JOHN HATTIE
JOHN HATTIE
(Dated 24 February 2017)
Joe Hildebrand's
article today from news.com.au serves as yet another floodlight being pointed
towards Professor John Hattie and his theories on those things that positively
influence the educational outcomes of students within Oz schools.
Some punters may
remember how the good prof was featured in the ABC's 'Revolution School'
documentaries last year. Hattie is rapidly garnering a guru-like status amongst
many politicians and educational administrators.
Briefly,
Professor Hattie has composed lists of literally thousands of 'factors' that
influence students' educational achievements and apportioned a numerical rating
for each factor. Of course, the higher the 'number', the more significant that
factor is in securing a better outcome for students. So if you want to know
what effect a burst water main in Blacktown has on a scholar's progress at Five
Dock Public School, John Hattie is your man.
I've seen a few
of the don's presentations over the years when I was on the public tick and
they were all remarkably similar. Hattie routinely plasters a whiteboard with a
whole bunch of factors and invites the adoring masses to nominate which ones
are cool and which ones aren't. Once this ice-breaker is over, Hattie then gets
out his O/H switcheroo gadget and discloses his 'number' values for each amidst
'ooohs' and 'aaahs' from the fans. Gee, who would have thought that drinking
urine would have a higher educational effect than scoffing down a
halal-certified Kit Kat etc etc?
After all the
excited 'Go figure!' responses have died down, the guru then reveals 'class
size', 'postcode' and 'home background' as effects and, guess what, slides
relatively low value numbers next to each. You don't have to be too
quick-witted to realise why the 'long hair' is all the rage with those
neoliberal politicians and administrators.
John Hattie
likes to think of himself as a researcher but that description is not strictly true.
Hattie researches research. He goes through educational studies from all over
the world and comes up with his coefficients/ values/ numbers sourced from this
second hand methodology. How he arrives at his numbers is anybody's guess and
that's the prime weakness in many of his ideas and theories.
But for as long
as Hattie's theories take the onus off the 'system' and direct the blow-torch
at the 'teacher'- in terms of lifting the educational game- then you'll be
seeing a lot of him in the coming years.
'Revolution School' for sure....... and it's a
revolution on the cheap.
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