It worked there. Will it work here? Researching teaching methods

Abstract

‘It worked there. Will it work here?’ We have to be able to identify the ‘it’ in that aphoristic question. Classifications of teaching methods belong in the social realm, where human intentions play a fundamental role in how phenomena are categorized. The social realm is characterized with the help of John Searle. Social phenomena are often open to interpretation, rather than definitive verdicts. The nature of the social limits the possibility of consistency in how teaching should be classified, which in turn limits the viability of standard quantitative empirical research into effectiveness. Either classifications of teaching are very broad, which robs them of a researchable identity, or they are more specific, which can undermine their credentials as true teaching. So-called ‘Direct Instruction’ is a case in point.

Keywords:

• Teaching methods
• educational research
• effectiveness

Acknowledgements

This paper is a version of a presentation at the annual conference of the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain in Oxford in March 2017. It draws closely on material included in my “A Critique of Pure Teaching Methods and the Case of Synthetic Phonics”, published by Bloomsbury in November 2017.