HTEN/BERA SIG, July 2013 Directions in history education research

1. HTEN/BERA SIG, July 2013 Directions in history education research Professor Chris Husbands, Director, Institute of Education, University of London www.ioe.ac.uk  @director_edu

2. Which direction?

4. Whatis history education research for? Whois history education research for?

5. Three narratives of research Research for description Research for improvement Research for explanation What is happening here? How can it best be described and understood? Focus How can we improve what is happening? What drives change most effectively? What explains the outcomes here? How does process relate to product? Researchers Audience Practitioners Policymakers Thick description; deeper understanding Outcomes Changes in practice; improved teaching Changed policy; improved outcomes

6. Three quite different worlds the world of research the world of policy the world of practice driven by different incentives, habits, cultures Linking them depends on deliberate effort that takes into account their differences

7. How does this influence the direction?

8. The ‘knowledge turn’ in curriculum and instruction The children, grouped on the basis of ability, are seated in a semi-circle with one or two rows, without desks facing the teacher. The teacher has a projector, to present stimuli to the learners. The teacher periodically refers to a script that contains carefully sequenced instruction. Having prepared lessons frees the teacher to focus on motivational and extra-instructional features of the learning environment. (Engelmann 1992) The pace is very fast. In the early stages of a lesson the learners respond as a group in unison at the signal of the teacher. Periodically the teacher will ask individual students to respond, especially if the teacher suspects that the learner is having a problem. Overall, the learners have a rate of 10 to 14 responses per minute (Engelmann 1992) The lesson is a simple one ...[what] matters ] [is that ] a child gradually gains a critical mass of enabling knowledge over thirteen years of schooling. ... The best-intentioned reform efforts will not succeed—cannot succeed—without a commitment to ensuring that all children receive such enabling knowledge from the first days of school. (E D Hirsch, 2011) Core Knowledge Direct Instruction

9. How does this influence the direction?

10. The ‘quantitative turn’ in educational research "It is teachers who, in the end, will change the world of the school by understanding it“ Lawrence Stenhouse, 1976 “Without data, you are just another person with an opinion” Andreas Schleicher, 2010 “Randomised trials are our best way to find out if something works” Ben Goldacre, 2012 Action Research System Analysis RCTs

11. How does this influence the direction?

12. Why knowing where you are matters

13. Why knowing where you are going matters Pedagogy Achievement A1 CURRICULUM VygotskyB78 VFM Piaget B999

14. Purpose Audience Outcomes

15. HTEN/BERA SIG, July 2013 Directions in history education research Professor Chris Husbands, Director, Institute of Education, University of London www.ioe.ac.uk  @director_edu