School of Education

The Centre for Teaching Excellence is pleased to announce the release of a new research brief from the Teaching-Focused Research Hub: Becoming Evidence-Informed: Using Evidence of Practice, Educational Research and Experiential Knowledge to Inform Instructional Decision-Making. The brief explores how educators can bring together evidence from classroom practice, educational research, and experiential knowledge to support informed professional judgement.

This research brief explores what it means for educators to become evidence-informed in their instructional decision-making. Rather than treating evidence-informed practice as the simple application of research findings, the brief presents it as a process of integrating three interconnected domains of professional evidence and knowledge: evidence of classroom practice, educational research, and experiential knowledge. It examines how teachers and school leaders can use evidence generated through teaching and learning, engage meaningfully with relevant educational research, and draw on professional expertise developed through experience with learners, schools, and communities. The brief argues that no single source of information is sufficient on its own to guide effective practice. Instead, informed professional judgement emerges when educators bring these domains into dialogue to make thoughtful, context-sensitive decisions that support pupil learning and professional growth. The brief concludes by positioning professional inquiry as a key process through which educators can systematically engage with these domains and strengthen evidence-informed practice.

Cowhitt, Thomas , Anderson, Sarah and Russell, Karen (2026) Becoming Evidence-Informed: using evidence of practice, educational research and experiential knowledge to inform instructional decision-making. Documentation. Centre for Teaching Excellence. (doi: 10.36399/gla.pubs.388909).

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First published: 9 July 2026