Measured lives in educational psychology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/irtp.v1i1.127080Keywords:
Visible Learning, Ligitimation, Technical Rationality, Education, SchoolingAbstract
Why is the work of educational researcher John Hattie’s work so popular today? This is the question we will try to answer in this paper. Based on a very large empirical database, Hattie calculates the effects of numerous educational interventions and factors influencing student achievements. Despite documented methodological flaws in his work, Hattie’s work keep attracting the attention of policy makers, teachers and educational researchers all over the world. We propose to understand thepopularity of Hattie’s work in relation to the ongoing debate about the legitimation of schooling – using Habermas’ (1976) work Legitimation Crisis as point of departure. Our claim is that Hattie is offering a theoretical synthesis of effective teaching as a way to legitimize modern schooling. However, there are a number of problems with this synthesis, most notably that it does not include the pupils’ intentions for participating.
References
Biesta, G. (2007). Why “what works” won’t work: evidence-based practice and the
democratic deficit in educational research. Educational Theory, 57(1), 1–22.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2006.00241.x
Blichfeldt, J. F. (2011). Om gyldig forskning og bruk av forsknings—og testresultater
[About Valid research and use of research and test results]. Bedre Skole, 4, 12–17.
Borman, D. A. (2011). The Idolatry of the Actual – Habermas, Socialization, and the
Possibility of Autonomy. Suny Press.
Costall, A. (2013). The Unconscious Theory in Modern Cognitivism. In T. P. Racine & K.
L. Slaney (Eds.), A Wittgensteinian Perspective on the Use of Cenceptual Analysis in
Psychology (pp. 312–327). Palgrave MacMillan.
Evans, D. (2012, September 14). He is not the messiah. Times Education Supplement.
Ewert, G. D. (1991). Habermas and education: A comprehensive overview of the
influence of Habermas in educational literature. Review of Educational Research,
(3), 345–378.
Finlayson, J. G. (2005). Habermas: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Habermas, J. (1976). Legitimation crisis (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Heinemann Educational
Publishers.
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action. Polity Press.
Hansen, O., Lekhai, R., Nordahl, T., Persson, B., & Qvortrup, L. (2015). Leder—
temanummer om John Hattie [Editorial - special issue about John Hattie]. Paideia:
Tidsskrift for Professionel Pædagogisk Praksis, 9, 4–8.
Hargreaves, D. (2000). Teaching as a Research-Based Profession: Possibilities and
Propects. In B. Moon, J. Butcher, & E. Bird (Eds.), Leading Professional Development
in Education (pp. 200–210).
Hattie, J. (1987). Identifying the salient facets of a model of student learning: A synthesis
of meta-analyses. International Journal of Educational Research, 11(2), 187–212.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to
achievement. Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2010). Commentary on being a “critic and conscience of society”: The role of
the education academic in public debates. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies,
(1), 85–96.
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers—Maximizing impact on learning.
Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2013). Synlig læring—For lærere [Visible learning for teachers] (S. Søgaard,
Trans). Dafolo.
Hattie, J. & Nepper Larsen, S. (2020). The Purposes of Education – a Conversation
between John Hattie and Steen Nepper Larsen. Routledge.
Biesta, G. (2007). Why “what works” won’t work: evidence-based practice and the
democratic deficit in educational research. Educational Theory, 57(1), 1–22.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2006.00241.x
Blichfeldt, J. F. (2011). Om gyldig forskning og bruk av forsknings—og testresultater
[About Valid research and use of research and test results]. Bedre Skole, 4, 12–17.
Borman, D. A. (2011). The Idolatry of the Actual – Habermas, Socialization, and the
Possibility of Autonomy. Suny Press.
Costall, A. (2013). The Unconscious Theory in Modern Cognitivism. In T. P. Racine & K.
L. Slaney (Eds.), A Wittgensteinian Perspective on the Use of Cenceptual Analysis in
Psychology (pp. 312–327). Palgrave MacMillan.
Evans, D. (2012, September 14). He is not the messiah. Times Education Supplement.
Ewert, G. D. (1991). Habermas and education: A comprehensive overview of the
influence of Habermas in educational literature. Review of Educational Research,
(3), 345–378.
Finlayson, J. G. (2005). Habermas: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Habermas, J. (1976). Legitimation crisis (T. McCarthy, Trans.). Heinemann Educational
Publishers.
Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action. Polity Press.
Hansen, O., Lekhai, R., Nordahl, T., Persson, B., & Qvortrup, L. (2015). Leder—
temanummer om John Hattie [Editorial - special issue about John Hattie]. Paideia:
Tidsskrift for Professionel Pædagogisk Praksis, 9, 4–8.
Hargreaves, D. (2000). Teaching as a Research-Based Profession: Possibilities and
Propects. In B. Moon, J. Butcher, & E. Bird (Eds.), Leading Professional Development
in Education (pp. 200–210).
Hattie, J. (1987). Identifying the salient facets of a model of student learning: A synthesis
of meta-analyses. International Journal of Educational Research, 11(2), 187–212.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to
achievement. Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2010). Commentary on being a “critic and conscience of society”: The role of
the education academic in public debates. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies,
(1), 85–96.
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers—Maximizing impact on learning.
Routledge.
Hattie, J. (2013). Synlig læring—For lærere [Visible learning for teachers] (S. Søgaard,
Trans). Dafolo.
Hattie, J. & Nepper Larsen, S. (2020). The Purposes of Education – a Conversation
between John Hattie and Steen Nepper Larsen. Routledge.
Hattie, J., & Yates, J. (2014). Synlig læring og læringens anatomi [Visible Learning and
the anatomy of learning] (S. Søgaard, Trans). Dafolo Forlag.
Hattie, J. A., & Timperley, H. (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The power of feedback.
Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112.
Heath, J. (2010). Legitimation crisis in the later work of Jurgen Habermas. The Journal of
Shanghai Administrative Institute, 11, 5.
Katzenelson, N. (2008). De måske egnede på erhvervsuddannelserne. Frafald og
fastholdelse af udsatte unge (the possible qualified on the VET education. Dropout and
retention of at risk students). Erhvervsskolernes forlag.
Klitmøller, J., & Nielsen, K. (2017). John Hattie som uddannelsesteoretiker—En kritik af
teorien om synlig læring [John Hattie as educational theorist - a critique of visible
learning]. Dansk pædagogisk tidsskrift, (2), 3–15.
Klitmøller, J., & Nielsen, K. (2019). Kritikken af kvaliteten af Hattie’s kvantitative
forskning [A critique of the qualitative of Hattie's quantitative research]. Paideia:
Tidsskrift for Professionel Pædagogisk Praksis, 18(November), 65.
Knudsen, H. (2017). John Hattie: I’m a statistician, I’m not a theoretician. NordSTEP,
(3), 253–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2017.1415048
Kvale, S. (1973). The technological paradigm of psychological research. Journal of
Phenomenological Psychology, 3, 143–159.
Nordahl, T. (2019). Kritikken av kvantitativ forskning i pedagogikk. [The critique of
quatitative research in education]. Paideia: Tidsskrift for Professionel Pædagogisk
Praksis, 17, 6–14.
Mansell, W. (2008, November 21). Research reveals teaching’s Holy Grail. Times
Education Supplement.
Nepper Larsen, s. (2016). At ville noget med nogen – filosofiske og samtidskritiske
fragmenter om dannelse og pædagogik. [To have intentions with someone -
philosophical and contempory diagnosis fragments about bildung and education].
Turbine Akademisk.
Nielsen, K., & Klitmøller, J. (2017). Blinde pletter i den synlige læring: Kritiske
kommentarer til “Hattierevolutionen” [Blind spots in Visible learning - critical
comments to the "Hattie revolution"]. Nordic Studies in Education, 37(1), 3–18.
https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1891-5949-2017-01-02
Plant, R. (1982). Jurgen Habermas and the idea of legitimation crisis. European Journal of
Political Research, 10, 341–352.
Polanin, J. R., Maynard, B. R., & Dell, N. A. (2016). Overviews in education research: A
systematic review and analysis. Review of Educational Research, 9, 1–32.
http://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316631117
Qvortrup, L. (2015). Baggrund for og diskussion af visible learning med særligt henblik på lærings—Og vidensbegrebet. [The background for and the discussion of visible learning with a special focus on the concept of learning and knowledge]. Paideia:
Tidsskrift for Professionel Pædagogisk Praksis, 9, 22–33.
Rømer, T. A. (2019). A critique of John Hattie’s theory of Visible Learning. Educational
Philosophy and Theory, 51(6), 587–598.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2018.1488216
Rømer, T. A. (2019). FAQ – om dannelse. Hans Reitzels Forlag.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic
Books.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner—Toward a new design for
teaching and learning in the professions. Jossey Bass.
Simpson, A. (2017). The misdirection of public policy: Comparing and combining
standardised effect sizes. Journal of Education Policy, 32(4), 450–466.
https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2017.1280183
Simpson, A. (2018). Princesses are bigger than elephants: Effect size as a category error in
evidence-based education. British Educational Research Journal, 44(5), 897–913.
https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3474
Schleicher, A. (2010). The New Global Landscape of Educational Achievement. Issues in
Science and Technology, (Spring), 81–85.
Sjøberg, S. (2018). PISA - oraklet i Paris? Global styring af skole og Uddannelse. I D.
Sommer & J. Klitmøller, Fremtidsparat – Hinsides PISA – nordiske perspektiver på
uddannelse. Hans Reizels Forlag. S. 73-106.
Sommer, D. & Klitmøller, J. (2018). Fremtidsparat – Hinsides PISA – nordiske
perspektiver på uddannelse. Hans Reizels Forlag.
Snook, I., O’Neil, J., Clark, J., O’Neill, A., & Openshaw, R. (2009). Commentary:
Invisible learnings? A commentary on John Hattie’s book Visible Learning: A
synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New Zealand Journal of
Educational Studies, 44(1), 93–106.
Terhart, E. (2012). Has John Hattie really found the Holy Grail of research on teaching?
An extended review of Visible Learning. Curriculum Studies, 43(3), 425–438.
Topphol, A. K. (2011). Kan vi stole på statistikkbruken i utdanningsforskinga
[Translation]? Norsk pedagogisk Tidsskrift, 95(6), 460–471.
Wrigley, T. (2018). The power of “evidence”: Reliable science or a set of blunt tools?
British Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 359–376.
Zhao, Y. (2018). What works may hurt—Side effects in education. Teachers College Press.
Ziehe, T. (1989). ”Jeg er måske lidt umotiveret i dag ……….” – elevernes og lærernes
forestillinger om sig selv i dag. I: Ambivalenser og mangfoldighed (s. 37-54).
København, Danmark: Politisk Revy.
Ziehe, T. (2003). Skolen i en anerkendelseskrise. I: J. Bjerg (Red.), Pædagogik: En
grundbog til et fag (3. rev. udgave, kapitel 3, s. 85-101). København, Danmark: Hans
Reitzel.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Klaus Nielsen , Jakob Klitmøller
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
IRTP operates based on a non-exclusive publishing agreement, according to which the journal retains the right of first publication, but authors are free to subsequently publish their work. The copyright of all work rests with the author(s).
All content published in IRTP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This license allows authors and readers to share and adapt content for non-commercial purposes, provided that they abide by the following terms:
- Give credit to the original author(s)/creator(s) and attribution parties (i.e., IRTP);
- Provide a link to the original source, to the extent practicable;
- Include the copyright notice and/or indicate the corresponding Creative Commons license;
- Indicate what, if any, adaptations were made to the original; and
- Share adapted content under the same license as the original.
Authors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the various Creative Commons licenses. Readers are advised to consult the licensing information embedded in each published work to ensure that they are familiar with the terms of use that apply.
