WPICT
Project overview
Warranted practice
The idea of 'warranted practice'involves taking a more explicitly principled, analytic and evidence-based approach to the way in which professionals go about their work. The qualifier 'warranted'carries two important senses. The first borrowed from philosophy is of providing reasoned grounds for practice as intended. The second borrowed from commerce is of assuring that practice as implemented does indeed realise its claims.
Project aims
First, to develop viable approaches to 'warranting'professional practice in typical school settings so that such practice can be appraised and replicated; and to develop an overarching analysis of ways of carrying out the warranting process. This will contribute to realising the ideas of the 'self-improving' and 'knowledge-creating' school.
Second, to pursue this first aim through seeking to (develop and) warrant significant examples of teaching approaches using ICT (Information and Communications Technology) to support subject teaching and learning. This will contribute to the development and diffusion of successful practice in an area of current priority for secondary schools.
Working context
This is a collaborative project organised within a research partnership between the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge and a group of secondary schools who have committed themselves to exploring the contribution that research ideas and processes can make to improving education.
Phases of research
Phase 1:
The aim of this first exploratory phase was to take stock of current practices and perspectives within the contributing schools so as to identify promising areas for the work of later phases. In particular, focus group interviews were conducted with the English, Mathematics and Science departments in the schools during the first half of 2000, and with groups of students in years 8, 10 and 12. Analyses indicate that teachers and students characterised successful use of ICT in terms of three related priorities, concerned with the participation of students in classroom activity, the pace and productivity of classroom work, and progression in student learning.
Reports have been submitted for conference presentation and journal publication, and further analysis and writing continues.
Phase 2:
The aim of this second developmental phase was to investigate exemplars of a range of Technology integrated Pedagogical Strategies (TiPS) identified as good or promising practice in using ICT to support subject teaching and learning, and to develop viable approaches to warranting such exemplars for purposes of school improvement and knowledge creation. Working individually or in pairs, and supported by the university team, teacher-researchers in the participating schools examined the operation of such strategies in their own classrooms during the 2000/01 school year, with the support of funding from the DfES Best Practice Research Scholarships scheme.
Details of projects and case reports by the teacher-researchers can be found on the TiPS website. These include an overview of the research carried out, and in many cases, lesson plans or examples of pupil work.
Phase 3:
The aim of this third summarising phasewhich commenced in January 2002 is to develop an overarching analysis of the cases studied during the second phase. As well as the case reports prepared by the teacher-researchers, this analysis will draw on further evidence which the project team gathered through classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews (evidence which was also made available to the teacher-researchers concerned). This overarching analysis is focusing substantively on the pedagogical strategies investigated, and methodologically on the approaches adopted to warranting them.
Project information
Project team:
- Kenneth Ruthven
- Sara Hennessy
- Rosemary Deaney
- Sue Brindley
Further information:
Send an e-mail to [sch30@cam.ac.uk]