Cognitive science in primary school: One school’s journey in applying research to practice
Written by: Patrick McDonald and William Gray
7 min read
PATRICK MCDONALD, CURRICULUM LEAD, WESTERHOPE PRIMARY SCHOOL, UK
WILLIAM GRAY, DEPUTY HEADTEACHER, WESTERHOPE PRIMARY SCHOOL, UK
Introduction
Cognitive science has clear implications for classroom practice (EEF,2021a), and research shows that teachers’ professional development (PD) can positively impact pupil outcomes (Cordingley et al., 2015; Rauch and Coe, 2019; Sancar et al., 2021). Drawing on evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation’s professional development guidance (EEF, 2021b), leaders at Westerhope Primary School aimed to build knowledge, motivate teachers and embed practice around the use of cognitive science in the classroom. As a school, we had always been a workforce that actively sought to implement innovative and effective teaching and learning strategies to enhance learning. We were determined to build a curriculum that was progressive and coherent, bespoke to our school and built on research evidence, in order to best support our pupils.
Building know
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Really useful article. Are there any examples available of the resources and the planning documents that you used?