While practical experience can be invaluable for the US educator, it is important for teachers and teacher leaders to utilize tools and techniques proven to be successful through research. In their article, “How Teachers Can Use Scientifically Based Research to Make Curricular and Instructional Decisions”, Paula and Keith Stanovich (2003) point out that teachers are just like research scientists. Consider the following scenario presented in their article: “…they (teachers) evaluate their students’ previous knowledge, develop hypotheses about the best methods for attaining lesson objectives, develop a teaching plan based on those hypotheses, observe the results, and base further instruction on the evidence collected.” This cycle very closely resembles the scientific method. Moreover, when laid out in this manner, it should seem very familiar to most classroom teachers. Therefore, if teachers and research scientists share a similar scientific process, it would seem a probable conclusion that both would rely on the latest research to guide their process. This however is often not the case in the classroom. With the pace and demand of a classroom, teachers find it hard to manage time in a way that allows for their own education. In a 2006 survey* including 21,000 teachers in the state of Kansas, 61% of the teachers didn’t think they had enough non-instructional time to do their jobs, let alone consider spending time researching best practices. 98% percent of teachers surveyed also said they spent time on school-related activities outside their regular workday. Thirty-seven percent of those said they spent more than 10 hours a week outside their regular workday. Given those statistics, one can easily see how our teachers struggle with time. It is also easier to understand why teachers struggle with keeping current on educational research. There is clearly very little time available for more than their own instructional process. So, how do we help our educators apply the latest research to their classroom instruction when time limits their ability to do more than teach? This question does not come with a package answer, but there are many ways to address the issue. Consider the following strategies: 1. Utilize school administration and staff leadership to source and present “relevant” educational research to the teaching staff. 2. Ensure a percentage of all staff professional development is dedicated to the study and discussion of the latest educational research. 3. Establish a Professional Learning Community (PLC) utilizing goals for learning established by the learning community. (Rotate PLC responsibilities so that the study and learning is done by rotating groups, and then shared out for discussion.) 4. Build connections in the greater educational community so that educational research can be presented by outside experts to the teaching staff as a service to the school. 5. Create a staff newsletter designed to highlight the latest research in education. 6. Create partnerships with local colleges or universities, offering up classrooms for potential educational research projects. 7. Encourage staff members pursuing a masters or doctoral degree to conduct their research at their own school site. While it may never be possible to create a system where educators have extra time to spare, it is important to ensure our educators still have access to current information revealed by the scientific research community. Likewise, it is also important to find ways for our true field-researchers in education (our teachers) to share their work and discoveries with those in the more traditional scientific realm. Tommy Reddicks Indianapolis, IN * 2006 Kansas Teacher Working Conditions Survey
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
AuthorTommy Reddicks has been a teacher and administrator in Wyoming, Arizona, Washington, Colorado, and Indiana since 1995. Archives
July 2016
|