Monday, 9 March 2009
ESTELLE MORRIS TO SPEAK AT EDUCATION RESEARCH
LAUNCH
Baroness Estelle Morris, President of the National Children’s
Bureau and former Secretary of State for Education, will appear as
keynote speaker at the launch of CfBT Education Trust’s publication
Evidence Matters, on 12 March 2009 at the Town Hall in Reading.
The report Evidence Matters, Towards informed professionalism in
education by Andrew Morris argues that the ways in which knowledge
about educational practice is produced and put to good use is of
utmost importance. It outlines the need for evidence in education,
where it comes from and how it is used. It also puts forward a
compelling case for an “evidence friendly world” and highlights the
changes needed to achieve this.
Education policy makers, teachers and education practitioners
need to be informed by what we know from research. When we visit a
doctor or hospital we expect our treatment to be based on the best
research and practice. Given the vast sums spent on education
shouldn’t we also expect the same level of informed professionalism
in education? This report explains what can practicably be done to
bring about change.
One practical thing that can be done is to help teachers and
education practitioners stay abreast of developments in research.
As with doctors, education practitioners are busy people with a
need for access to the latest research and evidence. The
educational evidence portal (eep) is one way of providing such
access. Developed through a collaboration between key
organisations, eep is an online resource (www.eep.ac.uk) offering
free access to published research and guidance across all areas of
education from multiple sources together in one location for the
first time. It also includes Resource Areas with access to key
documents, links and information on specific subjects such as
Gifted and Talented, Brain Science, development and research,
Advanced Skills Teachers and peer coaching. eep will be
demonstrated at the launch event.
CfBT’s Director of Education, Tony McAleavy commented that;
“Evidence Matters makes a powerful case for the use of evidence and
research in education. It addresses the potential impact of
research and educational outcomes. Through our involvement with eep
we now have a critical tool for developing an evidence-using
culture in education.”
Ends
Notes for Editors:
Members of the media are invited to attend the launch event on
Thursday, 12 March at 5pm at Reading Town Hall, Blagrave Street,
Reading, RG1 1QH. RSVP to lblamires@cfbt.com
The event is part of the ESRC festival of social science; an
annual weeklong programme of events held across the UK designed to
communicate information about the social sciences and how social
science impacts on our lives. The ESRC Festival of Social Science
runs from 6th to 15th March 2009. www.esrcfestival.ac.uk
The full report will be available to download from
www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/ after the launch event.
You can visit the educational evidence portal (eep) at
www.eep.ac.uk A short flash demo about eep is available at www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/
CfBT Education Trust is a leading education consultancy and
service organisation. Our object is to provide education for public
benefit both in the UK and internationally. Established 40 years
ago CfBT Education Trust now has an annual turnover exceeding £100
million and employs more than 2,500 staff worldwide who support
educational reform, teach, advise, research and train.
As a not-for-profit organisation we commit around £1million of
our surpluses every year for practice-based educational
research.
For more information contact:
Lindsay Blamires
Marketing Communications Officer, CfBT Education Trust
60 Queens Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 4BS
0118 902 1841
07824 8578274
lblamires@cfbt.com