Evidence-based teaching: advancing capability and capacity for enquiry in schoolsCase study

April 2017

Dr G.H. EmeryBeacon Teaching Alliance

ContentsIntroduction, Aims and Literature Review 3

Background 3

Setting 3

Organisation of study 4

Literature review 6

Aims of the study 7

Methodology and Data Analysis 8

Student’s perspectives 8

Teacher’s perspectives 9

Theme One: Observing pupils learning 10

Theme Two: The Role of the Author and Research Leads 10

Theme Three: The Collaborative Approach. 11

Discussion and Conclusions 13

References 16

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Introduction, Aims and Literature ReviewThere is a growing impetus for teaching to demonstrate that its practice is critically informed by theory and evidence. This study addresses the topic of lesson study as one such approach to reaching this goal. It is recognised that achieving this goal will require more than simply putting such evidence into the professional domain where it can often remain unread and have no impact upon practice. This is summarised by Nelson & O’Beirne (2014):

“Evidence needs to be transformed for use in teaching practice, rather than simply summarised. This can happen through effective interaction and collaboration between teaching professionals and researchers, and/or via intermediary organisations”

This research is concerned with how a group of novice teacher-researchers led by a more experienced colleague engaged in a project during which they assessed the educational experiences of students during lesson study whilst simultaneously having their own experiences and opinions tracked by the author. The research was designed to show how a collaborative approach could help facilitate the translation of academic educational research into evidence based practice.

Background

The rationale for undertaking this research has three components. Firstly there was the opportunity to take part in a large national research project and contribute to the development of Evidence Based Teaching (EBT) in the profession. Secondly at a local level it was recognised that such an initiative would further enhance the Research and Development strand of our Teaching School work and thirdly, on an individual level, it was an exciting opportunity to have direct involvement in an EBP project from inception to evaluation, the project offered significant professional development opportunities for those involved. It was envisioned that this rationale will ultimately translate into enhanced educational experiences for our students founded upon sound evidence.

Setting

The study was undertaken in the North of England and three large secondary schools were involved in this study. The lead school has an active history of Action Research and associated Research and Development activity; it has Teaching School status and achieved an outstanding OSTED report in 2013. The author (lead researcher) has extensive experience in forming collaborative links for Research and Development activities across the region and there is a growing expectation within the schools that Evidence Based Teaching should impact on all curriculum activities.

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Organisation of study

This study was designed as a collaborative venture in which the lead researcher was an active participant, guide and mentor. The author established a network of interested colleagues who were motivated by the desire to explore and use evidence in practice and to evaluate its effectiveness. These colleagues were recruited through an open invitation to the local schools. It was interesting to note, that only two schools expressed an interest, and that these schools were also both Teaching Schools. It may be that the lack of interest form other schools reflects a lack of understanding of what Research and Development involves or that suitable roles don’t exist in many schools in order for such work to be carried out.

A lead researcher was designated in each of the schools and they recruited volunteers from their schools to be involved. In adopting this totally voluntary approach it was thought that participants would be highly motivated and likely to see the project through to completion. In total, the collaborative research group consisted of nine teaching staff representing many different curriculum areas and with a variety of backgrounds in research activity, from total novice, to Research and Development school leaders. The teaching experience of the group ranged from NQT to highly experienced. Each of the three schools involved has a research leader plus two other teachers involved.

The initial meeting of the three research leaders involved clarifying the project aims and discussing how the lesson study process could be adapted and used in this cross-school collaborative project. The agreed approach involved dividing the group up into trios of colleagues. Each trio contained a project leader and a colleague from each school. The project leaders then used The Education Endowment Fund (EEF) Toolkit to identify teaching and learning approaches that had evidence of positive impact and could become the focus of the lesson study cycles. The approaches that were chosen were use of homework, peer tuition and feedback (each showing at least a 5 months advantage for pupils – according to the EEF toolkit). These approaches were chosen not only because they appear to be high impact, but also because the project leaders felt knowledgeable about them and able to offer guidance to others in these areas. However, the aim of the project was not to evaluate the effectiveness of these approaches, rather it was to evaluate if lesson study could enhance the practice of participating teachers in these fields.

The agreed approach to lesson study that each of the three trios followed had the following structure:

The three teachers jointly drew up a detailed plan for a lesson designed to utilise a particular approach to teaching and learning (e.g. peer tuition). The subject specialist who was to teach the lesson led this session as the curriculum content had to be covered. The research leader gave advice and expert knowledge regarding the teaching and learning approach.

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The teaching session was delivered by the subject specialist with the other teacher/s observing the students learning. Where possible the project leader was present. During the lesson feedback was collected from pupils via informal questioning and a questionnaire. The teacher/s observing the lesson also noted down key observations on a prompt sheet.

The group then came together to discuss their observations of the lesson.

The group then planed a second lesson, revising the strategies used in light of the previous observations and discussions.

The second lesson is observed and evaluated as before

The role of the research leader was to advise others on the process of lesson study and offer expert advice on the particular initiative being used (e.g. peer tuition). They also played a vital role in ensuring practical arrangements were in place and that the teachers were supported and welcomed when visiting another school. The research leaders did not teach a lesson study lesson themselves, therefore in total the project involved six episodes of teaching.

The author adopted the situational leadership style advocated by Hersey and Blanchard (1999) to structure discussions with the staff. This model has four cycles based on how ready and willing staff are to engage in the task, in this instance the adoption, implementation and evaluation of evidence based teaching and was implemented by two hour meetings over a six week period.

The telling phase consisted of the author introducing members to the philosophy, theory and types of evidence based practice and the positive implications for professional practice via various techniques including PowerPoint presentations, relevant handouts, personal experiences and examples of evidence based teaching from the literature. The participants were encouraged and supported in fostering their understanding of the topic.

The selling stage acknowledged participants had a growing understanding of EBT but were still relatively inexperienced with key concepts and approaches. The author still had the key role in directing the participants but more debate and discussion was evident.

The next stage of encouraging was characterised by participants requiring less direction and more personal choice. They were becoming more able to engage in critical discussion based on greater understanding of EBT. A more facilitative approach began to emerge as a result of the participants’ greater insight.

The final stage of empowerment resulted in a colligate approach with participants able and motivated to direct discussions and to engage in reasoned decision making. It was during this final phase that participants felt able to identify topics and approaches to EBT. Initially these were broad and varied and included qualitative and quantitative approaches on topics such as teaching style and student progress the impact of

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classroom environment on learning and shared teaching on specific topics. Following further discussion and opportunities to peruse relevant literature the theme of lesson study emerged as the one they wished to investigate.

Literature reviewLesson study has its origins in the Japanese educational system as a key method of professional development of teachers. In essence the approach seeks to encourage effective teacher collaboration as a means of enhancing the educational experiences of students.

Reviewing the literature pertinent to lesson study reveals an interesting typology of studies. Examples from this typology include the relevance of lesson study to:

Professional development of teachers. Fernandez (2002) & Lewis (2002)

Importance of a receptive school culture. Hargreaves (1995) & Cerbin (2011)

The educational experiences and outcomes for pupils. Stepanek J, Appel G, Eong M, Turner M and Tichell M. (2007) & Fernandez, C. & Yoshida, M. (2004).

Teacher empowerment. Smith (2008) & Lewis, C, Perry, R., & Hurd, J. (2004)

Effective change agents to its successful implementation. Guskey T.R (2002), Hunter J.& Back J. (2011)

Research and methodological issues. Hiebert, J., Gallimore, R., & Stigler, J. 2002) and Saito & Atenicom (2009)

Case studies and small scale studies have been conducted across all curriculum subjects and their methodologies are mainly qualitative with relatively few adopting a quantitative approach. In addition there are several major texts which set out the history, philosophy and purpose of lesson study (Lewis & Hurd 2014, Wang-Iverston P & Yoshilda M (2015) and Norwich & Jones 2014). Crucially, there is a lack of large scale studies and studies adopting a critical perspective or systematic reviews concerned with methodological issues or outcomes. Much of the literature emanates from the USA which raises problems of transferability to British settings.

The lesson study process involves teacher’s collaboratively planning, observing and evaluating lessons, Dudley (2014). Such a collaborative approach requires an acceptance of collective responsibility for the planning, implementation and evaluation of lessons. Cultures (such as Britain) that value individual academic freedom as well as relative isolation of teachers in their education endeavours can experience “cultural shock” when exposed to and open collaborative approach. Dudley (2012) highlights the importance of the school culture by suggesting that lesson study needs to be nurtured in a system that expects teachers and school leaders to improve professional knowledge

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and practice through systematic use of collaborative, enquiry based teacher learning approaches. The awareness of cultural difference between the education systems of Japan and Britain allowed the author to be aware of potential difficulties that may arise regarding teacher’s responses to lesson study. These difficulties may have been negated to some extent as the participants were volunteers.

Reflecting on the literature highlighted the importance of ensuring the participants were fully aware of what lesson study involved, ensuring any concerns were discussed and the teachers felt comfortable and confident to embark on the study. The literature review also highlighted the importance of the research (both my own and the larger national project) as it was clear there was a lack of robust evidence regarding the impact of lesson study, or indeed Evidence Based Teaching in general.

Aims of the studyTo ascertain how students evaluate lesson study in terms of its impact upon their educational experiences.

To ascertain how teachers evaluate lesson study in terms of its ability to translate academic and professional evidence into professional practice.

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Methodology and Data Analysis

Student’s perspectivesIn order to evaluate the impact of lesson study on students’ educational experiences the research perspective centred upon the collection of rich and qualitative data. Much of this was collected during the lesson study process where observing teachers took the time to ask the pupils questions and where possible fill in short questionnaires. Towards the end of the project a sample of 10 students who had been involved in one of the lessons were recruited to form a focus group, in order to collect further information and deeper responses. The questions asked in lessons, via questionnaires and in the focus group were all variants of the following:

1. Which features of the lesson did you find most engaging and motivating?

2. Which features of lesson did you find least engaging and motivating?

3. What improvements would you suggest?

The data was systematically analysed using a framework advocated by Braun & Clarke, (2006). This approach can be considered using seven headings namely:

1. Familiarising with data reading and rereading the data, noting down initial ideas.

2. Being immersed in the data and obtaining the sense of whole, selecting the unit of analysis.

3. Collating interesting features of the data and searching for potential themes across the data set and systematically across the entire data set, collating data relevant to each code.

4. Identification of themes based on systematic interrogation of the data.

5. Reviewing the themes in relation data and generation of a thematic map.

6. Revisiting literature to compare themes identified to other studies using similar methodology.

7. Communication of findings.

Using the above principles an analysis of the data collected from the focus groups revealed four major themes. Two of these concerned the educational experiences associated with lesson study (structured approach and content of session) and two

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(personal support and a supportive learning environment) were concerned with teacher-student interaction and the interaction of students with each other.

With regard to the structured approach to the lesson study it was apparent that students were concerned with the organisation and speed of delivery of the session, as illustrated in the following quotes:

‘I was very pleased that the lesson was not too quick and I was able to understand one thing before moving on’.

‘I felt I understood the lesson, the teacher explained things clearly’.

‘I was able to understand what I was expected to learn’.

This theme was recognised in nearly all the student participants. Inevitably some students voiced negative concerns:

‘I didn’t like having other teachers in the classroom; I felt I was being watched all the time.

‘It seemed as if we couldn’t move on until everyone understood the lesson. This made the lesson seem very long’.

With regard to the supportive learning environment students were personally expressive and reflective:

‘The teacher asked me questions and explained things to me if I didn’t understand’.

‘Being able to talk to others in the class helped me grasp what I needed to know. I would never have understood what I was expected to learn without being able to do this’.

‘Sometimes when I don’t understand something I just switch off and day dream. This way of learning was great because I felt able to ask questions if I got stuck on something’.

There were very few negative comments and these were usually concerned with too

much discussion and not wanting to waste time going over things.

Teacher’s perspectivesInformation regarding the teacher’s perspectives of lesson study was collected via questionnaires and meetings with teachers. Both approaches were intended to identify the following:

1. The benefits of lesson study

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2. Problems associated with lesson study

3. The experience of linking evidence to practice.

Teacher’s data was analysed in a similar way to the pupil’s data. Three major themes became apparent:

Theme One: Observing pupils learning

Lesson observations are an integral part of the lesson study process, however unlike more traditional lesson observations it is the pupils and not the teachers that are the focus of the lesson. The aim of a lesson observation in a lesson study cycle is to explore how well the pupils are learning and to evaluate the strategies that are being used to help them learn. Several of the comments made by the teachers related to the benefits of focusing on the pupils, not the teacher when observing lessons. For example, one teacher’s referred to understanding better why pupils lose focus and misbehave/ don’t learn:

‘Pupil X had finished the task early and although there was an extension activity they didn’t/couldn’t do it’

Another teacher, observing a peer tuition lesson discussed the fact that it is harder than first thought to tell if the pupils are actually learning or not:

‘The pupils were working well together but I wasn’t sure if they were learning less or more compared to if the teacher was teaching them – it’s harder than you think to make the link between the teaching and the pupils learning’.

It was clear from some of the comments and notes that at times the observers were evaluating the planning and resources, rather than the pupils learning. For example several comments were regarded relating to high quality resources and clear teacher explanations. Whilst these things are obviously important, the role of lesson study is to evaluate their impact on pupils learning and these comments suggest is may be difficult for teachers used to observing lessons in one particular way to adapt to pupil-focused observations.

Theme Two: The Role of the Author and Research Leads

It was apparent from comments made in questionnaires and meetings that my role as the project lead and that of the individual research leads had been essential in keeping the project on track and staff motivated. In this way, we were acting as a change agents. A change agent in this context can be conceptualized as someone who helps others focus upon evidence based teaching in a practical and safe way. The intention is enhancing teachers understanding of the value of EBT by showing how it can lead to improvements and development. A change agent usually focuses his efforts on the effect of changing

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technologies, structures, and tasks on interpersonal and group relationships in the organisation. The focus here is on the people in the organisation and their interactions.

Change in social systems such as schools is often dependent upon individuals or groups of individuals who effectively link EBT derived from knowledge producing organisations such as universities to practice institutions such as schools. As basic research is developed and applied to practical problems, these individuals act to communicate this knowledge to those who may need it. In some cases, these change agents may also assist potential adopters in the installation of the new idea in their system. Miles (1998) & Swing (2008).

The importance of my role as a ‘change agent’ can be seen through the following

‘Without their support it would have been impossible to complete this project’

‘It was an excellent way to learn about feedback strategies – to learn about it from an expert and then try it out ourselves’.

‘They clearly explained the lesson study processes’

Indeed, from my own perspective, I can see that without the research leads in each school it would have been an impossible task to coordinate the groups and ensure practical arrangement were in place to facilitate observations and meetings. I can also reflect on the fact that having research leads to work with helped to clarify my own aims and understanding of lesson study, they also set high standards in terms of their expertise in different evidence based teaching and learning strategies. Without the expertise of the research leads the teachers involved would have had less expert help and guidance when planning and evaluating lessons.

To summarise, the two main features that were recognised and valued in the project leads were their motivating/ problem-solving qualities and their expertise in particular evidence based strategies. It is clear from the teacher feedback that without these project leads, the lesson study process would have stopped all together or simply become a general peer-observation activity.

Theme Three: The Collaborative Approach.

Lesson study shifts teachers’ practice from an individual to collaborative activity. Teaching ceases to be a personal and private experience for the teacher but rather based on participation and sharing. Several comments from the teachers reflected the importance of this collaborative approach:

‘Initially I was nervous about being observed but I felt less pressure as we had planned the lesson together’

‘I enjoyed getting ideas from others’’

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‘I felt more confident as we had worked on it together’

‘Having someone explain how to actually put the theory into practice was useful’

‘I was useful to know what other teachers thought of the activity’

‘I was worried at first – in case they thought the lesson wasn’t good enough’

‘I feel that joint planning and observation are a really helpful part of my development as a practitioner’.

What is obvious from these comments is that teachers have very few opportunities to work together and that when they do, they value and respect it. Cavaleri (1994) suggest that teachers have a ‘world view’ and are unable to see situations differently/ act in different ways until it changes. Cavaleri further suggests that the ability to see things differently is increased when we are continually challenged by competing alternative perspectives such as when we cooperate with colleagues and comprehend different practices to our own. In this way lesson study may have a critical role to play in fostering collaboration and changing teachers’ behaviour in the long term. Indeed, the critical role of collaboration in the school change process has led some authors to conclude that rather than restructuring schools to promote evidence based approaches to professional practice it is “re-culturing” that is needed, with collaboration at its heart, Fulllan (2007)

In summary, lesson study can facilitate collaboration between teachers allowing them to have shared experiences and professionally discuss a range of approaches to practice. This is seen as liberating and enjoyable for many of the teachers as witnessed through their statements. Importantly, if the experiences and discussions are centred on evidence based strategies, the process can aid the transfer of knowledge from theoretical to practical. The statements and general feedback also testify to the fact that time is

needed to develop a trusting relationships between colleagues.

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Discussion and ConclusionsThe development of Evidence Based Practice in teaching is complex and requires more than the assumption that academic research can be easily implemented in practice or indeed that such research is even desirable. This study concentrated on a particular approach of implementing research findings into practical classroom activities, namely lesson study. The nine teachers involved in the project have been involved with the planning, implementation and evaluation of six lessons that were each concerned with one of three different evidence based strategies. As well as gaining direct experience of implementing and evaluating an evidence based approach, the teachers have simultaneously gained knowledge regarding the lesson study process. They were also able to analyse and reflect on the student observations and feedback and were able to appreciate the often messy world of the theory-practice interface in educational research.

Initial analysis of the student data has revealed that the lesson study process had a positive impact on student’s experiences. The students in this study identified the well-structured lessons and engaging contents as strengths of the processes. They also identified an increased level of teacher-students interactions such as more one-to-one support and a more supportive learning environment. The student also identified negative issues such as feeling uncomfortable with several adults observing them. Although other factors may well have impacted on the students experiences, it is reasonable to suggest that the evidence based teaching strategies identified in the literature are responsible to some degree for the enhanced student’s experiences, and that these strategies have been mobilised through the lesson study process. It may also be sensible to suggest that in future, pupils are informed about the process they are to be involved in, in order to reassure them as to why they are being observed.

Analysis of the teacher data identified three themes. The first was concerned with the nature of the lesson observations. The lesson study process requires lesson observations that focus on pupils and monitor their engagement, behaviour and learning throughout the lesson. Such observations should not focus of the quality of resources, teacher actions etc., but purely on the impact they have on students. Such pupil focused observations are relatively rare and it is unsurprising that the teachers involved in this study struggled at times to stay focused on the students. Indeed, although all classroom teachers are often observed themselves, they don’t often get the chance to be the observer at all. Most classroom teacher’s experiences of observing colleagues will be in the context of student/ NQT mentor or as a performance manager. In this context the teacher will be focusing on the planning, resources and classroom management skills of the teacher, most likely with the aim of coming up with a summary judgment. Although peer observation programmes, which tend to be separate from any performance management system and focus on the sharing of best practice, are becoming more common they are still over shadowed by the more formal performance management style observations.

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This study suggests that if lesson study is to be successfully implemented the focus of the lesson observations will need to be carefully planned and shared with all participants. This will be vital in order to reassure teachers who may fear critical feedback but also for the observer who may be otherwise be unable to switch from a teacher focused observation style to a pupil-learning focused one.

The collaborative nature of lesson study was another key theme that emerged from the pupil data. Working collaboratively appeared to decrease any sense of isolation and indeed provided new insights for many of the teachers. Without a doubt, the opportunity to plan and evaluate lessons collaboratively was valued by the teachers involved and a relatively novel experience for most of them. Many schools implement a peer-observation programme and this evidence suggests teachers would appreciate developing those programmes into lesson study cycles.

The presence of a research lead or another person acting as an agent of change within a collaborative structure was demonstrated to be highly beneficial. The role of the research lead can be summarised as co-ordinator, knowledge provider, resource person and motivator. It was found that these people were critical to the success of this project and without them the key objective of mobilising research findings via a lesson study process would not have been accomplished.

In summary, this study has demonstrated that the successful introduction of evidence based teaching is a complex task in this instance involved five interacting factors:

An agent of change - the researcher who brings the teachers together and sustains them throughout the project

Self-selecting group of teachers who have the motivation to complete the project

An agreed focus for the research i.e. lesson study

Practical application of research evidence to teaching, mediated via a knowledgeable research lead

An evaluation of the project from the perspective of the teachers and students

It is acknowledged that evidence based teaching is shaped by a complex interaction of contextual factors such as school policy, leadership, cultural norms and values, teacher attitudes and skills, and student characteristics, (Elmore 2004). It is evident that teacher enthusiasm and effectiveness of the innovation may not be sufficient to sustain it if culture and structures within schools are not supportive and can be de-stabilizing factor, (Fullan 2007). However, this project strongly suggests that research based teaching can be implemented were a strong sense of purpose is generated and when teachers and students feel highly involved in the process. Whilst OFSTED (2015) acknowledges the need for sharing and developing best practice it is the translation of such statements into practice which present a major challenge. This study helps conceptualise the issues

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involved in this process and provides a model for sustained evidence based practice which has transferable qualities to other aspects learning and teaching.

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Crown copyright 2017

The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education.

Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: college.research@education.gov.uk or www.education.gov.uk/contactus

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