What research can tell us

This chapter presents a review of research evidence in order to identify potential factors that will seed success. Recent syntheses of educational research studies have identified promising aspects of excellence in educational practice that impact on educational outcomes e.g. having high expectations, setting tasks of high intellectual challenge. John Hattie (2009) analysed over 800 meta-analyses incorporating 52 637 studies targeting many millions of students, and in the process identified six primary factors that have been found to influence the achievement patterns of students: the child, home, school, curriculum, teacher and teaching approaches. Researchers and Indigenous community members have long advocated that the respect and promotion of Indigenous students’ identity self-concepts are critical in the learning equation for Indigenous students.