Should I be using retrieval practice in every lesson?
How can I combine cognitive science strategies with other teaching approaches?
How can I implement cognitive science teaching strategies at the micro (lesson) and macro (curriculum) level?
These are some of the questions teachers have submitted as part of our research priority setting activity.
During this webinar, we will present the final report from this activity and discuss their impact on research, policy and practice. Research priority setting activities are common in healthcare and aim to close the research-practice gap. We have asked teachers to submit questions they have when implementing findings from the cognitive sciences in their settings to help inform future research in the field. Of the 424 questions submitted by teachers, the research team has deduced 15 research priorities for education.
This webinar will be of interest to teachers and school leaders who may wish to address some of these questions in their own research, researchers who might want to tackle these questions in their work as well as funding bodies and policy makers.
You’ll hear about this in more detail from our a panel of Chartered Teachers and your hosts:
Rebekah Gear is a Lecturer in Primary Education at Nottingham Trent University and an accredited mastery specialist. Having previously taught across all age phases in primary education she now, in addition to her role as Lecturer, supports Multi Academy Trust in the East Midlands to deliver CPD in primary mathematics and leadership. She continues to actively conduct research within primary education and is currently the Vice Chair of the Association for the Study of Primary Education. Her research areas of interest include cognitive science, primary mathematics and middle leadership.
Dr Panos Athanasopoulos MCCT CTeach is the Head of Physics in a big comprehensive school in North Wales. His background is academic and he has a Phd in physics, including many research publications and presentations in conferences. Transitioning into teaching, his focus shifted towards understanding what the research says about the best ways to help students learn. He holds Chartered Teacher Status and is passionate about an evidence-informed approach to teaching and learning.
Dr Tom Perry is Associate Professor at the University of Warwick. Dr Perry’s research and teaching are focused on the use of research and evidence to improve education policy and practice. He researches and has specialist methodological expertise relating to systematic review and evidence synthesis; quantitative methods and secondary data analysis; evaluation, improvement and enquiry; social scientific methodology; and knowledge mobilisation, exchange and use. Substantive topics of particular interest featuring in his research include structural reform, inequalities, accountability, school improvement and professional development.
Naheeda Maharasingam FCCT is the Headteacher at Rathfern Primary School, a diverse and dynamic inner London primary school. She is passionate about values which enrich her vision and permeate her school culture, pedagogy and curriculum with a focus on disrupting the trajectory for disadvantaged pupils and promoting sustainable development. Rathfern is a Research Hub for the Chartered College of Teaching, lead for the Humanities Hub for Lewisham.
She is a Local Leader of Education (LLE), a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and Leader of Lewisham CCT Teacher Research Network. She is steering group lead for Tackling Race Inequality In Education across Lewisham schools.
Fiona Etienne MCCT – Fiona teaches English language to secondary students in a Bruneian government school. Brunei is a small Islamic Sultanate on the island of Borneo in SE Asia. (Definitely not WEIRD). Her interests are inspired by students who either speak one of the many Bruneian Malay dialects, or a Chinese dialect, or an indigenous language at home. None of these dialects is scripted. In school students are presented with subject content in Standard Malay or English. Students are keen to learn, but not keen on independent study. Fiona is currently working out how best to to use learning science, particularly cognitive load theory, retrieval practice and metacognition to increase students confidence and attainment.
Cat Scutt MBE, Deputy Chief Executive Education and Research, Chartered College of Teaching – A former English teacher, Cat’s roles have since focused on supporting teacher development both online and through face-to-face activities, with a particular focus on development through collaboration and through engagement with research and evidence. Cat leads on the Chartered College of Teaching’s work around teacher development and certification, including the Chartered Teacher programme, and their research activities and publications, including their award-winning peer-reviewed journal, Impact. She received an MBE for services to education in 2021 and has been a member of several government advisory groups.
Dr Lisa-Maria Müller, Head of Research, Chartered College of Teaching – Dr Lisa-Maria Müller leads on the internal and externally funded research projects. She is lead author of the Education in Times of Crisis reports which explored the potential impact of school closures on students and teachers, teachers’ experiences with distance learning, how they relate to existing research on the topic and what this means for the future of education. Lisa-Maria has also served as expert advisor on the OECD PISA 2025 Language Measure, is co-author of a literature review informing the deliberations of UNESCO CEART on preparing teachers for digital and diverse classrooms and has led a Wellcome Trust funded project exploring the effectiveness of journal clubs as teacher CPD. Currently, Lisa-Maria is leading on an evaluation of blended approaches to teacher CPD funded by the Paul Hamlyn foundation and research informing the organisation’s policy work on teacher wellbeing. Prior to joining the Chartered College of Teaching, Lisa-Maria was postdoctoral research associate at the Universities of Cambridge and York, working on projects relating to foreign language learning. Lisa-Maria is a qualified MFL teacher with teaching experience in secondary schools in Austria and England and has obtained her PhD from the University of Vienna in which she explored the similarities and differences between typically developing bilingualism and bilingual language impairment.
Dr Victoria Cook, Education and Research Project Specialist, Chartered College of Teaching – Victoria contributes to a variety of internal and external research projects at the Chartered College of Teaching. Prior to joining the College, Victoria worked as a postdoctoral Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, on two international dialogue-based research projects. She is a qualified geography teacher and worked in secondary schools for over five years.
Attendees will have access not just to the event itself but to supporting materials and signposted resources.
Learn more about the Chartered College of Teaching:
- Research Hub – The Research Hub hosts summaries of academic and practitioner research as well as reports that Chartered College of Teaching members have contributed to. You can also find a list of opportunities to participate in external research projects and access a range of tools to support you in your research engagement journey.
- Impact is the termly journal of the Chartered College of Teaching. It connects research findings to classroom practice, with a focus on the interests and voices of teachers and educators. It supports the teaching community by promoting discussion around evidence within the classroom, and enabling teachers to share and reflect on their own use of research.
- Learning Hub – The Learning Hub is your home for professional learning and development. You will find links to bitesize CPD units and details of other available courses.
- Video Hub – The Video Hub hosts short classroom practice videos, filmed in a variety of settings, and recorded interviews with a range of teachers, leaders and educators. Members will also find, and be able to access, ‘on demand’ recordings of our previous webcasts and events.
- Early Career Hub – The Early Career Hub is our one-stop shop for trainee teachers, early career teachers, and those involved in supporting, coaching and mentoring those new to the profession.
- The Chartered College of Teaching & Teacher Tapp Podcast – A collaboration between Teacher Tapp and the Chartered College of Teaching in which we look at hot off the press data on various topics concerning teaching, learning, and teacher development and ask teachers to comment on the findings by reflecting on their own experiences.
- Early Childhood Hub – The Early Childhood Hub hosts content by, and for, early childhood education practitioners, with a focus on pedagogy and practice in early childhood education.
- Chartered Teacher Status is a professional accreditation that recognises the knowledge, skills and behaviours of highly accomplished teachers and school leaders, offering a career pathway that is focused on developing and recognising high-quality teaching and leadership practice. As a professional accreditation, Chartered Status builds on individual practice, priorities and interests and can be undertaken at your own pace, up to three years.
