What doesn’t work in education? John Hattie and the importance of asking questions

How often do you question your actions or methods as a professional? ‘We have always done it this way’ is often noted as one of the most dangerous phrases in our language and for us, as educators, it is a threat to our progression as a profession. The establishment of the Chartered College of Teaching is a welcome step towards making teaching a genuine profession; by this, I mean a collective effort made by educators to be knowledgeable, to inquire, to collaborate and to evolve, thus gaining the respect of the communities we serve. We can only do this, however, if we are comfortable with the idea of evaluating our actions, from the big schemes of learning to the small way in which we move around the room. Why do I do it this way? Does it work? How does this impact on the quality of teaching and learning in my classroom? Through his refreshing approach to educational research, John Hattie does not promise in his article the golden ticket of ‘what will work’, but instead looks