State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning

Abstract

One of the key findings from decades of educational effectiveness research is the importance of the classroom level as a predictor of pupil outcomes. In this review, we therefore look at synthesising our best evidence from research on effective teaching, and its corollary, teacher development. In the 1st section, we will look at key findings from 35 years of research on effective teaching using a process-product research that has led to the identification of a range of behaviours which are positively related to student achievement. A key limitation of this research, however, is its focus on basic skills in English and maths. Therefore, in the 2nd section we review research on "new learning" and teaching for metacognitive and thinking skills. While in these 2 sections we have discussed key findings from research on teaching, including emerging knowledge on metacognition, it is important to continue to take into account ongoing developments in theories of learning. In the 3rd section of this paper, we develop the argument that a major contributing factor to this situation is that "state-of-the-art" understandings about processes and conditions that promote student learning are typically not used to construct appropriate learning environments for their teachers.

Inspiring teaching: learning from exemplary practitioners

“…Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector of Schools, highlighted features of good teaching in relation to children's responses and outcomes as follows: "children enjoyed their lessons, were engaged, were focused, learnt a great deal and made real progress...and in the best lessons (are) being inspired" (London Festival of Education, 2012 Both the quantitative and the qualitative observation findings identified much overlap between the features of effective teaching and the practices observed in these teachers' classes. There is a strong tradition of judgments of effective teaching based on studies of student outcomes and wider research evidence has identified features of teaching and classroom practice linked with greater effectiveness in fostering better student outcomes (Muijs & Reynolds, 2005;Teddlie et al, 2006;Kington et al, 2014, Muijs et al 2014). …”

Opening up towards children’s languages: enhancing teachers’ tolerant practices towards multilingualism

“…Research shows that teachers' mindset towards innovations is crucial for the implementation process to succeed (Fullan, 2001;Muijs et al, 2014). Changing their classroom practice often involves uncertainty and concerns on the part of teachers (Geijsel, Sleegers, Van den Berg, & Kelchtermans, 2001;Van den Berg & Ros, 1999).…”

Going beyond structured observations: looking at classroom practice through a mixed method lens

“…More specifically, we place an emphasis on those practices which empirical evidence from previous research has shown to promote pupil attainment (see Teddlie et al 2006;Muijs et al 2014). Theoretical frameworks for studying teacher effectiveness can be traced back to early studies that took "student learning in classrooms as schools as a point of departure" (Creemers, 1994, p24), developing models including instructional factors such as Carroll's (1963) ratio of time spent to time needed for learning.…”