The point of this article is not that social educators should not consider knowledge based on research; the problem arises if they do not take a critical stance to the type of research on which the knowledge and methods are based. It is important that the label ‘evidence-based’ not be used to signify authoritative knowledge by administrators and politicians, thus keeping professionals from conducting their own inquiry and exercising critical and professional judgement. Considering their educational background, social educators should, according to the executive order that regulates the programme, be able to “... demonstrate knowledge of scientific theory and method” (Executive Order on the Bachelor in Social Educa-tion, 2010, §12, Stk. 2). This means that social educators should be able to discuss the basic premises of the methods they are presented to and be able to exercise professional judgement about when and how to use the methods. In many Dan-ish city councils, methods are introduced by administrators and politicians who might be seduced by the authoritative label ‘evidence-based’. A critical stance from the social educators works as a safeguard against conforming judgement in educational institutions.
Notes
1 This paper is a revision and extension of an earlier version: Wiberg, M. (2011). “Dømmekraft”
(Judgement). In: A.M. Buus et al. chapter 4, p. 63-72.
2 PALS is a Norwegian (and Danish) version (Atferdssentret, nd) of the American programme SW_PBIS (School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support (PBIS Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (nd).
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Dansk abstract
Evidensbaserede metoder og tilpasset dømmekraft
Denne artikel diskuterer dømmekraft, og hvordan professionel dømmekraft ved indførelse af evidensbaserede metoder i danske pædagogiske institutioner risike-rer at blive til tilpasset dømmekraft. Tesen er, at fordi evidensbaserede metoder fremstår autoritative og baseret på sikker viden, så har de den indflydelse, at de kan underminere professionel dømmekraft. Dømmekraft udlægges i denne artikel via Gadamer og Dewey, og således forstås dømmekraft i overensstemmelse med Gadamer som anvendelse af viden i en situation, hvor der foregår samtidig fortolkning og forståelse af situationen. Tesen er, at evidensbaserede metoder qua deres status som viden, der virker, fordi den er forskningsbaseret, får den indflydelse på forståelsen og fortolkningen af situationen, at denne tilpasses den evidensbaserede metode. Der er tale om en slags efterrationalisering, som f.eks.
får pædagoger til at sige, at deres egen erfaring passer med metoden.
Alternativet er, at professionelle kritisk vurderer de metoder, de præsenteres for, og at de ved en undersøgende tilgang til pædagogiske situationer, inspireret af Deweys begreb om ‘inquiry’, kan udfordre en tilpasset dømmekraft. Der anvendes eksempler fra et forskningsprojekt, der har undersøgt evidensbaserede metoders indflydelse på pædagogers forståelse af eget arbejde.
Nøgleord: evidensbaserede metoder, pædagogisk arbejde, tilpasset dømmekraft, professionel dømmekraft, undersøgende tilgang, Dewey.
Making Sense of Evidence in Teaching
By Thomas R.S. Albrechtsen & Ane Qvortrup
Abstract
The aim of this article is to call for research that focuses specifically on how teachers make use of various kinds of evidence or data in their teaching practice.
Although we identify with some of the critics of the evidence-based teaching movement, we argue that, by acknowledging the unique character of the teaching profession, the discourse on evidence can be fruitfully integrated within the daily life of schools. In this article, we suggest two broad questions which can help guide future research into teachers’ use of evidence and data in their professional practice.
Key words: evidence-based teaching, teachers, data use, educational research.
Introduction
For a variety of reasons, researchers and policy makers are keen to answer the question of how educational research can become more “useful” for daily practice in schools. One possible answer is provided by the discourse about evidence-based teaching (EBT). Approximately 10 years ago, Moos, Krejsler, Hjort, Laursen &
Braad (2005) predicted that the term “evidence” would become increasingly important in Danish educational policy. This prediction was correct. They also claimed that evidence was a contested concept or a “fluid signifier” that was
difficult to grasp or define. Despite this, evidence is now a widely used term and is at the centre of a global evidence discourse.
For policy makers, “evidence-based” decisions represent a new way to gov-ern educational institutions. This is connected to the greater principles of New Public Management (Emmerich, 2014). A result of this movement in Denmark was the establishment of The Danish Clearinghouse of Educational Research in 2006, which focuses specifically on this issue. It is also worth mentioning the role of the Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA), which delivers evaluations and encourages Danish schools to become more evidence-based. However, whether the term
“evidence” carries the same importance for teachers in their daily working lives remains uncertain. We doubt that it does. We believe that, if a Danish teacher were asked whether evidence is a commonly used term in his/her current workplace, the teacher would respond in the negative. However, if the same question were asked about the term “reflection”, we believe the teacher would respond in the affirmative. We appeal to evidence to support this claim. In a recent report from EVA, we can identify a supposed need for evidence and knowledge about what works in teaching:
In general, the practitioners say that they lack knowledge about what works in many different areas. One teacher underlines, “we walk around and do something, because we believe that this is the best thing to do, or because this is what we usu-ally do, but we actuusu-ally don’t know what effect it has”. This experience is supported by the quantitative material. In the teacher surveys, 46% find it difficult or gener-ally difficult to ensure that teaching is based on evidence-based teaching methods.
A few more, that is 48%, also answer that it is difficult or generally difficult to achieve a greater insight into evidence-based knowledge about subjects, methods and forms of teaching (EVA, 2013, p. 90 - our translation).
This 2013 report indicates that teachers recognise EBT (and the surrounding discourse as something that concerns them, but something which it is difficult to put into practice. Adopting a more critical standpoint, we could surmise from this report that teachers feel obliged to make their teaching “more evidence-based”, not because they perceive a genuine need for it in the classroom, but because it has become a new slogan for policy makers. However, the truth is that we simply do not know how Danish teachers perceive this relatively new trend.
The purpose of this article, therefore, is to call for research that examines the following question in more depth: How do Danish teachers actually use – and make sense of – evidence in their everyday teaching practices? Although we believe that the term “evidence” is not widely used in the everyday lives of teachers, we predict it will become more widespread in the coming years. This
raises a number of questions. For example, let us imagine a teacher who wishes to become a professional practitioner and who only uses “evidence-based” methods.
If this teacher seeks guidance from a proponent of and expert in “evidence-based practice”, what would this expert suggest the teacher does? Read more relevant books and research journals? Collaborate more with educational researchers or other experts (if this is possible)? Attend different kinds of in-service teacher development courses in order to gain more evidence about certain educational phenomena (if the school can afford it and the school leader allows it)? It remains unclear where the teacher should source evidence, what it is to “have evidence”
and how this evidence should inform teaching in the classroom.
The aim of this article is to highlight and outline these questions so that they can form the basis of future research. We will put forward a nuanced view of evidence-based teaching that recognises the value of practice-based evidence.