Bare Necessities?? Research

Is research a basic necessity for improving the education system? Sadly, it is an absolute requirement. Here is why it's necessary, and why it's sad.

Presented with any set of circumstances and a small goal to achieve we need to know what to do to get from here to there. For example, having a group of 30 first-grade students, with varied skills, tendencies and knowledge, and wishing to teach them reading and writing at a specified level, with certain limitations (budget) - what type of teacher(s), materials, methods etc. do we need? OK, one might say we already know how to do that - having been doing that for 5000 years or so, and this is a good subject for a separate posting. So, how about teaching the same kids how to keep the environment in mind - a much newer concern? Certainly we don't know exactly how to do it well. We would need to devise a method, try it, check our success, improve the method, and try again with a different group, etc. That's close to the definition of research.

It would have been very nice to have a cookbook, with a very good index, telling us exactly what to do in any set of circumstances: Which students, teachers, time limitation, budget, society, subject, required level, ... It would be a pretty thick cookbook. Would take a lot of research to write it, too.

Why "Sadly?", because research can't be done using computers or mice. We have to work with real children - at least partly. Such research means trying new methods, new materials, etc. Doing something new means the occasional failure is inevitable. That's why it is called "Trial and Error." Let's face it: Research has a side effect of Errors, which means Damage. If we try a new method of teaching first graders the ABC, it could happen that we end up after 6-12 month with a group of kids who don't read and write well. Then we would need to re-teach them using a different method, possibly using rarer resources, such as expert teachers. Eventually, the kids will all read and write properly. So the damage will usually be limited to wasted time and temporary confusion.

So, it is sad, and the instant response we can expect from many parents would be along the lines of "that's fine, as long as you don't try anything with my kid." We all want the tried and sure for ourselves and our own kids. I won't bore the reader with a speech about the common good, but I would suggest that there is no tried and sure way in education. I would further suggest that the same reader is already deeply engaged in trial and error with their kids. I know I am: When my kid wants chocolate before dinner, what should I do? Suppose I decide to say No. How should I say No? I try saying it one way and get a tantrum. Great, this is definitely not what I was hoping for, so it definitely qualifies as a trial and error. To make things even more interesting, I now need to decide what to do about the tantrum, what to do about the chocolate, and what to do the next time he asks for chocolate before dinner. I will make many trials, and many errors. The chocolate quagmire happens in the most simple settings possible: One child, one-on-one educator/student ratio, very familiar settings, etc. And still I can't always get it right. How can I expect professional educators to always get it right without error? But I can expect them to do it mindfully: plan ahead, always measuring the results, always learn from the result and distribute the knowledge, always fix any damage that may have occurred. Planning, measuring, learning and distributing knowledge taken together, are also a good definition of research.

Having written this post, I am now even more comfortable with the concept of Research Based Education as an imperative, if we want education to improve, and even if we just want it to keep up with a changing world.
.