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Dear Colleague,
We've lived in an era of evidence-informed practice for some time now, but it's often seemed to work against what most English teachers - certainly the ones we work with - see as good practice. There's a reason for that - lots of the generic evidence promoted as essential to effective learning comes from other subject areas, or from outside education entirely. It really doesn't work for English
With that in mind, we thought it would be useful to remind people of four pieces of evidence that are highly significant when making a case for best-practice in secondary English.
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1. Group talk boosts GCSE performance
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This large-scale 2022 research project funded by the Nuffield Foundation found that students in English lessons that devoted 'significantly more time for peer interaction' achieved grades that were 'significantly higher in English GCSEs'.
Summary report here
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2. No evidence that cogsci approaches work in secondary English
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This extensive 2021 EEF literature review found that most evidence used to support cogsci approaches comes from outside the classroom. There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that it works for secondary English. Where limited evidence for its efficacy exists, it tends to be for Maths and Science.
Summary report here
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3. Excessive focus on literacy stifles reading for pleasure
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This is just one of a number of recent reports identifying a dip in reading for pleasure. The interesting angle here is that it links the dip to what is being focused on in the classroom. Given the established link between volitional reading and wider attainment, it seems the focus is ripe for a rebalance.
Read about the report here
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This NLT survey into young people's reading habits finds a link between reading for pleasure and reading print books, as opposed to reading content on screen. The survey links to other reports that demonstrate a link between reading print books and higher levels of attainment in national and international assessments.
Summary of report here
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How you can support our work
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We've always done our best to promote pedagogies that boost attainment, while providing a creative, dialogic and humane approach to English. We've been able to do so because of the wonderful support of large swathes of the English teaching community who see things as we do.
You can continue to support our charitable work by coming on our courses and investing in our classroom resources. We know that money is tight in lots of schools so we really appreciate the faith you've shown in us over the years.
In particular, we rely on schools buying whole class sets of our 19th century study editions and anthologies. Given the link between reading print books, reading for pleasure and attainment, what better way to support your young people!
Click on the banners below to explore an element of EMC's research-informed work further.
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With best wishes,
Andrew McCallum, Director
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Face-to-face courses in the Spring term
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