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Theory into practice

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Don Ledingham

Sunday 19 February 2006

What a wonderful contribution the Educational Psychology Service have made to this website through Everything you wanted to know abut teaching and learning....and more - particularly the most recent posting on schools as Effective learning environments. However, it's set me to thinking - always a dangerous thing! - and the question I can't stop thinking about is ...."should teachers have this knowledge?" I've taught at a teacher training institution, completed a degree and masters degree in education but I couldn't claim to know everything on this section of the site (in fact I reckon 60% is new to me) Most of us have tacit knowledge about the learning and teaching process. Often half-remembered bits of theory join with our practical experience to form an implicit set of assumptions upon which we build our practice.

I don't know if it's unfortunate or not but many of us adopt an anti-theoretical perspective on our practice - "we don't have time for all that nonsense"; "we prefer to focus on the business of teaching"; "I don't agree with all this theory - I know what I know and it works for me" Yet I've still to meet a teacher who does not have a set of implicit assumptions and personal set of beliefs which drive their practice - the challenge is to get these assumptions to be articulated and shared - and, if necessary - to be challenged.

One of Exc-el's prime purposes is to improve the teaching and learning process - but is it possible to improve the process without a more explicit understanding of the theory which underpins our practice and the learning process? Should all teachers be updated with this knowledge - in much the same way as my father (a doctor) had to update his knowledge - on a compulsory basis? Why is it that any attempt to do something like this would be regarded as a professional affront by many teachers - or would it?

Comments

Solution Oriented Schools & The Trojan Project

Yvonne Binks

Wednesday 01 March 2006

Re. theory in to practice. The Solution Oriented Schools Programme is a very useful tool to prompt staff reflection upon their own theories on their practice.
It provides a frame work for schools to look at their own core professional purpose and to explore the principles that drive their practice. It gets us to ask the question does what we do reflect what we believe in?

In Moray both primary and secondary schools have felt that it has has a significant impact on the teaching and learning process. I gave Claire Sime some of the materials to have a look at.

On a different vein, check out The Trojan Project at www.thetrojanproject.co.uk . This is a project set up to collect and share pupil views. It asks four questions per year on a range of issues such as - how pupils learn best, what makes a good teacher and how sate are schools. There is some interesting stuff in there that seemed to tie in with some of the issues discussed in your blog.

Regards
Yvonne

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