Moving from theory to practice: A critical approach

Abstract

The phrase theory to practice permeates education. A simple Google search will reveal that there are countless books, articles, podcasts, and videos touting the importance of putting theory into practice. As educators we are constantly being told that we need to put theory into practice in the ways that we develop curriculum, select and implement instructional practices and assessment strategies, make decisions that impact our classroom climate and relationships with students and families (i.e., Akos & Kurz, 2016; Fuhler, 2003). In the same vein, teacher education programs are consistently striving to find the right combination of coursework and fieldwork and innovative strategies (i.e., Howell et al., 2017) for teacher candidates to gain the knowledge and experiences they need to put theory into practice. But when we step back and examine that phrase, what does it even mean? And more importantly what does it assume? Technically, the term “put {insert something} into practice” is an idiom that means, “to commence doing something that had previously only been discussed, suggested, or planned” (thefreedictionary.com). In education, we use this idiom to explain the importance of taking a theory (a belief or procedure followed as the basis of action) that was previously discussed, suggested, or planned and implementing it, most likely in a classroom. At the most basic level, teachers do this every second of every day. One teacher might do it when they notice that Marta responds well when given the opportunity to draw instead of write out her thinking, so they make that a regular part of their practice. Another when they recognize that Sonny is most engaged when he completes an experiment independently and then explains his findings to a group of peers so they organize their science class to incorporate options for independent work followed by small group sharing and discussion. Educators are literally putting their own theories into practice constantly as they make decisions based on repeated observations, experiences, and dialogue. I once heard that, on average, educators make nearly 10,000 decisions per day related to teaching and learning. But when we talk about putting theory into practice, as a field, we generally are not referring to the ways that teachers put their own theories about what works and what does not for the learners in their classrooms into practice everyday; we are talking about putting certain theories, unquestionably, into practice, some of which have been around for years or even decades. Other times the theories are the newest fads in education. Many of these theories are problematic, and the research behind them might not be transferable to certain populations of students. Either way, many theories are used almost unquestioningly, without consideration for the impact on or the implications for young adolescents. For example, one of the long lasting theories that has informed the way we think about young adolescence is Hall’s recapitulation theory, which posited that during young adolescence, we transition from a savage state to a civilized state. He believed that nonwhite adolescents could never reach this civilized state, subjugating them permanently to a savage state. Despite the blatant racism underlying this theory, it still has lasting impacts on the ways people think and talk about youth (Harrison et al., 2019). Thus, while we believe that theory should be an important driver of practice, we want to encourage a more thoughtful approach to the way we think about theory. One that promotes thoughtful, critical reflection on the theory itself and the ways that it is being extended and how it is informing practice. Such critical questions should include: Who does the theory apply to? What are the limitations of the theory? What new research might make