The late, great Ted Wragg once calculated that a teacher typically makes upwards of a thousand ‘on-the-spot, evaluative decisions’ on any given day (MacBeath, 2012, p.17). When I first came across this, I thought: ‘That sounds like a lot… you’d be exhausted!’ However, when you consider how busy a school is – how busy a […]
In exploring what constitutes effective teaching and learning in classrooms and schools, this article centres around the important role of evaluation in evidence-based practice as a means of establishing ‘what works’. Professor Rob Coe, Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University, looks at ways of establishing high quality, local strategies to evaluate […]
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 […]
This printable PDF poster includes explanations of a range of key terms from education research, including causation; effect size; Hawthorne effect; practitioner research; control group; empirical research; intervention; randomised controlled trial; correlation; ethics; literature review; sample size; data; evidence-informed practice; peer review; and teacher journal clubs. Download now
Dominic Shibli discusses Kirschner and van Merriënboer’s paper debunking three popular ‘myths’ in educational research. I have been teaching for 20 years but it was only about 18 months ago that I discovered the work of Paul Kirschner when I read the paper ‘Do learners really know best? Urban legends in education’ by […]
As guest editor, I am delighted to welcome you to the interim issue of Impact. It is the first journal to be published under the umbrella of the Chartered College of Teaching, the newly opened professional membership body for the teaching profession. Whilst this interim issue does not yet represent what our fully established peer-reviewed […]
Simon Bayliss considers the impact of reading Jung-Sook Lee’s research on the factors that make a difference to students’ learning, behaviour and engagement with learning. Prior to becoming a teacher, I trained and worked as a paramedic within the NHS. Throughout my time as a paramedic, one rule was always paramount: engage with research. During […]
Four years after Ben Goldacre exhorted those of us working in the English education system to claim the prize of evidence (Goldacre, 2013), have we achieved his stated goal? Goldacre argued that both the teaching profession and student outcomes could be improved by, amongst other things, ‘establishing a culture where this evidence is used as […]
Stephen Lockyer delves into the world of cognitive science to explore what is known about strategies for improving memory retention. I was disappointed as a child that there wasn’t a GCSE in revision timetabling, as I was that pupil who spent a week making elaborate multi-coloured revision schedules, only to then ignore them and cram […]
Despite recent policies to support evidence-informed teaching, and a number of important practical developments – of which the new Chartered College of Teaching is one – we still don’t know a great deal about the current extent or depth of evidence-informed practice across schools in England. This paper presents findings from a survey co-developed by […]
Jude Hunton considers research on learning for examinations and the kinds of effective strategies that can be gleaned from research on testing and memory. Teaching can be a bizarre job at times. There might be a zillion competing distractions for the individual teacher; many of these will buffet and blast us as intrepid professionals hither […]
Introduction This academic year, I have been fortunate enough to learn about curriculum design in two contrasting parts of the world: Canada and Colombia. These experiences have both broadened my perspective on what a curriculum can and should do, and reinvigorated my belief that curriculum design is a key driver for instigating change. In May, […]
What’s the idea? The aim of this guide is to consider how we can motivate, engage and support children with special educational needs (SEN) to participate in arts activities from a distance. We know that the arts can be a ‘life-enhancing and essential part of our existence’ for all (Cultural Learning Alliance, 2017 p. 1). […]
Vision for the twenty-first century The World Economic Forum (WEF) Report: New Vision for Education (2015) is based on a detailed analysis of research literature and defines what it considers to be the most crucial skills for twenty-first century citizens worldwide. The WEF states that: To thrive in a rapidly evolving, technology-mediated world, students must […]
What’s the idea? Nature has inspired artists since the beginning of time, and if we reflect on the earliest artforms such as cave paintings, we can see artists using everyday resources to leave their mark on the world. Engaging children in observing their environment encourages them to behave just like artists do. Any adult or […]
