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Communicating educational research to practitioners
By Dan Sutch, Learning Researcher, Futurelab |
Never before has there been such access to communication technologies. The speed of e-mail; the rich representation of multimedia; the brevity of text messaging and the accessibility of web-authoring all enable quicker communication in a variety of subjects and forms. This leap forward in communication technologies offers a valuable opportunity for researchers to share and disseminate their findings and learning.
The need for teacher involvement in research, either through dissemination or through participation in research activities, is fundamentally based on the belief that teacher understanding and confidence are important factors in creating dynamic, inspirational learning situations; that teacher confidence in their own risk-taking is linked greatly with continued teacher learning.
Educational research plays a vital role in informing classroom practice, yet it seems that the link between new findings and current practice is a protracted one. The route for developing classroom practice at present is through impacting upon policy makers who then develop these ideas through policies and documents (such as QCA schemes of work and the National Strategies). Research has been presented that shows that teachers still consider educational research as too removed from everyday classroom practice and that research is too dismissive of teachers' practical knowledge.
If the communities of research and practice are to come closer together then this disparity must be addressed.
Yet there is a developing 'grass roots' system of communication that presents a new opportunity to educational researchers to share their findings and learning. Prevalent web-based discussion groups aimed at sharing best practice, ideas and resources are offered by various organisations; sharing of the findings of the Best Practice Research Scholarships is offered on a wide scale through the BPRS website, but is equally important on a smaller scale through word of mouth and localised presentations; teacher-based conferences are becoming more common in developing links between research and practice.
All of these vehicles for sharing knowledge and understanding are becoming more widespread with the developing opportunities presented by increasing access to communication technologies.
Academic journals are not necessarily appropriate vehicles for communicating research findings to practitioners as teachers are often unable to access such journals, do not have the time or perhaps even the inclination to read them. However, a new technology developed by TERC offers one opportunity to create a dissemination vehicle specifically for teacher use in putting new research into practice.
Videopaper presents practical classroom demonstration linked with explanation and its theoretical underpinning. It subscribes to the notion of teachers learning as observers rather than as readers (using professional vision), being able to reconfigure teaching and student response into an appropriate vehicle for use in their own classrooms.
The theoretical model adhered to in using video to aid wider dissemination is based on the hypothesis of teachers as 'vicarious learners' and upon teachers learning 'as observers'. The notion that video presentations create a camera-mediated shared history; creating a multimodal presentation that offers more signifiers to the decoder than text alone.
A chapter for Video Research in the Learning Sciences is currently being written about the use of videopaper in three studies. The chapter recounts the role played by videopaper through the eyes of teachers and researchers.
These projects support Berieter's taxonomy of creative copying that suggests that in order to use new learning, one must first understand it. In the context of this research, copying the actions and style presented in the videopaper is not possible without understanding the underpinning pedagogy and theory. Copying the work is not sufficient in sharing best practice: it is the ability to creatively copy the work, adapting the style to individual classrooms and individual learners. Videopaper then, attempts to develop teacher learning and understanding - which can then be transferred to their classroom practice.
The successful use of ICT within the classroom impacts upon learning when a change in classroom relationships is accepted. This is not something that can be imposed by policy or national strategy, but something that needs to be understood and accepted by practising teachers in order that it may be adopted within classroom practice. In this way, methods for disseminating work need to be found that can link new research with current classroom practice through teacher learning.
Therefore the challenge is set for educational researchers: to develop teachers' roles within research through involvement and dissemination, taking advantage of teachers' professional vision to benefit the professional vision of the researcher; and to disseminate research in a way that develops teacher learning and understanding so to impact upon classroom practice.
Links
TERC: www.terc.edu
Best Practice Research Scholarships:
www.teachernet.gov.uk/professionaldevelopment/resourcesandresearch/bprs
References
Cogan-Drew et al (forthcoming). Videopaper as a tool for preservice reflection and inservice teacher professional development, in Video Research in the Learning Sciences
John, P (2002). Teaching and Learning with ICT. New Technology, New Pedagogy?
Mayes et al (2001). Learning From Watching Others Learn
Richardson, V (1994). Teacher Inquiry as Professional Staff Development
Sherin, M (2003). Developing a Professional Vision of Classroom Events
May 2004
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