8 benefits of using evidence-based practice in your classroom ...

8 benefits of using evidence-based practice in your classroom…

Increased job satisfaction

One of the most important aspects of any job is having job satisfaction but within the teaching profession it can make or break your career. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a classroom not enjoying your job and watching the clock for the end of the day because when you feel like that, the students will sense it and boy do we know what they are like when they are not engaged!

Using evidence-based practices in your classroom gives you structure to your lessons, it’s proven to work and engages students. Most interestingly it forces you to think scientifically about your students’ abilities and learning direction. The end result? Smarter working and increased outcomes for students. When a student ‘gets it’ or has that ‘light bulb’ moment there’s nothing more satisfying as a teacher.

Increased student satisfaction

As well as increased teacher satisfaction, you will also notice an increased satisfaction in your students. When lessons go well and students are learning, their minds are stimulated and they participate more. When you can see increased engagement in your class, you know that you are doing well. Using evidence-based practices enables students to experience satisfaction from learning more frequently.

Improving outcomes for students

This is always the hot topic for schools and governments and there is always a push to exceed previous years’ results, but there are so many factors that affect student outcomes that it is not necessarily an easy thing to achieve.

One factor that does affect student outcomes is the effect of the teacher and one way you can affect student outcomes is by using evidence-based practices in your classroom. Evidence-based practices are programs and strategies developed by researchers in education that have been peer-reviewed and published to demonstrate their rigor and success when teaching certain age ranges or multiple age ranges of children and young adults.

Being knowledgeable and developing your career prospects

Which teacher in your school do you look up to? Is it the one who gets the most challenging students to learn? Is it the one who speaks from a place of knowledge in meetings?

The best teacher you can be is one that has a set of programs and strategies that you can draw from so that you are equipped to teach and manage any situation that gets thrown at you in the classroom. Building this tool kit properly takes years of knowledge and experience. Whilst nothing can substitute experience the knowledge and use of evidence-based practices in your classroom can speed up this process greatly.

Evidence-based practices give you programs and strategies that actually work in your classroom which gives you confidence as a teacher. In our experience this enables you to confidently enter professional conversations knowing that your knowledge comes from a place of tried and tested research. The more you take part in professional conversations in the workplace, the more likely you are to be seen as a person of influence and that is one of things that will make you stand out from the rest.

Using programs that work

Have you ever taught a lesson where you realise that the students didn’t learn anything? There is nothing worse!

This can be the problem with using programs that are not based in evidence. The best thing about using evidence-based practices in your teaching, is feeling confident that you are using a program that is proven to work, as long as you follow the program in the way that it was designed to be implemented.

Confidence when talking to parents

It is so satisfying as a teacher to be able to explain to parents which practices you have implemented into their child’s education that have worked. Most parents have no idea how best to support their children with their schooling. As a teacher, if you can explain what you are doing and why it has worked you are more likely to get parents on board to continue your practices at home. This can be particularly important for example when helping to manage a child’s behavioural problems or helping them learning to read. Successful evidence-based strategies that have worked in the classroom can be explained and continued in the home. Having successful strategies will give you confidence when talking to parents about their children and will bridge the gap between the classroom and the home.

Knowing that you are doing your best job possible

Ever have one of those rough days as a teacher where you didn’t feel like you achieved very much? Unfortunately, every teacher experiences those days from time to time but we believe that you could reduce the amount of them…

If you use evidence-based practices in your teaching whenever possible you know that you are giving your students the best possible chances of success and thus you are doing the best possible job you can. It is impossible to expect that all your students will succeed all the time because there are so many factors at play that influence the outcomes of students but if you use evidence-based practices, you know that you are doing your bit to give your students the best possible chances of success.

You don’t have to be an amazing teacher to teach well and increase student outcomes

There are so many benefits to using evidence-based practice as we have just listed but one of our favourites is the fact that anyone can do it! Gone are the days where you have to be the best entertainer for your students, rather any teacher can follow the step by step processes outlined in evidence-based practices. Being a good teacher isn’t a personality thing that you have either got or you haven’t. It is about having knowledge of what works best and being able to use it in your classroom.

EBP Education ©