FACULTY FOCUS
campusreview.com.au
Evidence base
Monash begins research
into education evidence
use in Australia.
By Kate Prendergast
S
chools value research more than
they actually use it. In its raw form,
after all, it can be notoriously
abstruse. Not only are scholarly papers
replete with hard-to-penetrate jargon, but
often the research base is hard to access
and abuzz with competing ideas and
theories. Working out what quality evidence
looks like is the first challenge; working out
how to use it for the betterment of students
is a far greater one.
Yet once this trove is not only unlocked,
but understood and applied, the benefits
can be manifold.
Empowered with evidence, schools can
make informed decisions on a range of
high-priority issues: from optimising class
sizes, to minimising bullying and other
asocial behaviours, to making the most of
support staff.
Research-guided approaches can also
help with STEM learning and literacy – areas
aflame in the minds of many.
Despite this, little research has been done
into education evidence use in Australia.
To begin filling in this troubling blank,
Monash University has embarked on a
five-year, Australian-first project into how
schools are using research-based evidence
in their practice, and how this can be
enhanced. Called the Q Project (or ‘Quality
Use of Evidence Driving Quality Education’
in full), the team will be gathering empirical
8
data across 100 primary, secondary and
cross-phase schools in NSW, Queensland,
South Australian and Victoria over
24 months beginning this year.
Through a combination of surveys and
school visits, they will investigate how (and
if) evidence is accessed and incorporated
into teaching.
Ultimately, through collaboration with
education stakeholders, the project aims to
create a professional learning framework
endorsed within national and state
education policies, as well as improve how
research evidence is used within Australian
schools.
Overall, the project seeks to directly
impact 80,000 students.
Pitsa Binnion, principal of Melbourne’s
McKinnon Secondary College (recently
profiled on SBS’s Insight program for its
decision to ban mobile phones), has already
made the decision to sign up.
“We’re always looking to improve
learning outcomes for our students by
implementing new ideas that appear to
work well in other schools, but often there’s
no actual evidence that something’s going
to work,” she told Monash Life magazine.
“So, when I heard about the Q Project, I
was very keen to be involved. For educators
to be able to take evidence-based
research and apply it in the classroom is of
fundamental importance.”
Made possible by $6.2 million of funding
from the Paul Ramsay Foundation, the
Q Project coincides with a growing
awareness of the chasm between
“frontline professionals” in the classroom
and education scholars. A study from
this year found that, despite the growing
calls for “schools to be research-engaged,
for teaching to be research-rich and for
researchers to engage with end users,” this
urgency has not been effectively translated
into action.
What’s more, while the Australian
Professional Standards for Teachers and
School Leaders sets expectations for using
evidence (e.g. ‘demonstrate knowledge
and understanding of research into how
students learn and the implications for
teaching’), professional learning around this
topic is lacking.
“Accessing, understanding and using
research evidence well is demanding and
highly professional work,” Mark Rickinson, Q
Project director, told Campus Review.
“It is important therefore that the process
of teachers accessing and using research
evidence is seen as a professional learning
challenge as opposed to an information
transfer challenge.”
For this to happen, there needs to be
a fundamental change in the way that
universities and schools interact, “supported
by a blend of enabling skillsets, mindsets,
relationships and systems”.
“Efforts to improve connections
between universities and schools are about
educational improvement not research
impact,” he adds.
“The use of research is a means to an
end, not an end in itself.”
Registration is currently open for schools
to participate. The shortlist of schools –
expected to be made in February – will
be determined to ensure variation across
school location, type and socioeconomic
characteristics. All collected responses will
be de-identified. ■