Reflecting on different arguments and methods for embedding evidence-based policy into education, this review will prove useful for school leaders and other professionals wishing to work with more evidence-based methods.
Building evidence into education
Synopsis
Goldacre, a doctor and academic, writes about problems in science and evidence-based policy. In this government commissioned report, he notes the importance of engaging teachers with relevant evidence, and that the infrastructure for this in education is currently lacking.
He argues that evidence-based practice is not about telling teachers what to do: but rather empowering teachers, and setting the profession free from government, ministerial and civil servant influence.
He concludes that the sector needs better systems for disseminating the findings of research to teachers on the ground: while individual studies are written up in very technical documents in obscure academic journals, these are rarely read by teachers. Understanding how research is done enables teachers to generate new research questions and this, in turn, ensures that the research that gets done addresses the needs of teachers.