Research Series Volume 3

Tes Research Series: Volume Three

Everything you need to know about:

- Character: All schools strive to instil or develop 'character' in their pupils. Professor Angela Duckworth explores whether character can actually be taught, and if so, just how that might be done in schools.

- Language development support: Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) impacts - on average - two children in every classroom. Professor Courtenay Norbury explains what we know about DLD and offers advice on how to support children who have a DLD diagnosis.

- Executive function: Executive functioning issues are weaknesses in a set of important mental skills that are key to learning. When kids struggle with executive skills, it impacts them in school and in everyday life. Professor Lucy Cragg explains how executive function skills underpin learning, and so need to be better understood in schools.

- Teacher talk: Professor Neil Mercer is emeritus professor of education at the University of Cambridge and director of Oracy Cambridge. He is a leading expert on the role of spoken language in the classroom. He discusses the evidence for, and practical strategies to implement, both teacher and pupil talk.

- EAL interventions: Victoria Murphy is professor of applied linguistics at the University of Oxford. She is an expert in EAL and bilingualism, and has conducted extensive research into both areas. She explains what the research can tell teachers about the best ways of supporting EAL learners.

- Limits of research: Professor Steve Higgins was one of the creators of the EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit and is one of the leading education researchers in the UK. He discusses whether we will ever really know exactly what works in education.

- Direct instruction: Professor Paul Kirschner details what exactly direct instruction is and why the research suggests it is the best approach to teaching