Hattie Debunked!

Staff involvement in research at Putney High School has grown substantially in the last year. We recently achieved 1st and 2nd place in the GDST Research Impact Award competition and we have many more staff engaged with action research this academic year.

But how do we know what research to trust? And how do we know the outcomes of our project are going to have the intended desired effects in the classroom?

Our second Teaching + Learning meeting of the term therefore looked at one of the most eminent educationalists in the profession; a man who has respect around the world for his research and meta analysis. Professor John Hattie.

• Focus: How learning styles (VAK) and John Hattie's 'Visible Learning' were each recently venerated by educational researchers but have now been thoroughly debunked.

No one wants to criticise a man who has dedicated his life to improving education, but we should take time to consider the validity of his work and question it before applying results and findings into our schools.

• Provision: Two articles which help support the belief that we should consider what type of research we trust.

• https://www.mycota.ca/pro-d-blog/2017/09/05/a-criticism-of-john-hattie’s-arguments-in-visible-learning-from-the-perspective-of-a-statistician/

• http://literacyinleafstrewn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/can-we-trust-educational-research_20.html

The take-away from the session therefore is...

• Take-away: We should look carefully and objectively at available evidence, discuss ideas, raise any doubts and pay particular attention to the outcomes of our own action research and that of others to see what truly appears to have a desired effect in the classroom.