![POWER OF EVIDENCE?
The overemphasis
of quantitative
over qualitative
(cf evidence
based medicine
[Greenhaigh].
Wrigley (2018) The power of evidence: reliable science or a set of blunt tools
The dangers of
the application of
Randomised
Controlled Trials
in social science
and
misunderstanding
of scientific
method.
Oversimplification
of the model in
order to make it
work e.g linear
and steady
progress in
development.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/whatworksv2-190825220115/85/What-Works-20-320.jpg)
What Works
- 1. WHY ‘WHAT WORKS’ MAY BE THE WRONG QUESTION
- 3. AIMS … Three questions to ask: 1. What are our underpinning values? 2. What are the paradigms (concepts) we operate under? 3. What can research add to teaching?
- 4. VALUES … Why do we do what we do?
- 5. VALUES … What is the purpose of education? Why do we educate children? Who should we educate? Who should pay for this? What should we teach them? What are the core values that drive our practice?
- 6. PURPOSE … Biesta, G. (2010) What is education for? Good education in an age of measurement: ethics, politics, democracy (pp. 11–27). Boulder, C: Paradigm Publishers
- 7. PURPOSE … Biesta, G. (2015) What is Education For? On Good Education, Teacher Judgement, and Educational Professionalism, European Journal of Education, Vol. 50, No. 1, 2015 What is the problem? Perhaps the briefest way to put it is to say that the point of education is not that students learn. Formulating the issue in this way is relevant because many discussions about education (in policy, research and practice) keep using the language of learning in this abstract and general sense. In contrast I wish to suggest that the point of education is that students learn something, that they learn it for a reason, and that they learn it from someone. Whereas the language of learning is a process language that, at least in English, is an individual and individualising language, education always needs to engage with questions of content, purpose and relationships. Ofsted’s definition reads: “Learning is defined as an alteration in long- term memory. If nothing has altered in long-term memory, nothing has been learned.” This definition is not fit for purpose; it is one-dimensional, individualistic and, though it may be appropriate for psychological laboratory experiments, it is not appropriate for education. We need, and I offer, this educational definition: “Learning refers to significant enhancements in knowledge, capabilities, values, attitudes or understanding (including but going beyond the acquisition of factual knowledge) by individuals, groups, organisations or society.” Coffield, F (2019) Times Educational Supplement , 7 problems that Ofsted must fix. Jan 31st. online.
- 8. PISA trends (and targets) Note: the PISA 2018 data will be released in December 2019
- 9. Maths trends (TIMSS) - Year 5 Maths trends (TIMSS) - Year 9 Science trends (TIMSS) - Year 5 Science trends (TIMSS) - Year 9
- 10. PARADIGMS … Positivism Interpretivism Critical Realism Laboratory Life HistoryField / Classroom physics geology biology medicine psychology education sociology Hopkins, P (2018) The Perils of Positivism.
- 11. PARADIGMS What are the positives of each approach? What are the negatives of each approach? Which of these “make sense” in education? What Qs can we ask?
- 13. PARADIGMS How much like a lab can a classroom be? How much does this matter? Is there a tension between the individual and the group? How much is transferable?
- 14. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Aware Research Informed Research Active
- 15. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Aware Bassey, G (1990) cited in Hitchcok and Hughs (1998) A qualitative introduction to school based research, London, Routledge
- 16. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Aware
- 17. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Informed
- 18. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Informed Charted College of Teaching IMPACT journal v2 (2018) www.learningscientisits.org (2018) Kaufman, A and Kaufman, J (2018) Pseudoscience” the conspiracy against science. Cambridge. MIT Press.
- 19. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Informed De Bruyckere, P (2018) The Ingredients for Great Teaching, Sage: London
- 20. POWER OF EVIDENCE? The overemphasis of quantitative over qualitative (cf evidence based medicine [Greenhaigh]. Wrigley (2018) The power of evidence: reliable science or a set of blunt tools The dangers of the application of Randomised Controlled Trials in social science and misunderstanding of scientific method. Oversimplification of the model in order to make it work e.g linear and steady progress in development.
- 21. GOLD STANDARD? RCTs are widely regarded as the “gold standard” for measuring the efficacy of interventions (Pocock, 1983) Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF) - UK National Centre for Educational Research (NCEE) - USA Typical effect size of educational interventions 0.25 > ES > 0.50 Hattie meta-analysis of 800 studies =- ES (av) = 0.40 RCTs tend have smaller effective sizes 0.16 to 0.23 (Cheung and Slavin, 2016) The prevision of RCTs is a problem if the ES is small So, ES of 0 within CI of -0.25 to +0.25 is ineffective (is it +ve sig, -ve sig or neutral) RCTs are not a panacea and must be recognised as appropriate methodology for certain but not all research questions. RCTs tend to a more positivist approach (looking for a causal connection) It’s hard to allocate people randomly to trails, to control dropout or to to control homogeneity in the populations - to control variables in a complex, messy educational setting. This makes applying the results of an RCT from the normative to the individual difficult. Connolly, Biggart, Miller, O’Hare, Thurston (2017)
- 22. THE TEACHER AND RESEARCH … Research Active
- 23. Pring, R (2015:71) False Dualisms and Political Control in Philosophy of Educational Research, Bloomsbury: London.
- 25. Pollard, A (2015:302) Reflective Teaching in School. Bloomsbury. London
- 26. A cyclical model What do I (or others) observe about the practice in my setting? What does wider research says about this practice? How this research reflect my setting? What should I change?
- 27. In education, “What works?” is rarely the right question, because everything works somewhere, and nothing works everywhere, which is why in education, the right question is, “Under what conditions does this work?” Wiliam, D (2016) On Mr Barton's Maths Podcast: http:// www.mrbartonmaths.com/blog/dylan-wiliam-author-researcher-trainer-and- assessment-for-learning-expert/
- 28. If educational theory goes beyond its proper limits, if it pretends to supplant experience, to promulgate ready-made formula that are then applied mechanically, it degenerates into dead matter. If on the other hand, experience disregards pedagogical thinking, it in turn degenerates into blind routine or else is at the mercy of ill-informed or unsystematic thinking. Educational theory essentially is the most methodical and best- documented thinking available, put at the service of teaching. Paul Fouconnet, in Emile Durkheim (1925) Moral Education p.2
- 33. A FEW THINGS TO START WITH … Ed. Ian Gilbert Carl Hendrick and Robin MacPhearson Daniel T. Willingham Paul Dix Pedro De Bruyckere Graham Nutall John Hattie Lucy Rycroft-Smith Marc Smith Geoff Petty
- 34. WHY ‘WHAT WORKS’ MAY BE THE WRONG QUESTION PAUL HOPKINS - UNIVERSITY OF HULL E: P.HOPKINS@HULL.AC.UK T: @HULLPGCE @HULLPRIMARYPGCE