I was
at a conference quite recently and attended a very engaging talk by an
individual who was promoting a set of games and activities for schools (to
purchase) which aimed to develop and support primary school children’s
creativity. I was thoroughly enjoying
the session, the resources looked excellent and I must admit, if I were a
teacher I probably would have purchased them.
However, my enthusiasm was quickly crushed when the research evidence
demonstrating the effectiveness of this resource was presented. Firstly, the audience (primarily teachers)
were presented with an image of the brain and told that these activities would
improve “connections within the brain”.
An image of the brain appeared on the screen and the audience were given
an (incorrect) account of how children’s brain’s work and how these activities
would improve brain connectivity. I am
not a neuroscientist, but I know enough about brain structure and function to
know that the information presented had very little accurate content to
it. In addition, in no way could the
claims being made about significant impact of the activities on children’s
brains be supported by research evidence, because there was none. Following this, a research study (carried out
by the speaker and her team) was presented, which showed that children had
higher levels of creativity (something which is very difficult to define, let
alone measure) when they played with this game than when they did not. The research design was incredibly poor and
certainly wouldn’t have met criteria necessary for a peer review academic
publication.
Now
this resource may be excellent at encouraging creative thinking and play among
children, but I was so put off by the “evidence” presented, that my opinion of
it completely changed. What’s more, I
couldn’t believe that teachers were being allowed to be presented with such
inaccurate information and weak research evidence. I naively thought that anyone providing advice
to teachers would be well-informed on the topic they were presenting.
This
blog is simply an appeal - firstly, to those advising teachers on matters
concerning children’s learning. Ensure you are well informed; the teaching
community deserve honesty and accurate information. If research evidence does
not exist, be clear about this. If there
is research evidence, provide teachers with an unbiased account of it so that
they can make their own decisions about what is likely to work best for their
pupils.
Secondly,
teachers, please demand more from those presenting you with information. If you are uncertain about the information
presented to you or the quality of evidence presented, ask for more
information. Teachers, you deserve
better – just ask.
