’ professional expertise.

Celebration of a seminal work

This article is a celebration of the publication of the 5^th Edition of Andrew Pollard’s Reflective Teaching in Schools (Pollard et al. 2018).¹ The updated version includes adapted summaries of the research evidence included in the Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit. This serves as an indication of the change in the relationship between research and practice over the last twenty years. As a new lecturer in initial teacher education, I was an early adopter of the first edition of Reflective Teaching in Primary Schools (Pollard & Tann, 1997) and wished it had been available when I did my PGCE.! Since the publication of the EEF Toolkit I have thought a lot about the relationship between research evidence and reflective teaching and have developed some of these ideas in this article.

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      string(4099) "London: Routledge. ■ Cain, T., Holmes, M., Larrett, A., & Mattock, J. (2007). Literature‐informed, one‐turn action research: three cases and a commentary. British Educational Research Journal, 33(1), 91-106. ■ Cain, T., & Milovic, S. (2010). Action research as a tool of professional development of advisers and teachers in Croatia. European Journal of Teacher Education, 33(1), 19-30. ■ Carr, W., & Kemmis, S. (1983). Becoming critical: Knowing through action research. London: RoutledgeFalmer. ■ Carter, A. (2015). Carter Review of Initial Teacher Training (ITT). Online: www.gov.uk/government/publications/carter-reviewof-initial-teacher-training. ■ Elliott, J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. ■ Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educational process. Lexington, MA: Heath & Co. ■ Elliot, J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. ■ Godfrey, D. (2017). What is the proposed role of research evidence in England’s ‘self-improving’school system?. Oxford Review of Education, 43(4), 433-446. ■ Goldacre, B. (2013). Building evidence into education. Online: http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/b/ben%20goldacre%20paper.pdf  ■ Gov.uk. (2014). Newly Qualified Teachers: Annual Survey. Online: www.gov.uk/government/collections/newly-qualified-teachers-annual-survey. ■ Hammersley, M. (2002). Educational Research, Policymaking and Practice. London: Paul Chapman. ■ Hargreaves, D. (1996). Teaching as a Research-based Profession: Possibilities and Prospects. Teacher Training Agency Annual Lecture. London: Teacher Training Agency. ■ Kelchtermans, G., & Ballet, K. (2002). The micropolitics of teacher induction. A narrative-biographical study on teacher socialisation. Teaching and teacher education, 18(1), 105-120. ■ Kennedy, M. M. (1991). Some surprising findings on how teachers learn to teach. Educational leadership, 49(3), 14-17. ■ Korthagen, F., Loughran, J., & Russell, T. (2006). Developing fundamental principles for teacher education programs and practices. Teaching and teacher education, 22(8), 1020-1041. ■ Miles, S., Barrett, E., Barton, L., Furlong, J., Galvin, C., & Whitty, G. (1993). Initial teacher education in England and Wales a topography. Research Papers in Education, 8(3), 275-304. ■ Rutter, M. (1979). Fifteen thousand hours: Secondary schools and their effects on children. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press. ■ Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York: Basic books. ■ Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass ■ Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard educational review, 57(1), 1-23. ■ Somekh, B. (2006). Action research: a methodology for change and development: a methodology for change and development. Maidenhead: Open University Press. ■ Stenhouse, L., & Rudduck, J. (1985). Research as a basis for teaching: Readings from the work of Lawrence Stenhouse. London: Heinemann. ■ Whitehead, J., & McNiff, J. (2006). Action research: Living theory. London: Sage. ■ Whitty, G., & Furlong, J. (Eds.). (2017). Knowledge and the study of education: an international exploration. Oxford: Symposium Books. ■ Zeichner, K. (1986). The practicum as an occasion for learning to teach. South Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 14(2), 11-27. ■ Zeichner, K. M. & Liston, D.P (1996). Reflective teaching: an introduction Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. "
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Leading Professional Development

Using research for teachers’ professional development

13 Feb 2019

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      string(5797) "Great expectationsAfter decades of exhortation for teachers and schools to become research engaged has anything changed? Has the call for practitioner researchers made any headway? Is teaching actually becoming an evidenced-based profession and if so it will make any difference? These are fundamental and challenging questions. They are perhaps especially important to pose now as there appears, at last, to be a groundswell promoting the notion of the research engaged school. It is entirely appropriate that if the time and energy of schools, and those who work in them, is to be well invested then research engagement should deliver the goods, and we need to be clear about what those dividends might be. Learning from the pastLooking to the past is not particularly fashionable in educational thinking and development. Quite rightly there are concerns that this leads to replicating tired and expired philosophies and practice rather than forging forwards with new improved approaches. But there is potentially a false dichotomy at work here. Pausing occasionally to reflect on where we have come from need not involve uncritical and wholesale repetition. Rather it can be a helpful process of examining past perspectives and using this selectively to inform – and even challenge – current thinking and action.  This came powerfully to mind when reading again a critique of the work and legacy of Lawrence Stenhouse written by Jean Rudduck (Rudduck, 1988). Both Stenhouse and Rudduck were considerable talents and did much to illuminate the forces at play in education – which still have resonance with present-day debates about research engagement in schools.  Rudduck is full of admiration for Stenhouse’s lifetime commitment to his cause: “One of the most remarkable things about Stenhouse was the continuity of his purpose. He first started writing about authority and emancipation in education when he was 16 or so – in a school assignment – and continued for the next forty years, using a series of research and development projects as opportunities to extend his inquiry.”  (Rudduck, 1988, page 30)This reflection signals the pivotal preoccupation which Rudduck identifies as lying at the heart of Stenhouse’s work on curriculum reform – and indeed also at the centre of Rudduck’s own pioneering work on pupil voice.  It is all about knowledge, power and control.  For Stenhouse the stakes could not be higher and he inveighed against the way knowledge is used to subjugate rather than liberate both students and teachers. Participant research and inquiry were to be the means of redressing this, establishing autonomy and redistributing control. This call to arms was taken up many years later when the term research engaged school was first coined (Handscomb and MacBeath, 2003)1.  Early champions anticipated that “the Third Millennium school is required to be self-evaluating, open to scrutiny, evidenced-based, data rich” but, echoing Stenhouse, suggested that nevertheless schools were often “information poor”:“This is, in part, because teachers feel no ownership of the data they are expected to use, nor is it necessarily data that they value … so teachers find themselves busy in implementation rather than inquiry, lacking in confidence to convert what they know or believe into a form that provides robust counter evidence, that speaks with conviction from teachers’ own context and experiences.” (Handscomb and MacBeath, 2003, page 3) Much water has past under the bridge since this time, but the fundamental tenets set out by early exponents can still prove valuable in examining the current core purpose, approach and practice of research engagement. An Ecosystem for Research Engaged SchoolsThis special issue of Professional Development Today is entirely devoted to the subject of the research engaged school. Most of the articles are developed from chapters of a forthcoming publication: An Ecosystem for Research-Engaged Schools: Reforming Education through Research, edited by David Godfrey and Chris Brown. Using the concept of the school as an ecosystem – in all its interconnecting dimensions and elements – the contributors explore how research engagement can be integrated into the lives of teachers and leaders as part of the structures and cultures of the school. Together, through examining its function within the very fabric and systems of the school, the articles in this issue seek to make research engagement real and potent.They explore a wide array of crucial features. Topics include: leaders embedding research engagement within the school as a professional learning community; cultivating a genuine culture of inquiry; promoting a research informed reflection approach to professional development; a richer understanding of teacher professionalism based on an inclusive and pragmatic model of research-informed practice; and empowering teachers’ curriculum development activity through inquiry.Above all, the contributions raise aloft the emblazoned message that inquiry provides the foundation for high quality professional learning. In similar vein there is also an additional piece from Steve Higgins developed from a chapter in Reflective teaching in schools by Andrew Pollard and colleagues.  This provides an in-depth analysis of how the complementary relationship between evidence and reflective teaching supports the development of teachers’ professional expertise. A concluding thoughtThese rich and varied"
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Editorial/Opinion

Making research engagement real

13 Feb 2019

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      string(346) "... effective teachingand learning’. All of the contributors to the bookare respected recognized professionals within manysectors of the field of education and it is deeply rootedin research and evidence. . It is a book that I will begoing back to time and time again as a comprehensivereference guide to key topics within ..."
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      string(4713) "……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………60Enriching your teaching ■■■■■➜Karen Vincent explores this essentialcomprehensive guide to teaching throughreflective practice. Being an experienced teacher yet relativelynew to teacher education, I was keen tofind some space to immerse myself in thecontents of a new publication of this wellrespected book which was first published in 1987.I soon found myself absorbed in the content. Itcovers a huge range of important topics for bothexperienced and developing teachers alike. Many of theeducationalists that were involved in the UK’s teachingand learning programme have informed and contributedto the thinking behind this work, particularly througha focus on the ‘ten principles for effective teachingand learning’. All of the contributors to the bookare respected recognized professionals within manysectors of the field of education and it is deeply rootedin research and evidence. . It is a book that I will begoing back to time and time again as a comprehensivereference guide to key topics within education.The introduction written by the book’s author offersdirection through a clear statement of values that outlinethe work. Whilst this book brings together a respectedbody of thinking in relation to education, its strengthEnrichingyourteachingBook Review: Pollard, A. (2014)Reflective Teaching in Schools 4th editionBloomsbury: London61……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Referenceis its accessibility. It is written in a highly readableand accessible style and manages to both introducethe reader to pertinent topics highly relevant to theprofession by posing deep and searching questions aswell as support the reader by offering further readingsand references including website links with which tosupport deeper and further understanding and study.The book is divided into five sections, each designedto deepen understanding of the role of the teacher andincludes: Becoming a reflective professional; Creatingconditions for learning; Teaching for learning; Reflectingon consequences and Deepening understanding. Each‘part’ is divided further into chapters clearly identifiedwith a brief explanation of the content of each.Following this, each chapter is usefully and clearlybroken down into bulleted subsections indicatingthe page references for ease of access. There are keyreadings at the end of each chapter. I questionedwhether this would be further improved by linkingeach subsection to the teaching standards but decidedthat further changes of policy may mean that thisbook would be immediately out of date. For such aclassic work, this would be a great shame. Much ofthe content of this book is related to enduring issuesrelated to teaching children and will be useful for futuregenerations of teachers to come.Initially, I have to admit, I grappled with the layout,looking for a key to the meaning of the symbols thatlink to website information and further readings. It isassumed that the reader is familiar with this suite ofresources. There is brief reference to the integratedset of resources available on the back cover but amore comprehensive guide within the introductionwould be useful for new readers unfamiliar with thisarrangement and to help them to navigate the bookmore easily. I discovered that there is a contents list atthe back of the book which indicates accompanyingreadings contained in the companion book : Readingsfor Reflective Teaching in Schools. So readers may feelthey need to also purchase this book as well. Havingsaid this, even without this additional resource, there isplenty of other support and signposting for developingand building upon subject content through readings andreferences. Scenarios, reflective activities and analysisalong with extra video content enables engagement ata deeper level for the reader.One of the first things I did on reading this was tofind myself searching for a context"
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Professional Development

Book review: Enriching your teaching

27 Jun 2014

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      string(412) "... research:  its usefulness, its contribution to knowledge, and its methodological rigour; and the application of these criteria would be different depending on the type of research being undertaken . So different demands would be made of, for example, reflective teaching, action research and researching teaching and learning. For some this will ..."
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      string(5927) "confidence to convert what they know or believe into a form that provides robust counter-evidence. It weakens their ability to speak with conviction that is grounded in their own professional context and experience. The value of CPD which fosters research engagement is that it contains the potential for an “enquiry” outlook which empowers and re-professionalises teachers: “Research leads teachers back to the things that lie at the heart of their professionalism: pupils, teaching and learning” (Ruddock, 2001). Indeed some see this as the hallmark of the move towards teaching becoming a mature profession – when enquiry as a fundamental form of learning and development is “integrated into the normal practice for all practitioners” (Wilkins, 2015).   The credibility and status of practitioner researchHowever positive practitioner research as a core feature of professional development is judged to be, there continues to be heated argument within the wider research community about its importance and status.  In their best evidence synthesis of professional learning and development Timperley and colleagues are coruscating in their stark judgement of the impact of teachers’ research engagement and the calibre of any contribution to the research knowledge base: “With rare exceptions … such knowledge has been transitory, likely to be named as the work of researchers rather than teachers, inaccessible to other teachers, siloed in academic sub-disciplines, and lost amid a plethora of fads or low priority within academic hierarchies of knowledge and reward systems” (Timperley, Wilson, Barrar and Fung, 2008). McLaughlin (2004) reflected: “There has been much debate about the quality, status and type of engagement of practitioners” and goes on to identify a long tradition of tension between two contrasting aspirations for practitioner research and enquiry – its role, nature and purposes. One is that teachers should investigate their own practice to improve it. The other is for practitioner research to contribute to public knowledge about teaching and learning.  Fierce conjecture raged when the Centre for Action Research (CARN) advocated strongly that the evidence of teacher enquirers from their own classrooms was more important than that of other external researchers, whilst in contrast researchers like Foster and Gorard “contested the validity of all teacher research in informing the practice of others” (cited in Bell, Cordingley, Isham and Davies, 2010). At the heart of this often vitriolic debate about the value of practitioner research, and by implication its contribution to wider improvement dynamics within the eco-system,  is the issue of the criteria by which it should be evaluated and whether this should be the same as that by which academic research is judged.  McIntyre (2004) provides a helpful reflection by suggesting that we view educational research as a continuum of possibilities. He argues that there are three general criteria for judging educational research:  its usefulness, its contribution to knowledge, and its methodological rigour; and the application of these criteria would be different depending on the type of research being undertaken . So different demands would be made of, for example, reflective teaching, action research and researching teaching and learning. For some this will not be sufficient and will in their eyes leave practitioner research wanting; others, however, will be happy to go with McIntyre’s compelling argument that practitioner research be counted as significant within its fit for purpose school context: “There is a term known as ‘good enough research’ which means generating research designs that are valid and reliable to their purpose and their context., rather than to the purity of knowledge or its generalisability. School-based enquiry is often ‘good enough research’” (McIntyre, 2004).Nevertheless there is a sense that “the jury is still out”  regarding the status  of practitioner research,  with continuing debate  more recently fuelled  by Goldacre’s “bad science” challenge and advocacy of randomised control trials (Goldacre 2013).The power of the insider’s knowledgeThe value of incorporating research engagement – in all its forms – into professional learning has much to do with the way in which it has the potential to empower staff and give them a voice. This is evident, for instance, within initiatives like Research Learning Communities. The RLC model is particularly interesting in the way it is founded upon approach where participants are asked to combine school based knowledge from practitioner enquiry, on topics like growth mind-sets or effective grouping, with the insights of investigations from the wider external research community (Brown, 2017). In this way research engagement in schools does not get caught up with the credibility issues aired earlier.  What is evident from such initiatives is the way in which research engagement helps to instil in participants a greater sense of efficacy and agency (Durrant, 2014).  Much of this is derived from the value of local knowledge, the potency of teachers who are closest to their classroom setting being the ones who conduct investigations into practice. What emerges as powerful is when such local knowledge is harnessed and utilised to problem solve specific improvement issues, facilitated through enquiry communities like RLCs, and connected to wider research"
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        string(24) "Professional Development"
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Professional Development

Professional Learning Through Enquiry!

13 Feb 2019

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