2/15/24 – Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience Brown Bag: Ilana Horn
Against “Best Practices” in Teaching: Lessons from Collaborative Research
Date: Thursday, February 15
Time: 12:20 p.m. – 1:10 p.m.
Location: Wilson Hall 115
Talk of “best practices” is everywhere in teacher education. Professional developers, school administrators, and teachers themselves talk about them all the time when they seek to improve instruction. In this talk, I will share results from a 7-year research practice partnership with exemplary secondary mathematics teachers who work in a large urban district. In our work, we collaborated with teachers to support their instructional growth. Our data reveal that, contrary to common practice, “best practices” talk shut down the exploration of complex teaching situation, thereby inhibiting teachers’ learning. I illustrate this through some examples, concluding that, as a field, we should move away from “best practices” language toward more expansive notions of good teaching.
Questions? Contact Isabel Gauthier.