What can we learn from research?

STEVE HIGGINS

Teachers' standards

2 Promote good progress and outcomes by pupils

• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of how pupils learn and how this impacts on teaching

3 Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge

• demonstrate a critical understanding of developments in the subject and curriculum areas, and promote the value of scholarship

4 Plan and teach well-structured lessons

• reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching

Critical questions

» What can we learn from research into early literacy?

» What do international comparisons tell us?

» What can we learn about the teaching of early literacy?

» How can this information be used effectively?

Why do we need research?

Imagine going to see your local doctor and hearing her (or him) say, Oh I don't keep up to date with research. I just use the things that I know work for my patients. I learned what I know on the job, so I'm not really interested in how research can help me or my patients. Would you be impressed? Of course, medical research and educational research are different, but we can still learn valuable lessons from what research tells us will help make us more effective teachers, which will keep us up to date with evidence as it develops, and which will help keep us effective and fresh as teachers through trying out and evaluating new ideas.

In this chapter, you will find evidence from research that will help you reflect critically on the teaching of literacy in schools, by comparing what we do with what happens in other countries and by looking at some examples of research evidence about what has helped in the teaching of literacy.

International comparisons

There are a number of large-scale international comparisons of educational performance. The oldest is the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which was first administered in 1995 by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) to allow the countries involved to compare their pupils' educational attainment in mathematics and science. The IEA also manages the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which assesses 9- and 10-year-olds in reading and literacy (see below). The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is anoth