A distributed leadership approach to evidence-informed practice: How one school widens staff engagement with teaching and learning research

Emily Giubertoni, Bishop Challoner Training School Alliance SCITT The aim: To develop an evidence-engaged and informed culture  In this case study, we will see how one school puts the components of distributed leadership into practice and how, in doing so, it builds a sense of equity and community among the staff body around the use of evidence-engaged practice. In the context of this case study, ‘evidence-engaged and informed’ is taken to mean that teachers are readers of research and are critically evaluating and identifying research relevant to the contextual issues of the school, and that staff are routinely making decisions underpinned by reference to research. In 2024, the drive for schools to become research-informed institutions is increasing, as policy-makers and training providers alike buy into the idea that ‘a desire to use evidence to inform… teaching practice is key to improving schools’ (Gibb, 2017). Tomsett (2015) argues that a research-engaged cultur