Publication Date

2005

Abstract

A Greek philosopher might suggest that evidence is what is observed, rational and logical; a Fundamentalist – what you know is true; a Post Modernist – what you experience; a Lawyer – material which tends to prove or disprove the existence of a fact and that is admissible in court; a Clinical Scientist – information obtained from observations and/or experiments; and a teacher – what they see and hear. The past decade has seen a high level of engagement and commitment by Australian schools to the collection, analysis and interpretation of information about students to inform teaching and learning. Rapid changes in society, economics and technology, the increased demand for accountability, and the need to prepare all students to be citizens in an increasingly globalised world, has cultivated the increased requirement to inform and improve education through various evidencebased approaches. However, while evidence is one way to support the core business of schools –maximising student learning and outcomes – evidence in and of itself is not sufficient to maximise student outcomes. If we are serious about developing and maintaining an evidencebased culture of improvement in teaching and learning, the unique and specialised knowledge, skills, experience and professional capacity of teachers must be valued as fundamental components of any evidence process. That is, the way in which evidence is obtained, collated, interpreted and results strategically utilised, must be interlinked with, and influenced by, the profession.

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