Dr Neil Gilbride, Associate Dean, Learning Design, Ambition Institute
I will argue that valuing well-crafted theory, forged through the interaction between ideas and practice, can both help guide leaders and practitioners and afford value to the ideas of our profession.
First, That do we mean by theory and why do theories matter? Some theories attempt to explain a pattern or phenomena. For example, there are theories of Dyslexia which attempt to explain why some children struggle to learn to read. Other theories go further and attempt to predict what might happen if certain conditions are established or if certain actions are undertaken. For example, a theory that underpins an intervention to support Dyslexic pupils with their reading. Some theory can therefore be used to explain or provide a predictive answer with a specific question in mind.
However, theories can also provide a way of helping us to think through a problem where there are multiple variables with no clear, predictable solution. Let’s imagine the following examples:
• The practitioner who asks, "How do I think through the balance of meeting whole class need with individual provision?”
• The leader who asks how to build culture within their school with a diverse range of staff, considerable internal and external demands, and multiple people offering conflicting advice on what the school should do.
• The CEO who asks how to manage a budget deficit when they still need to meet the needs of most vulnerable.
These problems are unlikely to have a clear ‘what’ to do. It’s likely the situation could be interpreted in many different and valid ways. These problems are unlikely to have one fixed solution, and it is difficult to predict the consequences of actions taken.
This is where theory can help. Theory can go beyond summarising evidence or sharing individual strategies for a specific problem. Some theories are a framework, or ‘tool of thought’, for comprehending problems in a way that we cannot do on our own. Here are some examples:
• Bandura’s theory on social cognition helps us think through whether human behaviour is influenced by our active choices or environmental stimuli. Bandura’s theories and frameworks enable us to hold the individual and the environment together by recognising that human behaviour is a consequence of these factors interacting with each other. The theory helps us to hold two ‘opposites’ together and, therefore, think about human behaviour in new ways that might otherwise prove challenging.
• Complexity theories can be considered another example by bringing together ideas to explain how systems and structures operate beyond what we can see and hear. The concept of complexity affords us insight into what is happening underneath the hood and provides a different way of thinking through a problem.
Both examples demonstrate the power of theory as a guide to how we think through problems or challenges. By helping us to hold different positions together and bring our attention to what might be below the level of our awareness, theory can help us get to grips with what’s really going on when the situation is unclear. By introducing us to a way of thinking, we can also avoid certain perils which might arise when we have no scaffold or tools for thinking. These perils include inertia; turning to guesswork; relying on a single line of evidence to do a complex job, or; being swayed by the prevailing fashion, or powerful and influential espoused wisdom of those who claim to hold simple, compelling answers.
One misinterpretation of my argument is that we should turn to the dusty, beyond abstract theory that is detached from the real world. Or that turning to any theory, regardless of rigour and quality, is helpful.
Let me be clear – I am not advocating for this. Instead, I think we should curate new ideas and make better use of theories which have constantly evolved through the integration of research and rich insights from practice and seek to develop these theories further.
The two theories cited above are good examples of what happens when theory takes insights from its application seriously. Insights gathered from the application of their ideas across different challenges and sectors (i.e. from practice) have supported, challenged and evolved their underpinning ideas. This approach is one of the central reasons why the ideas of Albert Bandura and complexity theorists such as Ralph Stacey have stood the test of time.
In education, we are lucky. We have a wealth of knowledge that documents the purposeful action and deep thinking of leaders, born out of interacting with challenges with no fixed comprehension or solution. This knowledge sits in playbooks, handbooks, organisational professional development, blogs, projects, pilots and the documented decisions of our best teachers and educational leaders. This knowledge is a gold mine of insights. They articulate the ways in which leaders and practitioners are testing out ideas and reaching conclusions whilst working between what is known and what we need to know – what theory can explain, and what it missed or got wrong.
We should be actively mining this metaphorical gold mine if we wish to utilise and develop theories as ‘tools of thought’ that can guide leaders and practitioners. Specifically, we should seek to integrate them with different lines of evidence and research to evolve established theories and develop new theories to test. Viewing practitioner knowledge as critical to this process means theory becomes an avenue for unlocking the expertise that resides in the minds of teachers and leaders across different contexts and challenges.
Finally, the purpose of these tools of thought. What should engaging in these tools of thought, born from the integration of ideas and practice, try to achieve which single lines of evidence might struggle to do on their own? The power of theory is in its ability to drive our critical, reflective mind. It’s beyond sourcing single lines of evidence to back up our ideas. These tools of thought should enable us to ask deeper questions away from "what should I do?”. Good theory should be empowering - not just give us knowledge but through that knowledge, empower us to think. To ask questions and challenge our underpinning assumptions. In curating and crafting theory, we should scaffold the opportunities for individuals to step away to reflect on our growing internal theories of education: how is this introducing a dissonance, how does this insight make me reconsider what I think? From here, we can revisit our potential actions anew.
In this piece, I have argued for the place of theory as a tool of thought for our leaders and practitioners. Our profession's growing evidence base and associated practices should have a place - but theory is important too. Theory can act as a tool of thought which can guide leaders and practitioner in problems that are hard to comprehend and respond to. Furthermore, by recognising the role of practitioner knowledge in the evolution of theory, we can unlock the expertise sitting across our sector in addressing the challenges we face in providing the best for the children and communities that we serve.
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