In 2013, Scottish teacher Tom Bennett realised that his training had not well prepared him for the classroom. He had not even been taught basic classroom management skills.

Tom decided to organise a conference for teachers like him. He wanted to promulgate effective, well-researched practice.

In contrast to many education conferences, he only accepted presentations based on sound research evidence. It went so well that he started an organisation, researchED, to organise similar conferences around the world.

Thirteen years and more than a hundred conferences later, the researchED movement has taken off. Tom has become an international authority on classroom management. In 2015, he was appointed advisor on school behaviour to the UK Department of Education.

In 2018, The New Zealand Initiative hosted New Zealand’s first researchED conference at Auckland Grammar School. More than two hundred teachers and principals attended.

Last Saturday, Long Bay College and the Initiative hosted New Zealand’s second researchED event. We were supported by a generous donation from Dame Jenny Gibbs.

Education Minister Erica Stanford opened the conference, addressing more than five hundred attendees, a record for researchED events in Australasia.

The fifteen speakers focused on evidence-informed practice to help teachers implement the Minister’s reforms. These include a knowledge-rich curriculum, teaching based on the science of learning, and structured literacy instruction in primary schools.

Tom Bennett gave the first keynote address, sharing tips for classroom management. He quipped that much of his advice comes from his previous life managing unruly nightclub patrons in London’s Soho district.

In the second keynote, Professor Pamela Snow from Melbourne’s La Trobe University presented evidence supporting structured literacy. Emeritus Professor James Chapman, New Zealand’s godfather of structured literacy, reinforced her message in his presentation.

In addition to their sound advice, Professors Snow and Chapman gave well-deserved accolades to the many primary teachers who were present. They have already achieved an impressive uplift in five-year-olds’ basic reading skills.

Other speakers included Distinguished Professor Gaven Martin from Massey University and Dr Helen Walls, New Zealand’s foremost expert on primary school writing. Both served on a Ministerial Advisory Group I chaired for Minister Stanford.

I presented my own research showing that students benefit when the assessment for a subject gives students incentives to engage in effective learning behaviour.

Several principals expressed enthusiasm for hosting future conferences at their own schools. researchED is now set to become a regular event in New Zealand.