In real classrooms , the impact of the teacher depends not just on their pedagogical subject knowledge but on their subject content knowledge , on their understanding of the pupils , on their ability to form a relationship based on trust , and on their flexibility to respond to dynamic situations . Even the most promising technique will be ineffective if the teacher does not combine it with their professional expertise , which is essentially a highly contextualised expertise in human relationships . Higgins memorably coined ‘ the Bananarama principle ’ about applying research in classrooms : ‘ It ain ’ t what you do , it ’ s the way that you do it .’
An increasing number of schools internationally are setting up in situ research centres to advocate for the value of good research , applied properly , and to help their teachers overcome these challenges . Eton established the Tony Little Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning ( CIRL ) in 2015 with the aim of promoting a culture of evidence-informed practice and disciplined enquiry in teaching and learning throughout the school . Situated at the heart of the school , it is an outstanding set of facilities including meeting rooms , research rooms and highly flexible teaching spaces that form a laboratory for Teaching and Learning . It is also a symbol of Eton ’ s commitment to continually seeking to innovate and use evidence to improve what we do at every level , from classroom practice to strategic planning and policy decision-making .
Designed to promote a culture of openness , sharing and trust , the Centre acts as a hub for the discussion and dissemination of research . It is an invitation to colleagues to stop the train of their busy lives for long enough to get off and think about how they might do things differently . Busy-ness is the ubiquitous problem for teachers : we are all so focused on dealing with the issues of the moment that we can all too easily stop giving any attention to longer-term , important issues , such as continually developing our repertoire of skills and keeping ourselves fresh and engaged .
Predictably , the creation of CIRL at Eton met with some scepticism from colleagues . Did they not already know what they were doing ? Had a recent inspection not rhapsodised about the quality of their teaching ? My answer to such scepticism has always been to use the line so eloquently summed up by Wiliam : ‘ Teaching is so difficult and complex that one lifetime is not enough to master it . All teachers , no matter how experienced , can fail ; and all can improve ’ ( Wiliam , 2011 ).
Hattie ’ s Visible Learning series , which synthesises 900 + meta-analyses of education research , uses effect size as a relative measure of the impact of various interventions . The methodology is not uncontentious , but it highlights two important points : teachers need to evaluate the impact they are having ; and the question ‘ Is what I am doing working ?’ is the wrong question , since almost all interventions work in some capacity . Instead , teachers should be asking ‘ What else could I be doing that would work even better ?’.
Since CIRL opened seven years ago , the interest shown by my colleagues has grown steadily and organically . One cannot rush this process . We hook their interest in numerous ways : running a T & L Group to generate ideas across departments , inducting new masters , hosting research ‘ book clubs ’, writing blogs , running CPD sessions and publishing two issues a year of the Eton Journal for Innovation and Research in Education . The most recent issue , on the theme of ‘ Reflections on Teaching and Learning ’, was largely written by Eton colleagues .
To reach busy colleagues you have to meet them wherever and however they are willing to be met : by helping them to solve a problem they are struggling with , for example ; by providing a variety of types of research engagement , from literature reviews , to professional learning groups , to small-scale action research projects , to school-wide research or research across schools . We work with Heads of Department to create bespoke departmental trainings , taking care to
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