Scottish education system: knowledge utilisation study

1. Introduction

1.1 About this research: 

This report presents the findings from the Knowledge Utilisation Mapping Study project conducted by the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change and commissioned by Scottish Government. The research was undertaken from April to October 2018. It responds to commitments made within the Research Strategy for Scottish Education and builds on previous research on what works regarding mobilising Knowledge into Action in education (Chapman et al 2015).

1.2 Background and context:

In April 2017, Learning Analysis published ‘A Research Strategy for Scottish Education’. The research strategy aims to support the four priorities set out in the National Improvement Framework. Currently, there are three key strands of the strategy:

• To support the research infrastructure and independent research
• To develop a knowledge base of “what works”
• To empower practitioners to produce and use evidence and data. 

The research presented in this report responds most primarily to the third aim of the strategy. In the strategy, a commitment was made to undertake research which would inform the Scottish Government about what changes are needed within the current system to help empower practitioners to produce and use research evidence. This research explores the current capacity of the Scottish education system to use research evidence. 

There is a lack of research and literature exploring how research evidence is taken up and used in the context of education (Chapman et al 2015). What literature does exist highlights the complexity of the process of practitioner engagement and the importance of collaboration and interpersonal relationships in encouraging the use of research evidence. The research reported here is a response to this lack of empirical research regarding how practitioners in Scotland engage in research and act on research evidence. In particular, our research seeks to identify key factors that influence practitioners’ engagement with research and use of data and evidence. This will help us understand and identify what actions and system changes could help practitioners engage in research and more effectively use research evidence to inform their practice.

The importance of practitioner research engagement and enquiry as part of strategies to promote teachers’ skills to tackle educational inequity has been highlighted in the literature. Teacher quality and effectiveness is a crucial element in promoting positive educational outcomes irrespective of social/economic background (Ko et al., 2013) and in the classrooms of the most effective teachers, ‘at risk’ students learn at the same rate as those from advantaged backgrounds (Hamre & Pianta 2005). 

For improvement to take place, there needs to be a focus on the development of teachers’ knowledge and skills and for the process to be inspired by what Mincu (2013) refers to as ‘inquiry-minded leadership’, where school leadership values and supports research engagement and links this to learning and school planning. Research has demonstrated that the most effective school improvements are also locally owned and led by teachers and school leaders, collecting and using data appropriately, conducting enquiry, and working in partnership and collaboration with like-minded professionals and stakeholders (Ainscow et al 2012; Chapman 2014, 2008; Chapman 2012; Cochran-Smith and Lytle 2009; Earl and Katz, 2006; Hadfield and Chapman 2009; Kerr et al 2003). These themes are explored in more detail in Chapter 3. 

1.3 Aims and research questions:

The focus of this research was to explore and map how research evidence currently flows through the education system and, to identify the factors that facilitate or inhibit how research evidence influences educational practice and decisions among school actors in Scotland. In defining research evidence, the study includes three main types:

• School level data often collected routinely to help understand pupils’ attainment and achievement;
• Accessing secondary research findings and knowledge such as books, and academic journals;
• Whilst the study focussed primarily on research evidence, other information about how practitioners engage in research activities more broadly (e.g. practitioner enquiry/action research) and the mechanisms to share emerging evidence more at school, cluster, local authority or regional level was also captured.

Two main questions framed this research, each with related sub questions:

1. How do practitioners in Scotland engage in research and act on research evidence?

• What types of research, evidence and data do educational practitioners currently use to inform, plan and develop teaching interventions?
• How do those who make or influence school-, cluster- and local authority-level education decisions access research evidence?
• To what extent, and how, do educational practitioners critically evaluate the research evidence used to inform their pedagogy?

2. What factors influence practitioners’ ability to make the best use of evidence?

• What skills and resources do educational practitioners need to be able to understand research evidence, including data they have gathered themselves?
• What organisational, capacity and skill constraints currently hinder or promote the effective utilisation of research evidence?
• How is capacity at classroom, school, cluster, authority and regional level related to the effective use of research evidence?

The findings will inform a second and forthcoming strand of the Scottish Government’s work in this area; “What changes to organisational structures and capacity may be warranted to help embed evidence from research in the education system?”