Quizzes and tests are not just good for assessing how much a student knows and what they still need to learn to inform future planning. Online quizzing tools also support teachers to check pupil understanding and help students take advantage of the ‘testing effect’. What does it mean? Research into the ‘testing effect’ shows that […]
Visualisers help you feedback to the whole class at once by projecting specific samples of student work while you model answers, defuse common misconceptions and provide scaffolding to better performance. What does it mean? Feedback can take many forms, but marking is one of the most common – and the workload associated with traditional marking […]
Simon Balle All-through School has a primary phase from reception to Year 4 and a full secondary phase. We have 1420 on role and our music team consists of two full-time staff for curriculum, as well as 16 instrumental teachers; each of varying hours, who are employed by the school and the local music service […]
Our working memory, which we use to temporarily store and manage information, has a small capacity and is really put to the test when we are taught new information. It’s worth bearing this in mind when creating and using PowerPoint presentations in your teaching. What does it mean? Some researchers suggest that there are three […]
Interest in evidence-based practice in the teaching profession has continued to grow over the last few years. This selected reading and resource list, initially published in 2019, has been fully refreshed and updated with the latest resources in May 2022. Evidence-based practice is not about blindly following ‘evidence’; it is all about bringing together academic […]
In 2016, I was teaching in an international school in Paris. We had more than 60 nationalities and a high turnover, with students usually only staying for two or three years on average. The effect of home and geographical cultures, as well as the ‘third culture kid’ phenomenon experienced by students, cannot be underestimated. My […]
Disciplines and interdisciplinarity Historically, academic disciplines were defined through the departments within which they were taught at universities, with the same subject separation mirrored in the UK school system. For example, history and biology are single academic disciplines that are also taught as single subjects in schools, falling within the higher-level humanities and sciences faculties, […]
The phrase ‘cultural capital’ is everywhere. In 2013, the then Education Secretary Michael Gove famously quoted Gramsci, saying The accumulation of cultural capital – the acquisition of knowledge – is the key to social mobility. Gove went on to say, you will find children learning to read using traditional phonic methods, times tables and poetry […]
We had teachers from different stages and phases of their career ready to answer all your questions, from how to cope with an increased timetable to their top behaviour management strategies.
It’s important to develop well-formulated and answerable questions when you start to look at research so that you use your time efficiently. What does it mean? The right question helps you to: develop effective search strategies focus on evidence that directly addresses your needs communicate more clearly with colleagues when requesting support and guidance. PICOT […]
You will not be short of challenges to which you will want to turn your attention, so once you have developed your challenges into well-formulated questions, you then need to identify the most important question on which to focus. What does it mean? There are a couple of models you can use to prioritise where […]
What’s the idea? It is important to have a simple search strategy to help you sift through all the research evidence and keep you focused on what matters. What does it mean? We have already shared some simple tips for searching for research evidence. These include: Making the question you are trying to answer precise […]
A lot research is hard to find, sits behind paywalls and can be expensive to access. There are, however, a number of cheap and easy ways to access research evidence. What does it mean? Useful sources are listed below: Google Scholar provides a simple way to search for articles and often provides links to free […]
With so much research evidence available, it can be helpful to use a hierarchy of evidence to help you make a judgement on how much weight to give different types of research. What does it mean? The hierarchy of evidence is an attempt to rank different types of studies based on the rigour of the […]
While reading academic papers can feel like hard work, there are a few basic techniques that can make it much easier. What does it mean? When reading an academic paper it helps to try and answer these five questions (and always keep them in mind): Why am I reading this? What are the authors trying […]
As Drucker (2001, p. 195) states: ‘One alternative is always the alternative of doing nothing.’ What does it mean? You have done your research and think you’ve found an intervention or change which has a sound base. However, just because the evidence base appears to be sound, that in itself is not a good enough […]
The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) Cycle is a tool for planning, implementing, refining and improving an intervention or change. What does it mean? The PDSA Cycle is designed to help you answer three questions: What are you trying to accomplish? How will you know whether the change is an improvement? What changes can you make that will […]
An essential part of being a research-informed practitioner is assessing the outcome of the decision you have taken. What does it mean? Initially developed by the U.S. army, an after-action review (AAR) is a group process designed to give you clear steps to review activities and identify the lessons learned. The AAR consists of four […]
What’s the idea? An essential part of being an evidence-based practitioner is being able to judge the quality and trustworthiness of research. However, not being an expert in research, and without some kind of aide-memoire or heuristic, this can be difficult. Thankfully, there are frameworks in place to help you do this. For example, Professor […]
