information research provides is partial . For example , what exactly counts as ‘ remembering more ’ when you ’ re teaching ( say ) the role of the witches in Macbeth ? Also , research can never provide clear-cut instructions for teaching , such as how much time to devote to practicing remembering what has been previously taught , rather than learning new material .
So there ’ s an interesting gap between research and practice and I have spent over 10 years researching it . Here is a summary of findings from nine qualitative research projects . Some projects involved participant observations of teacher research groups ; others were primarily interview studies . Across the various projects , I have been able to draw on 153 interviews with teachers and school leaders ( see Cain 2019 ).
How do teachers use research ?
Professor Tim Cain , Edgehill University
Tim Cain is Professor of Education at Edge Hill University . Prior to this appointment he taught at Chichester , Kingston , Bath Spa and Southampton Universities , and was a secondary school classroom teacher for nineteen years . Professor Cain ’ s recent book ‘ Becoming a Research-Informed School ’ ( 2019 , Routledge ) analyses what teachers and school leaders actually do , to use research in their schools , and how they build a research-informed culture . The book was based firmly in data from real schools and considering the experiences of over 150 education professionals . Professor Cain was guest speaker at our research themed staff development day in October 2019 .
It ’ s a simple idea : teaching should be based on research , rather than trial and error , or how teachers were taught themselves . But like most simple ideas in education , it isn ’ t that simple . Research can tell us what is ( e . g . people remember more if they regularly practice remembering what they ’ ve learnt ) but at best , the
In these projects , the teachers ’ attitudes to research ranged from cautious optimism to strong enthusiasm . Mostly , teachers approached research with the expectation that there would be something of interest in it . Teachers told us that reading research heightened their sense of professionalism and introduced a more intellectual aspect to their work . As one School Leader said , ‘ what we ’ re doing is not simply a craft that you can learn by copying somebody else … it ’ s actually quite an intellectual pursuit ’.
Teachers in our research incorporated information from the research papers into their thinking by bringing research-generated knowledge into relationship with other knowledge . The process began when teachers asked , possibly subconsciously , ‘ does a particular claim in the research paper match my previous experiences ?’ The answer to this question seemed to determine their further engagement with the research – whether they dismissed the claim as either obvious ( if it was completely congruent with their experience as they reflected on it ), implausible ( if it did not match their experience ) or whether they continued to include the research in their thinking ( if , for example , it did not match their experience but a colleague thought that it matched theirs ). Occasionally they ignored the claim in the research , moving quickly onto other matters .
Long , focused discussions and the ‘ Third Voice ’
In each project , engagement with research could be thought of as a long , focused discussion , addressing the question , ‘ How can we use research to improve what we are doing ?’ In discussion with colleagues , the teachers offered their thoughts and opinions , supporting them with evidence from their values and knowledge , particularly experiential knowledge . Sometimes agreeing with each other , sometimes disagreeing , they supported and encouraged , tested and challenged each other . They questioned old ideas and developed new ones , critically examining possibilities . Effectively , the research acted as
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