Knowledge Culture Among Teachers as an Important Aspect of an Evidence Ecosystem

• In Event: Equity in Education: The Role of Syntheses and Knowledge Centers in Sweden and Norway

Abstract

Objectives
As the previous papers have addressed, simply publishing a systematic review or a map is not enough for knowledge movement within an evidence ecosystem. Teachers play a vital role in the ecosystem as both users and contributors, and in some cases as co-producers of research. This paper takes an evidence ecosystem approach to consider the use of research by teaching professionals. Paper four is a discussion paper where we use the experience of the Swedish Institute for Educational Research (the Swedish knowledge center) to consider what hinders and enables a knowledge culture among teachers.
Perspectives
Firstly, research results per se do not improve teaching quality.
Second, evidence claims from systematic research reviews are more reliable than those from a few research papers.
Third, consideration needs to be given to teachers’ capacity in terms of research literacy, enabling a critical view on research, access to research and time to engage with and discuss research.
Modes of inquiry
This paper provides an exploratory analysis of teachers’ demand and use of research evidence to inform their practice in Sweden.
Data sources
In this paper we will discuss: (i) the experience of the Swedish Institute for Educational Research’s including its continuously updated analysis of the research questions that Swedish teachers’ demand research evidence about; and (ii) research on research-based teaching from the Swedish National Agency for Education and the Swedish School Inspectorate.
Substantiated conclusions
Teachers in Sweden are often provided with evidence claims based on only a single or a few, sometimes even creatively interpreted, research papers. Where teachers are provided with evidence from systematic reviews, they typically need support with interpretation and application. They seldom lay the basis for strong recommendations about a specific teaching method but typically need to interact with teachers’ experience and professional judgement in the local context. A culture among teachers needs to be strengthened where research results together with professional judgement and teacher experience lay the basis for teachers´ collegial discussions on improving teaching quality.
Scholarly significance of the work
However well-presented and relevant the evidence, the teachers need it to be presented in a way that enables its interpretation and application in specific national, local and individual contexts. This suggests that: (i) the evidence needs to not only to be communicated clearly but also to be presented differently; and (ii) broker organizations need to support teacher communities in their systematic use of research knowledge. What kind of teacher communities are successful in supporting teachers’ use of research, and what should the role of the Swedish Institute as a governmental stakeholder be in supporting this?

Author

• Karolina Fredriksson, The Swedish Institute of Educational Research