SCHOOL EXCELLENCE INITIATIVE
Teachers:
the key to student success
The research evidence
The Schools Excellence Initiative
2004
Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 2
The research context .................................................................................................. 2
What the research tells us .............................................................................................. 3
Cognition: how people learn .................................................................................. 3
The impact of teaching on student outcomes ......................................................... 4
Inclusivity .............................................................................................................. 6
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 8
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 9
“What teachers know, do, expect and value has a significant influence on the nature,
extent and rate of student learning. The powerful phrase ‘teachers make the
difference’ captures the key role that professional educators play in shaping the lives
and futures of their students.” (National Statement from the Teaching Profession on
Teacher Standards, Quality and Professionalism, May 2003)
Introduction
The School Excellence Initiative is the overarching framework for achieving high
standards in student learning, innovation and best practice in ACT Government
schools. The concept of school excellence has the fundamental assumption that
effective teaching is critical to student learning and that the degree of teacher
expertise impacts on the outcomes of their students. Providing learning environments
where every student is both supported and challenged is central to the ACT
Government Schools Plans, Within Reach of Us All.
The purpose of this paper is to support school excellence by summarising some key
research on pedagogy and the characteristics of excellent teaching. It is a
supplementary paper to the Discussion Paper Teachers: the key to student success,
which provides a framework for professional dialogue and teacher learning across all
schools in the ACT.
The research context
Over the past few years there has been a renewed focus locally, nationally and
internationally on issues of pedagogy. All Australian governments are committed to
supporting quality teaching. Reports from inquiries such as Quality Matters (the 2001
NSW Review into teacher education), The New Basics (Education Queensland, 2000)
and Australia’s Teachers: Australia’s Future – Advancing Innovation, Science,
Technology and Mathematics (the 2003 Commonwealth Review into teaching and
teacher education) have affirmed that effective teaching is more important than any
other factor in raising student achievement. The Australian Council of Deans of
Education have issued a significant report The Role of the Teacher: Coming of Age
(2003). All Australian Ministers have agreed to a National Framework for
Professional Standards for Teaching (2003) which builds on work on teacher
standards by teacher professional associations in English, Mathematics and Science.
The Curriculum Renewal Evaluation Report, Every Chance to Learn, suggests that
“the purpose of developing pedagogy is to improve student learning by selecting the
most powerful teaching strategies for a specified learning outcome and to support
different learners to achieve that outcome. The argument is not that one teaching
strategy is always better than another, but rather that the strategies used need to be
effective for the planned learning and for the learners. In a sense, it is about knowing
how to choose the right tools for the job. Successful teachers establish effective
relationships with their students, engage them in the learning and skilfully select the
right strategies to ensure they achieve the desired outcomes.” (ACT Government,
2003:49)
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What the research tells us
Three key areas of research that impact on our understanding of pedagogy are:

research into cognition, particularly the work of Bransford, Brown and
Cocking

research into the impact of teaching on student outcomes and on the
dimensions of excellent teaching, particularly the work of Hattie and Martin

research into supportive learning environments and ways of meeting the
learning needs of students from diverse backgrounds and with differing
learning styles, including the work of Grasha, Gardner, Vygotsky and Munns.
Cognition: how people learn
“If teaching is conceived as constructing a bridge between the subject matter and the
student, learner-centered teachers keep a constant eye on both ends of the bridge.”
(Bransford et al, 1999:136)
Research into ‘the science of learning’ has provided new understandings about the
way the human brain works and how students develop competence in an area of
learning. Bransford, Brown and Cocking (1999) draw together this research and draw
out three key implications for teaching. These are the need to:

draw out and work with understandings that students bring with them

develop students’ deep understanding and support their capacities to organise,
retrieve and apply knowledge

actively promote the development of students’ metacognitive skills.
Draw out and work with understandings that students bring with them
Research indicates that the most important aspect of learner-centred teaching is
building on the students’ prior knowledge and connecting to students’ experiences.
Students use their current level of learning to discover, construct and incorporate new
knowledge, skills and understanding. “Teachers must actively inquire into students’
thinking by creating classroom activities and conditions under which student thinking
can be revealed. Students’ initial understandings can then provide the foundation on
which more formal understanding of the subject matter is built.” (ACT Government,
2004) This implies too that teachers need to identify pre-existing student
preconceptions or misconceptions that make learning more difficult so that they can
challenge these and lead students to new understandings.
Develop students’ deep understanding and support their capacities to organise,
retrieve and apply knowledge
Research into brain function, and particularly into the way long-term memory works,
shows that effective learning occurs when fewer topics are covered but at a greater
depth. “Curricula that are a ‘mile wide and an inch deep’ run the risk of developing
disconnected rather than connected knowledge.” (Bransford, Brown and Cocking,
1999: 5)
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It is important for teachers to develop a sound basis of factual knowledge, and help
students build conceptual frameworks that facilitate knowledge retrieval and
application. Students need to be given many opportunities to practise what is learnt in
a variety of contexts, to reinforce learning and support knowledge transfer. “Key
concepts need to be explored in a variety of ways over a period of time in order for
students to carry ideas forward and develop formal, transferable understandings to
new ideas and areas of study.” (ACT Government, 2004: 51)
Wiggins and McTighe (1998) suggest that understanding is developed when key ideas
and skills are reiterated, explored and rethought. These key ideas and skills need to
have value beyond the classroom and to be linked to real world issues, so that students
are engaged in processes of inquiry and problem-solving that have some meaning to
their own lives and to the issues facing contemporary society.
Actively promote the development of students’ metacognitive skills
“Metacognition refers to thinking about thinking in general, and reflecting on and
regulating one’s own thinking and learning in particular. It is a kind of internal
dialogue in which the learner monitors his or her own developing skills,
understanding of concepts and mental approaches to the learning as it occurs.” (ACT
Government: 2004)
Teachers need to help students develop strategies to better understand, monitor and
improve their own learning. As these strategies differ across learning areas and
subjects, students need to be 'let into the secrets' of the area of study. Teachers need to
explicitly share with students the keys to understanding and using the knowledge
structures, terminology, and processes of a subject discipline or learning area.
(Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, referenced in ACT Board of Senior Secondary
Studies, 2003) Making reflection and self-assessment an integral part of the learning
process supports metacognition and improves student learning.
Metacognitive strategies also help students transfer learning from one context to
another. “When students consciously develop ways of organising knowledge and
learn to apply that knowledge to new issues and new problems, they are reinforcing
generic capabilities. These are the capabilities they will need to maintain learning
throughout their lives, within and beyond the workplace.” (ACT Board of Senior
Secondary Studies, 2003)
The impact of teaching on student outcomes
“The quality of teaching is by far the most important influence on cognitive, affective
and behavioural outcomes of schooling, regardless of a student’s gender or
background.” (Australian Council for Educational Research, October 2003)
In the 1960s and 70s, research suggested that family and socio-cultural background
had the greatest influence on a child’s achievement and that schools could do little to
ameliorate significant disadvantage (Coleman, 1966, and Jenks, 1972, referenced in
Darling-Hammond, 2000). The whole school reform movement (characterised by the
work of Newmann and the Coalition of Essential Schools in the United States and in
Australia by the National Schools Network) countered this pessimistic view.
Research supporting whole school improvement and the effectiveness of ‘learning
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organisations’ suggested that student outcomes were significantly enhanced if they
attended schools that had strong leadership and an effective learning culture.
More recent research has focussed on the differences between whole school effects
and within-school effects on student learning outcomes. In his analysis of research
related to the educational outcomes of boys, Martin (2002) indicated that the teacher
and class levels were “considered amongst the most critical points at which student
outcomes can be improved.”
He suggested that enhancing teacher effectiveness (for both boys and girls) involved
assisting teachers in “dealing with diversity, promoting active learning, developing
students’ higher order thinking, creating effective learning zones, promoting mastery
and success, providing effective feedback to students, recognising and creating
learning windows, developing good relationships with students, engaging in
productive pedagogy and listening to and valuing student perspectives.” (Martin,
2002: 7)
Some of the most compelling research about teacher effectiveness comes from the
work of Hattie. He reviewed the literature on the difference between expert and
experienced teachers and, working with researchers and teachers, identified
dimensions of teaching that most influenced student learning outcomes.
Hattie suggests that, while “what students bring to the table predicts achievement
more than any other variable (about 50%)” teachers are by far the most profound
influence on student achievement within schools (30%, with school, principal and
peer effects each less than 10%). Hattie comments that “we need to ensure that this
greatest influence is optimised to have powerful and sensationally positive effects on
the learner.” (Hattie, 2003:1-3)
From this research, Hattie identified three key elements of teacher expertise that had
the most effect on student learning outcomes. These were:
 challenge to students
 deep representation of knowledge
 effective monitoring and feedback.
Challenge to students
Students learn best when teachers have high expectations. All students are best
supported in reaching challenging goals when teachers have a deep knowledge of
their subject or learning area, a detailed understanding of the outcomes they expect
students to achieve. when they select teaching strategies that build on students’ prior
knowledge and provide structure and sequence for learning and when they use
assessment tasks that expect students to go beyond knowledge recall and simple
practical tasks.
Such teachers believe that all students need to be ‘stretched’ as well as supported and
make those beliefs explicit to students. "Believing that abilities are developed through
effort is most beneficial to the learner, and teachers and others should cultivate that
belief." (Graham & Weiner, 1996, referenced in US National Academy of Sciences,
2002: Chapter 6: 7).
Deep representation of knowledge
Hattie reaffirms the Bransford research about the importance of deep rather than
surface learning. “Surface learning is more about the content (knowing the ideas and
doing what is needed to gain a passing grade), and deep learning more about
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understanding (relating and extending ideas, and an intention to understand and
impose meaning).” (Hattie, 2003:9)
The research evidence also demonstrates the importance of ‘pedagogical content
knowledge’ (the application of general pedagogy to a subject or learning area). It
contradicts the view that ‘a good teacher can teach anything’. Outstanding teachers
have a strong grasp of learning theory and general pedagogical principles but a
distinguishing feature is their expert application of such principles to the
particularities of their subject or learning area.
“There is a dynamic interaction between teachers' knowledge of their discipline and
their knowledge of pedagogy.” (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 1999, quoted in Alton
Lee, 2003:10) A high level of pedagogical content knowledge enables teachers to
draw on their deep knowledge, to improvise, to make connections to other areas of
learning and to current local and global issues and to constantly challenge and extend
student learning. Teachers’ deep knowledge helps build the deep knowledge of their
students.
This research supports a co-constructivist model of learning and teaching. Students do
not construct their knowledge and skills in isolation from the teaching and learning
context. Learning is a partnership between students and their teachers, who should not
resile from their responsibility for developing and extending their students’ capacities.
Effective monitoring and feedback
Hattie’s research supports a weight of evidence about the importance of assessment
for learning. The UK based Assessment Reform Group (2002) defines assessment for
learning as “the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and
their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go
and how best to get there.” Assessment for learning needs to be aligned with
assessment of learning, for the purposes of grading and reporting.
Sound assessment and reporting practices are based on a knowledge of how people
learn and are integral to the learning process. They support students’ understanding of
how they learn and how they might improve their learning. Expert teachers align their
curriculum goals and their assessment practice and make the purposes and criteria for
assessment clear to students. They use tasks that promote inquiry, deep knowledge,
higher order thinking and demonstration of knowledge and skills in authentic
contexts.
Inclusivity
“Inclusivity in education starts with the recognition of our diversity. It is treating
students as individuals rather than as a homogeneous group. It is about involving all
students in classroom practices by valuing their uniqueness and what they bring to the
classroom. It is about valuing their interests, experiences, abilities, insights, needs,
cultural and ethnic backgrounds, learning styles and intelligences.” (ACT
Department of Education, Youth and Family Services, 2002:1)
‘Learner-centred teaching’ is a commonly used term. Bransford uses the term to refer
to environments that pay careful attention to the knowledge, skills, attitudes and
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beliefs that learners bring to the educational setting. This term includes teaching
practices that have been called ‘culturally responsive’, ‘culturally appropriate’,
‘culturally compatible’ and ‘culturally relevant’.” (Bransford., Brown & Cocking,
2000: 133-134) Bransford draws on research to demonstrate the importance of
teachers recognising and valuing student differences in cultural background and in
learning style and the importance of building a supportive classroom environment.
There are four aspects to consider in addressing diversity and inclusivity:

individual differences and starting points

socio-cultural effects

the limitations of a ‘supportive’ approach

the need to develop a ‘community of learners’
Individual differences
The research of Gardner and Grasha suggests that intelligence has many different
dimensions (Gardner, 1993; Grasha, 1996). Students learn in different ways and at
different rates. There are many ways in which they can demonstrate what they know
and what they can do. Grasha has defined learning styles as "personal qualities that
influence a student's ability to acquire information, to interact with peers and the
teacher, and otherwise participate in learning experiences" (Grasha, 1996: 41)
The implication of this research is that teachers need to employ a repertoire of
teaching strategies to allow for individual differences, including the use of
information and communication technologies. They also need to give students choices
within the framework of agreed curriculum requirements and use assessment tools
that are fair and equitable.
Socio-cultural effects
Individual learning and the development of public bodies of knowledge (including the
development of curriculum ‘subjects’) are both situated in social, historical and
cultural contexts. A socio-cultural model of learning recognises that knowledge is not
fixed and that understanding is developed through the interaction between individuals,
their culture(s) and the learning at hand.
Adopting a socio-cultural model necessitates the fostering of critical literacies so that
students can better understand how meaning is constructed and influenced by its
context and purpose. The socio-cultural model also requires teachers to examine
critically their own beliefs and assumptions.
More students will experience success where their cultural background, including
language, is both respected and drawn upon in their schooling. For example, an
analysis of Australia’s Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Program (IESIP)
identified cultural recognition, acknowledgement and support as critical factors in
‘what works’ for indigenous students. (McRae et al, 2000) Such recognition relates
closely to the key Bransford research finding that building on students’ prior
knowledge and experience is the most critical factor for educational success.
The limitations of a ‘supportive’ approach
Intentions to provide an inclusive curriculum often falter when they come up against
day-to-day realities of classroom management. Munns has conducted research in
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classrooms in low socio-economic areas, with large indigenous and culturally diverse
student populations, which point up the limitations of a ‘supportive’ approach.
Munns uses the metaphor of school as a cubby-house. Children, secure in their
cubbyhouse, can play and pretend. However, this is an illusion. In the end a
cubbyhouse offers no protection from or preparation for the world.” Cultural
sensitivity and supportive relationships are important but they are insufficient if
students are not engaged in challenging tasks and cannot achieve educational
outcomes that will give them power over their future lives. “The irony is that the
socially just intentions of the school over a prolonged period of time resulted in a
curriculum that reinforced the educational disadvantage of its most needy students.”
(Munns, date unknown:1)
A community of learners
The research of Vygotsky has been particularly influential in illustrating how social
interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygotsky
suggests that every function in a child’s development occurs twice. Learning occurs
first on a social level, between people, and only then on an individual level, when the
child internalizes a concept. A major aspect of Vygotsky’s theory is what he terms
‘the zone of proximal development’. By this he means that students need adult
guidance, peer collaboration and plenty of practice in order to fully develop their
understandings and skills. (‘Vygotsky, 1978)
“… the question confronting educators today is not whether group learning should
happen: rather it is a matter of identifying the ways that educators can support and
deepen the quality of learning that can occur whenever individuals are together in a
group. Learning in a group fosters a kind of emotional and intellectual learning and
understanding that is qualitatively different from that which results in individuals
working alone.” (Krechevsky & Stork, 2000) Learning is strengthened in classroom
communities where students are engaged in substantive conversations and
collaborative tasks and where students feel connected to the school community, the
local community and the wider world.
Bransford emphasises the importance of ‘learner-centred, knowledge-centred and
community centred’ teaching. His notion of community centred teaching encompasses
is based on an understanding of learning as a social activity and learners as social
beings. He stresses the importance of learning communities with common purposes
and opportunities for collaborative effort. These communities connect classroom
learning to the local community and the world of work. They connect classroom
learning with the wider world through engagement in significant local and global
issues and through interactions with experts and learners across the world. Finally,
Bransford emphasises that these classroom communities are supported (or inhibited)
by whole school cultures and the extent to which teachers themselves feel part of
professional learning communities
Conclusion
Learning and teaching are two sides of the same coin. The research evidence about
how people learn best, about the dimensions of teaching that make the most difference
to student outcomes and about the impact of students’ backgrounds and learning
styles gives teachers a solid theoretical base from which to work. Insights gained from
this research can help them reflect on their practice, share ideas with colleagues, shape
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their own professional learning and – most importantly – improve learning
experiences and outcomes for all their students.
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