Life in schools and classrooms: A personal journey and reflection

Abstract

This chapter begins with a brief personal history of my introduction to educational research. It then traces the beginnings of the use of systematic observation, first in the USA and then in the UK to tease out the distinctions between various frequently used constructs such as direct teaching and direct instruction. A considerable proportion of the chapter is then devoted to the series of key findings which emerged during the 1975–1980 Observational Research and Classroom Learning Evaluation (ORACLE) research programme, not only because it is one of the most cited studies in education but also because it spawned a number of other initiatives based on similar methodology. Various criticisms of the approach are also considered. The chapter concludes by looking at some of the unsolved problems to emerge as a result of nearly a century spent studying life in classrooms from various perspectives.