Visible Learning Insights

John Hattie, Klaus Zierer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367257941
• eBook ISBN: 9781351002202
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Visible Learning Insights presents a fascinating 'inside view' of the ground-breaking research of John Hattie. Together, the authors John Hattie and Klaus Zierer embark on a mission to build on the internationally renowned work and combine the power and authority of the research with the real 'coal face' experience of schools.

Offering a concise introduction into the 'Visible Learning Story', the book provides busy teachers with a guide to why the Visible Learning research is so vital and the difference it can make to learning outcomes. It includes:

• 
  
  

• An in-depth dialogue between John Hattie and Klaus Zierer.

• 
  
  

• Clearly structured chapters that focus on the core messages of 'Visible Learning' and infer practical consequences for the everyday job of teaching.

• 
  
  

• FAQs to Visible Learning that provide an invaluable introduction to the language of learning and success in schools.

• 
  
  

• An overview of the current data set with over 1, 400 meta-analyses.

Intended for teachers, teacher students, education researchers, parents, and all who are interested in successful learning, teaching, and schooling, this short and elegant introduction outlines just what is required to translate Hattie's research into improved school performance.

Chapter 1

“It depends on the teacher’s expertise.” John Hattie in dialogue with Klaus Zierer

Visible Learning comprises the largest data set of empirical educational research ever evaluated in a book. It has been translated into several languages and is undoubtedly one of the most influential studies in educational science. Our experience has shown that an interview on central questions is helpful in getting an introduction to the core statements of this work. This is why we begin this book with a conversation.

Klaus	For 30 years you have been evaluating the world’s most important empirical studies on student achievement. The books that have emerged from this have made you internationally influential as a learning researcher today. What made you commit to this work?
John	My PhD is in measurement and statistics, as was my career until Visible Learning was published. As a measurement person we can cross many education topics, but my colleagues continually insisted I anchor myself in what truly makes the difference to student learning and acheivement. Since I started working at a university, colleagues gave me a lot of advice on what this critical learning should look like. Some recommended computers and educational games; others swore to improving the curriculum. Others emphasized the communication between teachers and learners. And everyone had studies (particularly theirs) ready to prove that their method was the best. That made me skeptical. I took a closer look at the studies and began to compare.
Klaus	You were wondering: What works?
John	No, I asked: What works best? Almost every teaching method has a positive effect; that is, you can find evidence that the method improves achievement. Students almost always learn something at school. In lectures I sometimes jokingly claim: The only thing a teacher needs to enhance student learning is a pulse. But I would like to know what can be done to ensure that pupils make the greatest progress in learning. This must be the yardstick for any kind of school reform.
Klaus	With the publication of Visible Learning in 2008, you have established a ranking of the most effective factors for good teaching. What was your basic idea for this ranking?
John	Yes, this was a ranking of the factors that influence student achievement. It was intended to draw attention to my core message: What matters most occurs in the classroom, where teachers and learners meet. On the other hand, the framework conditions of schools – the school structures or the money invested in structures – have only little influence. Unfortunately, too often the discussion in the education debate is the other way round.
Klaus	That actually makes sense. Nevertheless, you have refrained from ranking in the last revision of your data set from 2017. Why?
John	Too many started to say they were attending to or doing the top influences and stopping the bottom influences – I wish it was this simple. I created the table to help contrast the average effects of many influences as a starting point to tell the story. None of the influences is unique, there are high levels of overlap, and it took me 15 to 20 years of pondering to develop the underlying Visible Learning story about this overlap. The more important messages relate to the underlying reasons for the differences between the above and below average effects – and this is a deeper set of Visible Learning messages; and it is these messages that matter. The ranking led to interest, but it is time to move on to focus more on the story.
Klaus	In addition to extending the data set to over 1,400 meta-analyses, from which you can now extract over 250 factors and assign nine domains, what are the most important changes?
John	In 1989, I published my first article on the effects of pedagogical interventions. In 2008, there were 800 meta-analyses and 138 factors when I published Visible Learning. Today, I – and it is just me doing the coding – have more than 1,400 meta-analyses that deliver over 250 effects. Of course there have been some changes in the effect sizes as more studies are added but most have remained reasonably robust to the addition of new studies. However, the core statement, the underlying story remains the same: It depends on the expertise of the teacher. Teachers who walk into classrooms and say “My job today is to evaluate the impact I am having on my students” – this is the powerful starting point that leads to the greatest benefits to students.
Klaus	What happens next with “Visible Learning”?
John	I continue to find new meta-analysis, refine and improve the underlying messages, and now work with many colleagues implementing and evaluating the messages in many schools throughout the world. The evidence of this impact in schools is exciting. I am also working to have some influence in the policy, parent, and media arena to highlight the expertise of educators as a major focus.
Klaus	Is the biggest weakness of your evidence-based approach to be seen in the fact that it is always a look back into the past?
John	Yes, it is based on past evidence, but when you drive forward in your car you would be dangerous if you did not also look back to check that all is fine. Perhaps the best example is class size research. The effect of reducing class size is positive for achievement but this effect is small. The right question is: Why is it so small when all the pundits would claim it should be large? But it is not large. A major reason why it is small is that when we have reduced class sizes teachers have continued to teach in the same way as they did in larger classes – hence little differences. Notice the use of the past tense in this sentence. So looking back can help us understand why some effects are small and give us direction as to how to adjust if we wish in the future to spend millions to reduce class size – to change the manner of teaching. We now know from this rear vision mirror of research how to proceed if we are to invest in reducing class size: Change the nature of teaching to optimize the fewer number of students.
Klaus	It is good that you address this factor: It is and remains a neuralgic point in the discussion.
John	Yes, some critics claim that if I do not understand the importance of class size reduction then I clearly have never been in a class, and other personal attacks. Some claim that surely those influences at the top of the chart would be more likely in smaller classes – you can give more feedback, devote yourself more to each student, etc. So why has this not been the case? Because teachers continue to use the “tell and practice” model that works quite well with 25-plus students, and they still use it when they have fewer students in the class. Indeed, they talk more in smaller classes, there is less student group work, and less feedback when this “tell and practice” model is used in smaller classes.
Klaus	But it reduces the stress for the teachers.
John	Here, too, there are rather contrary findings. Some of the work shows reduced stress in smaller classes, certainly. But what the research shows is that those who are stressed by teaching with 30 learners are often those also stressed in smaller classes. A recent PISA study showed no differences in stress levels related to class size.
Klaus	Don’t you overtax the teachers if you blame them for their students’ learning progress?
John	Learning always involves at least two things: The teacher and the student, both with their motivations, talents, and background. Of course, teachers have little influence on the basic intelligence of their students but they can have substantial influence on their learning growth and achievement. Teachers can cause learning and we need to celebrate the amazing success so many teachers have in causing students to learn. No, I do not blame them, I honor them for this influence on student learning progress.
Klaus	So at many schools you see successful teaching and learning.
John	That’s right! What keeps me going is the number of wonderfully successful educators I get to see in action. My argument is that we have the basis of excellence, excellence is all around us, the job is to upscale this success. There are a large number of great teachers who feel responsible for their students, who constantly question and improve their teaching, and ask themselves about their impact on their students’ learning. Interestingly, they often have the same difficult students, teach in the same larger classes, with the same curriculum and assessment demands, under the same conditions as other teachers down the corridor of the same school who have less influence on their students.
Klaus	Are some teachers complaining too much?
John	Too many teachers still think that if they only had more time, larger rooms, fewer students, better resources, they would achieve more. I am not saying that these structural issues are completely meaningless. But often what most learners need is not more, but something different: If my teaching does not have an impact on my students, I have to change my teaching. It’s as simple as that.
Klaus	So what is a good teacher?
John	A good teacher has high expectations, creates an error-friendly climate in the classroom, constantly questions his or her actions and impact, continuously evaluates his or her own teaching, and works together with other teachers to understand what they mean by impact and to evaluate this impact. Good teachers impact on all students’ learning.
Klaus	You also describe the good teacher as the activator of the class and compare this to the “guide on the side” or facilitator of learning.
John	Right: The idea that pupils develop naturally when the teacher, as a facilitator, sits alongside the student while they construct knowledge – it is a nice idea, but. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that this way of teaching works best. For most learners, the approach is highly inefficient. I have nothing against discovery learning, but often the most successful way of doing this is to deliberately structure the lessons to help students discover and construct ideas and relations between ideas.
Klaus	A faciliator can do that just as well.
John	But attitudes and practices differ. A teacher must realize that it is his or her task to change the learners, to challenge them again and again, and to push them to their limits. This “change” is undertaken via the nature of activities and the lesson planning by the teacher. Most students, as well as adults, set themselves rather modest goals. For example, if they had a three in the last stage, the next time they will probably aim for another three or at best a three-plus. The teacher‘s job is to raise these expectations and help students see success in themselves that they may not have seen alone.
Klaus	Protection from disappointment.
John	Perhaps, but teachers must break with this attitude that their job is to create success and correctness all the time. Because those who believe that they are mediocre are highly likely to stay mediocre. The conviction of self-efficacy is an important success factor; our role is to create confidence that a challenging goal is attainable. If we remind ourselves of good teachers, then it is most likely those who trusted us as students, who saw more in us than we did ourselves. And they accomplished this in a fair, trusting environment, with lots of feedback, support, and encouragement. They created conditions a bit like when we play Angry Birds.
Klaus	You mean the computer game where birds smash walls and houses?
John	Right. Like most computer games, the program always knows exactly what skill level you are currently playing at and (based on your level from the last time you played) sets the next level a little higher accordingly. This goal must not bore you, it must not be too difficult for you, and it must be interesting and not boring so you try, try again to reach the next level. This is exactly what teachers have to do when setting goals – set appropriately challenging goals. Provide many interesting opportunities to learn to get to this goal. And when you get to the next level, the learning challenge is raised and the cycle continues. And so many of us invest in these games to keep learning and playing. We do not stop when we get to the next level, we want to keep playing and learning and exceed our previous level of skills. The attitude of the teacher is therefore decisive for the learning success of pupils. As a teacher, it is my task to support every learner in his or her educational process as best I can, to try ag...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1 “It depends on the teacher’s expertise.” John Hattie in dialogue with Klaus Zierer
• 2 Introduction
• 3 The Visible Learning story: Insights into Visible Learning
• 4 What is inescapable: Students and their family background
• 5 What does not have much effect by itself: Structures, framework conditions, and curricular programs
• 6 Where learning becomes visible: Teaching and learning processes
• 7 What really matters: Teachers and their passion
• 8 What are the landmarks? A summary
• 9 What’s missing: An outlook
• 10 To start with: Ideas for practice
• Appendix A: FAQs
• Appendix B: 250-plus factors
• Index