Cultivating critical expertise: Balancing teacher agency and evidence-informed practice in schools
Written by: Andrew Jones
7 min read
ANDREW B JONES, THE REACH FREE SCHOOL, UK; THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, UK
Introduction
The evolving landscape of educational ‘best practice’ emphasises evidence-informed practice (EIP), particularly in its scientific form, for enhancing teaching and learning outcomes (Perry et al., 2021). However, balancing EIP with teacher agency presents challenges. Proponents of EIP argue that teaching should align with research evidence, which is often driven by a ‘what works’ agenda, largely based on the ‘science of learning’ (Weinstein et al., 2018), but concerns linger about top-down implementation that restricts professional autonomy and bypasses the complexities of individual classrooms and diverse learners (Simmie et al., 2024). In response, this paper argues that cultivating critical expertise necessitates a nuanced approach that advocates the importance of EIP while acknowledging teachers’ freedom to choose which strategies and interventions work best for their classes and student
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