Disciplined `Inquiry

1. 1

2. Disciplined inquiry
Dr Gary Jones

3. My argument 3

4. My argument
• Colleagues in research schools (and wider) are showing an interest in disciplined inquiry
• This is a product of three things
• Dylan William’s view that all teachers should seek to improve and should take part in 'disciplined inquiry’
• Bloggers writing about disciplined inquiry
• Widespread dissatisfaction with current models of performance management in schools
• Disciplined inquiry is now being used in a number of schools as an integral part of school’s
performance management processes and CPD activities
• However, this is being done, with little or no reference to the research literature on
• What makes for effective performance management processes
• The relationships between disciplined inquiry and teacher knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours and
teacher outcomes
• Different types of inquiry – such as action research
• Ironically the promotion of disciplined inquiry as part of performance management is an
example of what the evidence-based community is trying to avoid i.e. addressing problems
without reference to the research evidence-base and the adoption of practices promoted by
gurus
• Nevertheless, this does not mean we should not show interest in ‘disciplined inquiry’ as a
way of addressing the problems associated with performance management in schools.
• Although we should be upfront and say that while the adoption of DI seems a goods idea.
there is little or no robust evidence about what works, where, for whom, to what extent, for
how long - when undertaken as part of performance management
4

5. Why the interest in disciplined inquiry? 5

6. 6Bloggers/school
research
leads/research
schools
Issues with
performance
review and
management
Researchers

7. 7

8. 8

9. Improvement Science
• Disciplined inquiry
• What am I trying to
accomplish?
• How will I know that a changes
is an improvement?
• What changes can I make that
will result in that
improvement?
9

10. 10

11. 12

12. 12

13. 13

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16

17. 17

18. What is disciplined inquiry? 18

19. 19

20. Cronbach, L. J., & Suppes, P. (Eds.). (1969).
Research for tomorrow’s schools: Disciplined
inquiry for education. New York: MacMillan.
• Disciplined inquiry has a quality that distinguishes it from other
sources of opinion and belief.
• The disciplined inquiry is conducted and reported in such a way
that the argument can be painstakingly examined.
• The report does not depend for its appeal on the eloquence of the
writer or on any surface plausibility
20

21. Cronbach, L. J., & Suppes, P. (Eds.). (1969).
Research for tomorrow’s schools: Disciplined
inquiry for education. New York: MacMillan.
• Whatever the character of a study, if it is disciplined the investigator
has anticipated the traditional questions that are pertinent.
• He institutes controls at each step of information collection and
reasoning to avoid the sources of error to which these questions refer.
• If the errors cannot be eliminated he takes them into account by
discussing the margin for error in his conclusions.
• Thus, the report of a disciplined inquiry has a texture that displays the
raw materials entering the argument and the logical processes by
which they were compressed and rearranged to make the conclusion
credible.
• Disciplined inquiry does not necessarily follow well established, formal
procedures.
• Some of the most excellent inquiry is free-ranging and speculative in
its initial stages, trying what might seem to be a bizarre combination
of ideas and procedures, or restlessly casting about for ideas (p. 16)
21

22. 22
http://www.indiana.edu/~educy520/readings/shulman97.pdf

23. Disciplined inquiry, a theory of change and
performance management 23

24. What is a theory of change? 24
• A theory of change is how ‘someone’ explains why they think
their programme/interventions will make a positive difference to
the school/MAT?.
• It presents the programme/intervention’s core causal hypothesis
• It identifies the ultimate goal and explains why the
programme/intervention can achieve this goal

25. The PIT-B Model of theory of change
Problem
IfThen
Because
25
Long M, Macdonald A and Duncan T. (2018) Practical Tips for Developing and Using
Theories of Change and Logic Models. 2018 Virginia AmeriCorps Annual Program
Directors and Staff Meeting, Richmond, VA: ICF.

26. PIT-B Theory of Change
• Problem – current models of performance management demotivate, do
not contribute to professional learning or to improvements in teaching
and learning
• If – instead a disciplined inquiry becomes a performance objective
• Then – this will lead to increased motivation and increased
professional learning
• Because – by undertaking a disciplined inquiry for which the teacher
has ownership – this will increase teachers’ psychological capabilities
(knowledge and understanding) , opportunities (physical and social)
and motivation (reflective and automative) and improve their teaching
and pupil’s learning
26
Michie, S., Atkins, L. and West, R. (2014). The Behaviour Change Wheel. A guide
to designing interventions. 1st ed. Great Britain: Silverback Publishing.

27. A theory of change - Jonathan Haslam
• Improving teacher behaviour/practice is difficult
• Teachers are more likely to change their behaviour when it concerns a problem which
they see as real/important for them.
• A DI project around this issue allows teachers to explore evidence/incorporate it with
their professional expertise/trial and evaluate it in their class(es)
• Results lead to promise/improvement/no change.
• Results shared with colleagues provide opportunities for professional discussion, which
is a good thing.
• Positive results should lead to scale-up and further evaluation; -ve results should lead
to "drop that and try something else".
• School-wide, leads to a reflective, learning, innovating, and hopefully improving
culture, that doesn't just keep piling innovation on top of innovation to no effect.
• Also leads to "exportable" approaches that other schools can trial
27

28. Disciplined Inquiry in Action
Durrington School
28

29. Disciplined inquiry in action at Durrington
Research School
• An ‘inquiry question’ that teachers will work on as an appraisal
objective
• Basic structure – What impact does ‘what practice’ delivered
over ‘what period’ have on ‘what outcome’ for ‘whom’
• What impact does increasing the frequency of modelling writing, followed
by structured metacognitive reflection in lessons delivered over a year
have on the quality of creative writing for my two Y10 classes?
29

30. Disciplined inquiry in action at Durrington
Research School
• What was it like before I did X
and what’s it like now? Has it
got any better?’
• Assessment scores before and
after the change you have made
to your practice.
• Example of student work before
and after.
• Student/staff questionnaires
before and after.
• Student interviews before and
after.
• Observation/IRIS review before
and after.
• INSET days will be used to
share some inquiry questions
that staff are working on and
how this is going.
• Subject CPD time (INSET and
Subject Planning &
Development sessions) will be
used for colleagues to discuss
and share their inquiry
questions.
• Staff will share their inquiry
question ‘journey’ through
writing blog
30

31. Some practical issues
• What do you do with member of staff who gets great results but
merely goes through the motions of DI?
• What do you do with members of staff who produce well
structured and thought out evaluations, yet their pupils’ results
are poor?
• Does having a DI as a performance objective create negative
consequences for the usefulness of DI for teacher development?
• Is there any meaningful difference between DI and Action
Research?
• What’s the relationship between the costs and benefits of DI?
31

32. Three questions 32

33. 1 Is there any research evidence supporting the
use of disciplined inquiry as a vehicle for
performance management ?
33

34. 34

35. Critical factors in goal setting Critical factors in
performance appraisals
• Rely on managers’ evaluations rather
than self-assessments
• Use strengths based feedback
• Ensure employees are involved in the
appraisal discussions to their voice is
heard
• Check in with employees following
appraisal to see how they are
responding
35
• Setting outcome goals that are clear,
specific and challenging for straight
forward jobs and tasks
• Set outcome goals that are not specific
or that encourages employees to do
their best where tasks are complex
• Recruit employees with a learning
orientation
• Support employees with how to form
implementation goals – how, when,
where and when they will act

36. What’s the evidence for disciplined inquiry
and performance management?
• Cordingley, P. (2015). The
Contribution of Research to
Teachers’ Professional Learning
and Development. Oxford
Review of Education. 41. 2. 234-
252.
• Supowtiz, J (2015) “Teacher data
use in improving teaching and
learning” in Brown, C Leading
the use of research and evidence
in schools, London, Bloomsbury
Press
• Tichnor-Wagner A, Wachen J,
Cannata M, et al. (2017)
Continuous improvement in the
public school context:
Understanding how educators
respond to plan–do–study–act
cycles. Journal of educational
change 18: 465-494.
36

37. 2. Is disciplined inquiry just another fad? 37

38. How to spot a management fad/fashion
• Simple, straightforward
• Promising results
• Universal
• Step-down capability
• In tune with zeitgeist
• Novel, not radical
• Legitimacy via gurus and star examples
• Lively, entertaining
38
MILLER, D., HARTWICK, J. & LE BRETON-MILLER, I. 2004. How to detect a management fad—and
distinguish it from a classic. Business Horizons, 47, 7-16.

39. What to do when faced with a management
guru? 39
What evidence is there that
the new approach can
provide productive
results. Are arguments
based on solid evidence
from lots of schools followed
over time?
Has the approach worked in
schools similar to our own
that face similar challenges?
Is the approach relevant to
the priorities and strategies
relevant to our school?
Is the advice specific enough
to be implemented? Do we
have enough information
about implementation
challenges and how to meet
them?
Is the advice practical for
our school given our
capabilities and resources?
Can we reasonably assess
the costs and prospective
rewards (Amended
from (Miller et al., 2004) pp
14-15

40. 3. How do we distinguish between disciplined
inquiry ‘there and then’ and ‘here and now’? 40

41. The causal cake
Theory of
Change
Support
TimePlace
Culture
Processes
41
Cartwright, N. and Hardie, J. (2012). Evidence-Based Policy: A Practical Guide to Doing It
Better. Oxford. Oxford University Press

42. 42
COLDWELL, M., GREANY,
T., HIGGINS, S., BROWN,
C., MAXWELL, B., B, S.,
STOLL, L., WILLIS, B. &
BURNS, H. 2017.
Evidence-informed
teaching: an evaluation
of progress in England
Research report. London:
Department for
Education

43. To recap
• Colleagues in research schools (and wider) are showing an interest in disciplined inquiry
• This is a product of three things
• Dylan William’s view that all teachers should seek to improve and should take part in 'disciplined inquiry’
• Bloggers writing about disciplined inquiry
• Widespread dissatisfaction with current models of performance management in schools
• Disciplined inquiry is now being used in a number of schools as an integral part of school’s
performance management processes and CPD activities
• However, this is being done, with little or no reference to the research literature on
• What makes for effective performance management processes
• The relationships between disciplined inquiry and teacher knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours and
teacher outcomes
• Different types of inquiry – such as action research
• Ironically the promotion of disciplined inquiry as part of performance management is an
example of what the evidence-based community is trying to avoid i.e. addressing problems
without reference to the research evidence-base and the adoption of practices promoted by
gurus
• Nevertheless, this does not mean we should not show interest in ‘disciplined inquiry’ as a
way of addressing the problems associated with performance management in schools.
• Although we should be upfront and say that while the adoption of DI seems a goods idea.
there is little or no robust evidence about what works, where, for whom, to what extent, for
how long - when undertaken as part of performance management
43

44. Some final comments 44
Be sceptical of self-
professed experts
1
Be sceptical of actual
experts
2
Be disciplined,
conduct your own
inquiries and become
your own expert
3

45. 45

46. 46