Integrating Teaching and Research Through Evidence-Based Practice

• In Event: Using Evidence-Based Practice to Improve Education in Underdeveloped Regions: Four Empirical Studies from One Longitudinal Project in China

Proposal

As part of a large project on evidence-based educational practice and improvement in China, this case study explored the integration of teaching and research through evidence-based teaching and learning activities in County Jin of Guizhou Province – an underdeveloped mountainous region of China. Fifty teachers from County Jin participated in this study by engaging in evidence-based practices over a three-month period.

Guided by theories of evidence-based practice (Yates, 2012), action sciences (Argyris & Schön, 1989), and reflective practice (Beauchamp, 2015), the research team generated four sources of empirical data, including semi-structured interviews, participatory observations, textual materials, and group discussions, to construct context-specific, nuanced interpretations of the participating teachers’ development of evidence-based practices and the relevant influencing factors. In particular, we conducted semi-structured interviews to understand the participants’ initial understandings of evidence-based practice, challenges faced, and changes observed during their enactment of evidence-based practices. We also conducted follow-up interviews that revealed the participants’ reflections on how their understandings and practices evolved. To document their engagement with evidence-based practice, we collected textual materials, including the teachers’ lesson plans, student work, and reflection journals. The textual materials provided insights into how the participants incorporated and used evidence in their daily teaching practices. Last, we used participatory observations and group discussion sessions to generate additional data about how the teachers implemented evidence-based practices in classrooms and collaborated with peers.

The data analysis showed that the participating teachers eventually converted their experience-based and fixed thinking to be more evidence-driven and flexible through an iterative process of searching for, sifting, evaluating, and applying scientifically testified research evidence about teaching and learning. When tracing relevant research evidence, they critically judged its reliability and feasibility, combining it with classroom data, personal experiences, and experts’ suggestions to conceive, plan, and instruct lessons. Furthermore, through group discussions and reflections, the teachers recognized the value of research evidence in informing teaching practices, elevated their confidence in using research evidence, and learned about foundational rules and procedures for conducting evidence-based classroom teaching. However, the teachers also reported their confusion about evidence-based teaching and learning (e.g., what counts as “evidence”), their concerns about evidence-based practices (e.g., how much weight should evidence takes up in pedagogical reasoning and decisions), and the major challenges they encountered in enacting evidence-based practices (e.g., quickly locating, sifting, and capturing the gist of high-quality evidence).

This exploratory case study highlights the value of grounding evidence-based initiatives in teachers’ practice. However, scaling up such efforts in the education system requires reconciling tensions between standardization and professional flexibility (Marshall & Kostka, 2020). Future work should examine how macroscopic policy goals focusing on evidence and accountability can be pursued while preserving space for teachers to attend to the situated, emergent nature of teaching (Cohen, 2011). A hybrid approach that values external experts’ professional support and frontier practitioners’ situational wisdom may prove fruitful.

Authors

• Huan Song, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University

• Yuchen Wu, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• Xinwei Wang, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University