During their classes, teachers are confronted with a broad range of problems (e.g., dealing with unmotivated students, explaining difficult subject matter, scaffolding learning processes). Both educational research and educational policy-making increasingly demand teachers to deal with such problems in an evidence-informed manner. Rather than basing their decisions and actions on gut feeling, they are demanded to ground their decisions and actions in evidence from educational research, at least when problems are severe and repeatedly cannot be solved in a satisfying manner. Unfortunately, though, research shows that teachers rarely refer to evidence from educational research when being confronted with problematic classroom situations. As a result, teacher decisions and actions run the danger of not solving or even aggravating the problem.
The goal of this Research Topic is to accumulate and advance scientific insights into the nature of pre- and/or in-service teachers' evidence-informed reasoning processes, the effects of different individual and/or institutional variables that help or prevent pre- and/or in-service teachers from evidence-informed reasoning, and the ways that pre- and/or in-service teachers can be scaffolded in their development of evidence-informed reasoning skills. As discussions especially in educational practice are not always characterized by enthusiasm towards demands for evidence-informed practice, the special issue also aims at advancing a critical, but constructive perspective on both the value and the problems of using evidence from educational research when dealing with classroom problems.
This article collection aims at bringing together empirical research that focuses on one or more of the following topics:
1. To what extent and how do pre- and/or in-service teachers use scientific evidence from educational research to inform their decisions and actions in real or simulated classroom situations?
2. What are individual and/or institutional barriers that prevent pre- and/or in-service teachers from engaging in evidence-informed reasoning?
3. How can pre- and/or in-service teachers be supported in their evidence-informed reasoning processes?
Furthermore, it also welcomes theoretical and conceptual contributions to advance the field's understanding of the nature, value and problems of evidence-informed reasoning to cope with problematic classroom situations.
During their classes, teachers are confronted with a broad range of problems (e.g., dealing with unmotivated students, explaining difficult subject matter, scaffolding learning processes). Both educational research and educational policy-making increasingly demand teachers to deal with such problems in an evidence-informed manner. Rather than basing their decisions and actions on gut feeling, they are demanded to ground their decisions and actions in evidence from educational research, at least when problems are severe and repeatedly cannot be solved in a satisfying manner. Unfortunately, though, research shows that teachers rarely refer to evidence from educational research when being confronted with problematic classroom situations. As a result, teacher decisions and actions run the danger of not solving or even aggravating the problem.
The goal of this Research Topic is to accumulate and advance scientific insights into the nature of pre- and/or in-service teachers' evidence-informed reasoning processes, the effects of different individual and/or institutional variables that help or prevent pre- and/or in-service teachers from evidence-informed reasoning, and the ways that pre- and/or in-service teachers can be scaffolded in their development of evidence-informed reasoning skills. As discussions especially in educational practice are not always characterized by enthusiasm towards demands for evidence-informed practice, the special issue also aims at advancing a critical, but constructive perspective on both the value and the problems of using evidence from educational research when dealing with classroom problems.
This article collection aims at bringing together empirical research that focuses on one or more of the following topics:
1. To what extent and how do pre- and/or in-service teachers use scientific evidence from educational research to inform their decisions and actions in real or simulated classroom situations?
2. What are individual and/or institutional barriers that prevent pre- and/or in-service teachers from engaging in evidence-informed reasoning?
3. How can pre- and/or in-service teachers be supported in their evidence-informed reasoning processes?
Furthermore, it also welcomes theoretical and conceptual contributions to advance the field's understanding of the nature, value and problems of evidence-informed reasoning to cope with problematic classroom situations.