Fragmentation: The Nemesis of Educational Research

There is a research knowledge base for all careers, but in the case of education, individual stand-alone programs fragment that base. For example, imagine entering a teacher's lounge and hearing a group of educators discussing ways to improve teaching and learning in their school. One referred to the current Professional Learning Communities and explained how they could provide professional and personal support to other educators. Another suggested reviewing the School Improvement Team Process their previous school had implemented, which required educators to identify areas for improvement and provide solutions. According to the third educator, both approaches reminded her of Site-Based Management and that all three methods aimed to improve instruction and learning through collaborative teamwork between educators and their principals. In her opinion, the only difference was that meetings to discuss positive changes to student outcomes occurred after school hours in the latter two programs.

Researchers are fragmenting, renaming, and tweaking education's research knowledge base similar to treating organs in the body, leaving a holistic approach to severe scrutiny. Only in education is research conducted over the past five or ten years classified as outdated rather than seminal and foundational. I call this process The Holy Grail. Nevertheless, although this old research dogma persists, new strategies, programs, or products are developed based on this old research. These strategies, programs, or products are attributed to the most recent creator while eclipsing the original researcher.

Districts purchase these stand-alone products or programs. Most offer limited background research. The only evidence provided is of their effectiveness. These programs or products create a strategy-focused approach to learning for educators. Unfortunately, many aspects of this process are flawed. Chunking the knowledge base of the teaching and learning process into independent programs denies educators the full historical research-based knowledge of the strategy they are implementing in their classrooms. As a result, programs define learning rather than a process. Seriously, it is not about the date but the theory and the concept.

Let us examine how this plays out in education. Based on a meta-analysis of more than 50 studies, Robert Marzano (2011) identified nine strategies to support learning. Even though Marzano documented the researchers and dates of the original works, works that fell within the realm of The Holy Grail, those strategies became widely accepted in the education community as Marzano's nine. Educators were assured student success if they implemented these strategies. But the gestalt approach to implementation led to the learner knowing about each method but failing to see the holistic connections between them. Indeed, these nine strategies generated engaging individual lessons, but could educators holistically combine them into a series of assignments for a unit of study?

For example, no matter the subject, students should be taught note-taking frameworks, non-linguistic representations, and summarization in any given lesson. The recent pandemic elevated the conversation on healthcare. Framing a study on healthcare could require students to examine the system in America, Canada, and Japan. The tasks would include research and note-taking, using notes and visual representations. Students would then produce a summary of the healthcare system in the three countries, followed by a detailed comparison of similarities and differences. A portion of this work can include collaborative homework. To ensure knowledge transfer, educators could require students to set goals for a project and generate a hypothesis and test it. The educator then creates opportunities to meet with the students, assess if set goals are met, and offer corrective feedback. This assignment encompasses all nine skills. Incorporating them in a unit or lesson design could be a prototype for future instructional tasks and be adapted for different grade levels.

Cognitive scientists from the early 1950s documented that students learn best when "all their senses are engaged." Human beings possess five senses. Each sense functions as a medium for synapses within the brain. Therefore, we apply the appropriate sense or a combination, whichever provides the best way to comprehend content. Unfortunately, the education world introduced educators to Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, and this fragmentation resulted in students being grouped based on their perceived dominant multiple intelligence. For instance, there was a sense of pride in stating, "I have a tactile child." Yet, you must read to follow the directions in class or even when assembling furniture. We can all admit that when we opted to study the picture rather than read the instructions, the assembling job seemed complete, but unassigned pieces remained. It would be best if you used all your senses to build the furniture and for several school activities. The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) came to the rescue with Universal Design for Learning. Instead of boxing students into a specific intelligence, Universal Design called for multiple representations of the content, which uses the senses; this makes perfect sense.

The work of educational theorists such as John Dewey (1859-1952), Jean Piaget (1896-1980), and Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), to cite a few, are covered in teacher preparation courses. It seems, however, that this knowledge rarely translates to the classroom, or if it does, it is often fragmented. For example, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs curtailed the discussion on hunger and student performance, leaving resilience, grit, and parent support out of the debate. Let us focus primarily on the work of John Dewey.

The National Research Council's work on how people learn endorses Dewey's work. His books cited in the bibliography offer districts tools to build successful education systems. They include:

• Learning by doing, hands-on, projects, experiential learning
• Integrated Curriculum focused on thematic units
• Strong emphasis on problem-solving and critical thinking
• Group work and development of social skills
• Understanding an action as the goal of learning as opposed to rote knowledge
• Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
• Education for responsibility and democracy
• Integration of community service and service-learning projects in the daily curriculum
• Selection of subject content by looking forward, asking what skills will be needed in a future society
• Emphasis on lifelong learning, social skills, and soft skills
• Assessment by evaluation of child's projects and productions

Dewey's philosophy is remarkably relevant to today's education system. However, like most fundamental research or theories, it has been fragmented. Dewey's Learning by Doing morphed into problem-based and project-based learning. Integrated curriculums and thematic units are marketed but very little experiential learning. As group work became a distinct instructional model, education for responsibility and democracy endured restrictive guidelines. Service-learning projects fail to build community pride. Instead, it is a high school graduation requirement that students rush to complete in 11th grade. The current curriculum is not forward-looking and emphasizes obtaining a college degree rather than lifelong learning, while test-driven assessments override students' ability to display understanding in innovative ways.

Suppose we used Dewey's entire philosophy to design a lesson about pollution. Educators can choose to teach the chapter before issuing assignments. An engaging approach would be to have students research a type of pollution of their choice in their community. Then, they would conduct interviews with student-created surveys. Students will share their findings, ask questions and receive feedback from their peers during predetermined class periods. Educators could then teach the chapter, asking students to reference their research as they learn. At the end of the chapter, students will research and report on pollution in two different geographical locations and cite solutions. As a final step in the activity, students will present a solution to the pollution problem they identified in a well-developed research paper. In addition, students will draft a letter with their suggestions to the local authorities. Educators can adapt this lesson for different grade levels.

Learning and instruction do take place in classrooms. However, the focus on content retention neglects the enhancement of research skills, the documentation of information, and the development of solutions to pollution that are both community-focused and global-oriented. Creating assignments that continuously foster these skills will help students learn how to transfer them to other content areas and daily life. Despite the benefits of utilizing instructional methods that facilitate educators' work, fragmenting education's research knowledge base by creating seemingly, unrelated individualized programs do not ensure the intended outcome of a well-rounded critical thinker.

References
CAST (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An Introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: Macmillan

Dewey, J. & E. P. Dutton. (1915). Schools of tomorrow. New York: New York.

Dewey, J. (1902). The child and the curriculum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Dewey, J. (1899). The School and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Jacobs, H.H.  (1989). Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation. VA: ASCD.

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. VA: ASCD.

Maslow, H. A. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Journal Psychological Review. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

McTighe, J. & G. Wiggins (2005) Understanding by design. VA: ASCD.

National Research Council et al. (1999). How people learn: Bridging research and practice.          Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Dr Rosalind LaRocque, PH. D. has always advocated for students and teachers. Her unique ability to examine systemic change led her to serve on several national committees, such as National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Middle States Association for School Accreditation. During the years she worked for the American Federation of Teachers, Rosalind developed a series of modules on strategies for student success. There was more to this research-based program than just learning strategies.

Prior to joining the AFT, she served as department chair, one of the district's first five master educators in her school district. During her tenure as assistant principal at her high school, she facilitated professional development and school improvement teams, as well as participated in district-wide educational initiatives. Rosalind published her first book, Reform Versus Dreams: Preventing Student Failure, in 2012. As Larry Cuban states in his review of the book, it is a must-read for all teachers. As a retired teacher and author, Rosalind continues to write about teaching and learning that is based on research and effective practices.

Image by Alfo Medeiros