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Evidence-Based Effective Pedagogy in Primary Schools - Hui Li (李辉), 2023 (sagepub.com)
Article Information
Article first published online: December 7, 2022
Issue published: August 2023
Author
Hui Li (李辉)
Shanghai Normal University & Macquarie University
This book is the first and most systematic report of the key findings from the world-class and world-known massive research program—The Effective Provision of Preschool, Primary & Secondary Education (EPPSE). As the most comprehensive and far-reaching study of the longitudinal effects of preschool, primary, and secondary schooling, EPPSE has produced scientific evidence to address the “big questions” that have been frustrating educators, scholars, and policymakers: “How can we facilitate, establish and sustain effective teaching in our schools? How can we create the ideal framework, the best set of circumstances, for effective teachers, leading to sustained inspiration, to better child outcomes, to a love of long-lasting learning, to deepen[ed] understanding and to high achievement?” (p. 1). International academia has been fascinated as well as overwhelmed by the countless publications produced by the EPPSE team throughout the 17-year project (1997–2014). There are more than 200 research outputs including full technical reports, papers in academic journals, book chapters, and a range of other articles and commentaries (p. 171). Among them, two books have been published by Routledge (Early Childhood Matters: Evidence From EPPSE Project, 2010) and Cambridge University Press (Social Class and Educational Inequality: The Impact of Parents and Schools, 2015). This is the third (if not the last) book published by the EPPSE team.
This book has nine chapters and two appendices. Appendix 1 is a complete list of publications produced by the EPPSE project and Appendix 2 is the Chronology of the Department of Education. The book begins by outlining the historical background of the EPPSE project and ends by overviewing the major findings and their educational implications. The results are summarized with the aim of helping practitioners to teach effectively in primary schools. Chapter 1 is very chronological, introducing the background and objectives of the EPPSE project with a historical review of its development over 17 years. Chapter 2 is very technical, presenting the methodological details of the EPPSE project, such as the methodologies, approaches, samples, and associated sampling approaches. Chapters 3–6, however, are very practical, drawing on rich qualitative data to explore the most critical features of excellent teaching in those effective primary schools across the 11 strategies. These chapters help practitioners and policymakers to understand further what constitutes excellent teaching in primary schools. Chapters 7 and 8 are technical again, describing the variations in teaching practice and the associations between teaching quality and children's outcomes. Chapter 9 is the closure of the book, recapitulating the essential findings and their educational implications. In particular, one may find that the 11 strategies recommended in this book are extraordinarily applicable and beneficial to all educators in primary schools, not only in the UK but also in other countries such as China. They are (1) well-organized organization, (2) positive classroom climate, (3) clear objectives and shared goals, (4) behavior management, (5) collaborative learning, (6) personalized learning, (7) dialogic teaching and learning, (8) assessment for learning, (9) the plenary (review the lesson and consolidate the learning), (10) making clear links to life and other disciplinaries, and (11) meaningful and flexible homework.
In sum, as the “crowning work” of this great EPPSE project, this book has systematically revealed the significant variations in primary teachers’ practice and effectiveness. It has presented effective teaching practices and the associated strategies that guide primary school teachers in daily teaching. All these findings have reminded us that the organization, culture, and routines of classrooms do matter, and the sharing of learning objectives and reviewing/assessing of learning content/outcomes do have an effect. In this sense, Teaching in Effective Primary Schools: Research into Pedagogy and Children's Learning is an essential reference for understanding the most effective teaching practices in primary schools in the British context. Educators from other societies could also take proper lessons from reading this book. However, they also have to explore the most effective pedagogies, especially in their contexts, as some pedagogies might work in a particular context but not in others (Nganga et al., 2020). Each school should have its own effective pedagogy, which should be “3CAPs” (Li & Chen, 2017, 2023): culturally appropriate practice, contextually appropriate practice, and child-appropriate practice. Nevertheless, as a Chinese scholar, I found that the 11 strategies recommended by this book (and the EPPSE team) had been widely adopted by Chinese teachers in primary and secondary schools. Therefore, the recommended strategies are cross-cultural and cross-contextual. In addition, this book has provided a role model for all the educational researchers who are striving to find the “3CAPs” pedagogy for primary schools in their contexts.