Research in Education: Who needs it anyways?

Getting to the Why for the price of a beer!

I’m on my way down to the final day of the Ontario Education Research Symposium (OERS12) and, although I have enjoyed immensely the opportunity to meet people, young and old(er) who are passionately committed to the work that they do, I openly admit that I have felt a little uncomfortable. Now don’t get me wrong, I like research. I like the idea of doing research, and I actually enjoy reading it. In fact, I’m one of those people who became so accustomed to having online access to research journals during my Masters program that I still pay $150 bucks a year to the University of Toronto in order to maintain that connection. I think research (and some researchers) are pretty sexy!

That said, we’re half way through this annual gathering of top researchers from the province, and I’m left with a couple of nagging questions related to the purpose of research in education. What is the true goal of education-related research? Who really needs it?

Do practitioners in the field require good, rigorous research in order to do a better job in the classroom? Do administrators need the research in order to better lead their staffs and ensure high quality teaching? Do District-level personnel look to research to help improve test scores? Do governments need the results of research to justify their directions and agendae?

I’ve had a few “aha” moments over the past couple of days, but there was one idea that kind of just floated by yesterday, but has been poking at me more than others. It came out of something that one of the speakers said, and I hope I got it right: Although brain science has helped a great deal in this regard, we still don’t know a great deal about what happens when people learn. Huh! Interesting.

So, what has all of the education research that has been produced over the years done for us, and for the field if it has not made clear(er) what learning is really all about?

My sense is—and I assure you that this is just my sense—that the prime reason we look to education research these days is to establish what works. Isn’t this what all of this talk about “best practice” is really about? Isn’t one of the main goals of education research the collection of a database of strategies that, when implemented, have the power to increase test scores and student achievement?

And is there anything wrong with that? As a teacher, I’m keenly interested in what has worked for other educators. I want to hear their success stories, and want those stories to become part of the knowledge base of all who care about effective practice. I am also keenly aware of the complexities of teaching and how, for a variety of reasons, what works for one teacher may not work for another. Heck, what works for one teacher one day may not work the next!

So, getting a handle on what works only goes so far for me. I’m dying to know why it works. I want someone to be able to tell me why cooperative learning is effective, and under what conditions. I want to read research that tells me why play-based learning is an effective way to frame an early childhood program. I want to know why direct instruction is an effective way to teach reading.

As a practitioner I am intently interested in the value of education research. Else, why would I be spending two days away from work and family to be here? But, I’ve got this sense that this is not as much a part of the research agenda as we need it to be. And I also have a sense that, until it is, we’re going to be held back from effectively bridging the gaps that exist between folks in the field and, just as important, between research and practice.

So, I throw out a bit of a challenge for anyone attending this last day of OERS12. I will be standing by the entrance to the lounge in the lobby of the hotel at the completion of the conference, and I will be willing to buy a beverage to anyone who can help me out with this question—even if that means helping me clarify the question a little more. I’ll be the guy with the greying beard and the vintage CBC radio bag over his shoulder.

I look forward to the conversation!