Subscribe to our Blog
Much education research has a very long nose
The latest addition to our lending library is Teacher Proof by Tom Bennett, a seasoned teacher in England who despairs of the fads that sweep English schools. It does sound as if England is much more gullible about education fads than Canada. Here are a few of the fads that were or are heavily implemented across the pond.
Multiple Intelligences - which resulted in "geography tasks that involved students discussing their feelings about soil erosion, and music teachers attempts to convey Mozart through the medium of mime"
Brain Gym - which trained teachers to rub their 'brain buttons' "(just under my collar bones, if you're getting interested) before a new activity, to activate my 'cognitive centres'
Emotional Intelligence - which believed "that learning could be assisted when students were also coached and directed towards better ways of feeling, relating and valuing"
Learning Styles - which required teachers to cater to students' presumed learning styles and ensure that "no one was left out of the lesson because they preferred to see information in a film (visual) rather than, say, absorb it in the form of Japanese Noh theatre (kinaesthetic)
Thinking Hats - which boosted the power of lateral thinking by having students "imagine that they are wearing a different hat every time they consider a concept"
There are lots more, but you get the idea. All of these fads were sold to teachers on the basis that they had solid backing in the research, but of course this research was very flawed, in ways which the author enumerates. And here's what the author has to say about social sciences research in general.
"In Pinnochio, the wooden hero dreams of being a real boy; Frankenstein hopes to be loved and accepted by his creator as a son; Data in Star Trek wonders what it must be like to be human; in Robert Howard's Conan the Barbarian, the ape pretends to be a king, and smashes every mirror to avoid being reminded that it isn't.
"So too with the social sciences. In its quest to emulate the success of science, it has copied its every quirk, mannerism and accessory, like a child pretending to be its mother by walking around in heels and pearls, or an eager junior sibling clinging to its elder brethren.....They adopt the form of the research paper, but many of them go their own way from there, assuming ridiculous axioms, basing their conduct and methodology on whim, affectation and fancy, prejudice and yearning."
Share this article