To avoid creating lethal mutations of evidence-informed practice, schools need to think carefully about the key pedagogical strategies and behaviours at the core of an intervention
A lethal mutation occurs when evidence-informed practice is modified beyond recognition from the original practice. This can happen when teachers adapt evidence-informed practices and techniques to fit within their own contexts, leading them to unwittingly develop counterproductive strategies.
Where can I see this in action?
Nick Rose, a learning design fellow at Ambition Institute, highlights an example of a lethal mutation in the classroom that involves spaced learning (the practice of repeating learning material at defined intervals, with unrelated activities in between).
The idea of spacing learning stems from evidence around the long-term learning benefits of having the opportunity to “forget” information to some degree before retrieving it again. However, Rose points out that some teachers have interpreted this to mean that it is helpful to chop and change different topics from lesson to lesson, when this isn’t necessarily the case.
“For example, if I’m teaching evolution through natural selection in biology, I might want to carefully sequence the teaching of this complex idea over several lessons,” Rose explains. “[But] if spacing of the teaching breaks up this structure, then there’s a danger that the curriculum becomes a noise of disjointed and unconnected ideas.”
“Teachers have reported that dual coding sometimes means that irrelevant illustrations are added to presentations, which may be a distraction rather than a way of developing schemas and optimising cognitive load,” the review states.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.
To achieve this, it summarises the best available evidence for teachers; its Teaching and Learning Toolkit, for example, is used by 70 per cent of secondary schools.
The charity also generates new evidence of “what works” to improve teaching and learning, by funding independent evaluations of high-potential projects, and supports teachers and senior leaders to use the evidence to achieve the maximum possible benefit for young people.
