(How) can educational research evidence contribute to improving teaching and learning? Theses and questions on the discussion around teachers’ evidence-oriented reasoning and action

Abstract

Against the backdrop of debates on evidence-based practice in education, this contribution takes up recent strands of research addressing (preservice) teachers’ evidence-oriented reasoning and acting (EORA). This research investigates the conditions, processes, and outcomes of teachers’ use of evidence from educational research and interventions to foster relevant competences and motivational-affective dispositions. In the present article, we first discuss a converging perspective on teachers’ EORA that has emerged in this field, even though the relevant studies started from heterogeneous research interests and theoretical backgrounds. Second, we note certain theses and issues that this research needs to address both conceptually and empirically. Finally, we discuss major contextual barriers that must be overcome in order to foster teachers’ more widespread use of evidence from educational research.