Category Archives: Uncategorized

The importance of motivation has long been a contentious topic in education. At first sight it seems straightforward: if our pupils are motivated, they will learn better. After all, isn’t that also true of ourselves, don’t we work harder when we do something that motivates us? No surprise then that there have been many initiativesContinue reading “Motivation and learning: what comes first?”

I recently read this excellent journal article on the structure of academic self-concept by Arens et al (2021).  The article is about different models of academic self-concept (pupils self-perceptions of their own performance or ability in school subjects), and looks in part at whether or not there is a ‘general’ academic self-concept (across subjects, example question: ‘I’mContinue reading “On the generic and the specific”

Not all evidence is good evidence We have a growing problem in evidence-based education. To the credit of many, especially the classroom teachers who have driven this and organisations such as ResearchEd, we have seen growing interest in evidence-based practice in education. However, the growing popularity of the movement is leading to a bandwagon-effect, inContinue reading “Not all evidence is good evidence”

Rosenshine’s (2012) principles of instruction are deservedly having a bit of a moment in education. This is good news, as they are firmly grounded teacher effectiveness research. This, now quite venerable, field has been one of the more successful parts of educational research in providing valid and reliable findings of relevance to practice.  Historically, teacherContinue reading “Rosenshine and why teacher effectiveness research still makes sense, but isn’t the full story.”

Some reflections on academies, charter schools and school effects from reading this very interesting and well-executed paper by Andrew Mc Eachin, Douglas Lauren, Sarah Fuller and Rachel Perrera on Effects of Charter Schools on Behavioral Outcomes, Arrests, and Civic Participation (I have added the working paper for easier access, the final paper was published inContinue reading “Charter schools can lead to less crime and better civic outcomes, but the impact is small. What does this mean for academies?”