How teachers use research and evidence in the classroom

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Teaching is a highly visible profession - but less well known to the outside observer is the science teachers employ in the classroom, to make learning go smoothly.

At the University of Canberra, teaching students, or 'preservice teachers' are engaged in a range of opportunities to explore evidence and research-based practices covering a range of practices teachers apply in their classrooms.

These include pedagogical practices, understanding how children learn and develop, and strategies to support effective learning environments. Each of these learnings are drawn from fields such as linguistics, neuroscience, and cognitive and developmental psychology.

Doctoral Lecturer Julia Davies-Duff and Lecturer Stephanie Watts are two of the academic staff at the university, who support preservice teachers in honing their craft, and who lecture across all levels of undergraduate and master courses.

Davies-Duff curates and delivers two literacy acquisition units, including the initial Foundations of Early Literacy Instruction (FELI) unit taken by all students studying to become primary school teachers.

Having extensive experience working in classrooms and specialising in interventions for students with a range of learning difficulties, she is experienced in teaching reading and writing to students of all ages, and all abilities.

So how might a teacher approach teaching children to read and write? Ms Davies-Duff said the key lies, quite literally, in "the keys"

"Speaking and listening are biologically primary skills, humans are hardwired with acquiring these skills intrinsically; but reading and writing is biologically secondary skill, these skills need to be explicitly taught," Ms Davies-Duff said.

"In the FELI unit, we focus on the five keys to literacy instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. We also cover oral language, early print knowledge and the foundations of writing instruction, such as handwriting.

"Each module within the unit has a focus on building solid tier 1 instruction - this tier being instruction that meets the majority of student needs in a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS)."

Ms Davies-Duff said phonics is just one aspect of literacy acquisition, and is always used in conjunction with the other concepts.

"These are evidence-aligned pedagogies work together to teach young children how to read, write, spell and build their oral language - they have a reciprocal relationship. If you're teaching reading you're also, by extension, teaching writing and strengthening language comprehension," Ms Davies-Duff said.

These strategies work for any learner who lacks a foundational understanding of reading, from kindergarteners right through to adult learners.

Ms Watts curates and develops foundation units for undergraduate primary and secondary students on effective pedagogical practices, such as Foundations of Pedagogy (FOP).

"This unit provides preservice teachers with an understanding of the theory behind effective teaching practices and the practical applications of these to best support students in classroom environments," Ms Watts said.

"In developing the unit, I looked at High Impact Teaching Strategies 2020 from Victoria Education and What Works Best 2020 from New South Wales Education. I reviewed pedagogies from 80 schools, as well as Rosenshine's Principles and the seminal work from Dr. John Hattie. From here, I selected 10 pedagogical practices to focus on in that foundational unit."

To ensure university coursework is relevant, effective and grounded in the most up-to-date research, academics like Ms Davies-Duff and Ms Watt draw not only on their years of experience in schools, but also stay abreast of new developments in the fields.

They use trusted sources, such as the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), and national reports on best practice teaching, such as the recent Teacher Education Expert Panel report (TEEP), in developing and updating units. These are also reflected in some of the ACT Literacy and Numeracy Inquiry recommendations.

"UC students will teach all over Australia and even internationally. We must prepare them for working in all education sectors," Ms Davies-Duff said.

"I'm always curating new, relevant resources into the readings, so students are getting the latest information."

By the time Davies-Duff and Watts are ready to see their students off in their final year, they have watched them transform from novice learners to capable educators.

"We're quite lucky, because we teach units both at the beginning and end of degrees, so we get to meet the students at the beginning of their journey, and see them through to the end," Ms Watts said.

"They'll often tell me: I remember when we learned this concept and I didn't quite understand why we had to do it, but now I see the value of it, and I use it in my own classroom."

These foundational units provide a pedagogical toolkit for preservice teachers, which they will draw upon daily in later units, placements, and classrooms.

Imogen Bailey is in her fourth and final year of a Bachelor of Primary Education. For her, the University of Canberra seemed the natural choice to earn her qualifications.

"I did a bit of research and UC seemed to have a really amazing teaching program. I'd heard there were lots of units where you get to go out into schools and try teaching, as well as the placements," Ms Bailey said.

Like many final year students, Ms Bailey is already working in a local school on a Restricted Permit to Teach (RPTT) and shares a class with an experienced teacher at a local primary school. Now teaching a primary school class of her own, Ms Bailey is already seeing the value of her education.

"The pedagogy I've learnt has been really helpful and relevant. Sometimes I find I can share things I've freshly learnt at university with my colleagues," Ms Bailey said.

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