How was your year? Did you teach well? How do you know? How much of your teaching was based on experience, and how much on research evidence? What were the main sources of information you used to design your teaching?

Consider this: You need a surgeon to perform a medical procedure on yourself or a loved one. Would you choose the one with more years of experience, or the one with a higher success rate?

Or how about this: You need a tutor for your child, who desperately needs some extra help to pull up his grades. Would you appoint the one who has had more teaching experience, or the one who has managed to produce more A students?

For many people, we want to see quantifiable outcomes or some kind of proof. And while the experience of a surgeon or tutor is not to be dismissed, we would feel reassured if we had evidence of success.

Thus, in almost every profession where consistent outcomes are valued, success is not left to chance.

There are tried-and-tested systems in place to ensure a high chance of success. Practices are formed and informed by research – a systematic and ongoing process of analysing and evaluating what works and what doesn’t.

We see this in medicine, finance, aviation, advertising, and increasingly, in education.

Evidence vs Experience

For a profession that has the potential to impact many lives, it is interesting that much of what we do in the classroom is still largely based on experience.

In medicine, for example, we understand the importance of abiding by evidence-based practices, as failure to do so could cost lives, literally. Some have suggested that teaching likewise needs to be more informed by research evidence, especially since there are so many young lives at stake.

Evidence-based teaching is teaching that benefits from research into what works best in the classroom (Best & Thomas, 2007, p. 57).

Educational research brings together the experiences of thousands of teachers and expert researchers. By tapping on the collective wisdom and experience of many other teachers, research evidence helps us make more informed decisions about how we teach, and helps us to design the most effective learning experiences.

To What Extent Is Your Teaching Based on Research Evidence?

The idea of evidence-based teaching is closely related to the concept of research in education.

The purpose of educational research is to bring our assumptions and perceptions about the teaching-learning process to a level of consciousness such that we can talk about them and use this knowledge for decision-making. (Brause & Mayher, 1991, p. 61)

In the context of the school, this is often practised as action research.

Action research is a form of “self-reflective enquiry” (Carr & Kemmis, cited in Smith, 2007). It provides insights that can enable an improvement in teaching and learning (Best & Thomas, 2007, p. 157).

Research then becomes in essence a process of discovery, of learning, or personal inquiry. And when many teachers come together as researchers, the potential impact in terms of teaching and learning can be considerable.

It doesn’t take very much to get started on action research:

• Read more about a specific aspect of learning that interests you.
• Attend a conference that allows you to interact with like-minded educators and leading thinkers in the area.
• Speak to your colleagues about engaging in some action research in your own school.

You may also wish to read “Are you a knowledge maker?” for more ideas.

References
Best, B., & Thomas, W. (2007). Everything you need to know about teaching but are too busy to ask: Essential briefings for teachers. London: Continuum.

Brause, R. S., & Mayher, J. S. (1991). Search and re-search: What the inquiring teacher needs to know. London: Falmer Press.

Smith, M. K. (2007). Action research. In encyclopedia of informal education (infed). Retrieved November 5, 2009, from the infed website: https://www.infed.org/research/b-actres.htm