Research in medicine regularly makes new and better treatments and procedures available to patients. What would you think if you were only ever offered the same treatments your doctor learned about on qualifying 20 years ago?
In a controversial speech in the1990s, David Hargreaves highlighted the way that medical professionals use research findings to inform the decisions that they make about treatment for their patients, in order to make sure they give the most appropriate care, with the greatest likelihood of success. He argued that the same was not true in schools and challenged education professionals to think about why there did not seem to be the same approach in schools to using research.
In order to explore these issues further the study looked at the following four key areas:
· how did local authority officers, heads and teachers use research findings for school improvement?
· which features of research encouraged teachers to use research findings in their own practice?
· what role did opinion-leaders, diffusion networks and change agents play in the dissemination and adoption of ideas for school improvement?
· did medical practitioners make greater use of research findings than heads and teachers and, if so, why?
To try to answer these questions, the researchers undertook a systematic search of the literature relating to teachers’ use of research. Whilst they found evidence of barriers to research, they also found that teachers and school leaders viewed research positively and in some cases, used it to inform practice and policy. The study highlighted ways in which research could be made more accessible through networks or via individual teachers who were particularly open to change. These ‘change agents’ could help to disseminate research findings to schools. The study found that although medical professionals were more likely to use research than teachers, there was no evidence that they used it more effectively.
