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Meet the lab series: Interview with Dr. Benoit Galand

Written by Tim Vantilborgh
Interview

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Since the start of his PhD, the research of Benoit Galand is dedicated to unravelling the psychological foundations of education, like motivation, socialization and learning, from primary to higher education. He is Professor of Educational sciences at the UCLouvain, former director of the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Socialization, Education and Training (GIRSEF) and an associate member of the School Environment Research Group (GRES, Canada).
 
Interviewer: You are the author of numerous publications in international journals and scientific books. What would be the major take-home message(s) of your work on education?

Beyond the specificities of the various research topics we are working on, our findings are in line with two trends found in the literature: (a) many psychosocial variables that have been widely investigated in cross-sectional studies lack predictive validity in longitudinal or experimental studies; (b) the effect sizes of interventions that have been found to be effective decrease dramatically when they are scaled up in educational settings. This may seem disappointing, but - in my view - it underlines several things. On the one hand, it shows the importance of the scientific approach to build robust knowledge in education: many well-established beliefs and theories can be misleading. In this respect, the methodological training of psychologists and their mastery of different research designs are a crucial asset. On the other hand, this calls for caution when formulating the practical recommendations arising from our research. We do not want teachers, principals or school psychologists to waste their time and energy on fancy innovations that do not benefit students, and that distract them from more effective interventions. In the absence of direct tests of the effectiveness of an intervention in real-life situations, it is probably better to refrain from making any practical recommendations. When we do have solid evidence of effectiveness of an intervention, let's be modest about its scope: most of the tools at our disposal bring small incremental improvements rather than spectacular changes. Otherwise, we risk losing credibility amongst education practitioners and decision-makers. 

Interviewer: You developed tools to evaluate the well-being of students and teachers/professors. Can you tell us more about how well-being is defined in this context? Are students and teachers happy at school? Does well-being on teacher’s side influence students’ well-being? Does well- being differ a lot across schools, or pedagogic trends?
 
Well-being is defined in multiple ways in educational research. We wanted to make a clear conceptual distinction between well-being and other concepts like school climate, motivation or engagement. Consequently, we chose a definition of subjective well-being that is generally accepted in psychology: a multidimensional construct including positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction. Our results consistently show that most students and teachers report mainly positive experiences at school, even though subjective well-being declines among adolescents. These findings suggest that the well-being issue is not particularly about implementation of universal interventions to raise average levels, but about targeting the minority of students and teachers who feel (very) bad at school. From previous studies, we know that between-school variations in well-being are minimal. We also know that there is a small association between teacher’s and students’ well-being at the classroom level. With colleagues from ULiège, we have just started a project to further explore the links between teachers’ and students’ subjective well-being, and school factors related to well-being. 
 
Interviewer: Among the cognitive, social and/or emotional factors, is there one that best predicts well-being and motivation at school? 
 
Among the contextual factors associated with well-being, many studies highlight the importance of social relationships. Like other Belgian research teams, for instance the School Psychology & Development in Context research group (KULeuven), we found that perceived social support is positively associated with student subjective well-being, while peer victimization and conflict with teachers are strongly associated with psychological distress. On the teacher side, social isolation, conflict with colleagues and principal, and students’ misbehaviors are linked to lower well-being and reduced professional engagement. These findings suggest that tackling social rejection and bullying (e.g. by improving classroom management), could contribute to prevent poor well-being at school. Research carried out by our team also points to the role of the structure provided by teachers (clarity of instruction, guidance, constructive feedback, etc.) in motivating and engaging students. 
 
Interviewer: Teenagers faced with difficulties at school are at risk of dropping out. What are the statistics of school dropping out over the last years? Are they stable or versatile, potentially linked with large-scale crises (e.g. COVID pandemic)? 
 
The statistics from Indicateurs de l’enseignement (Federation Wallonie-Bruxelles - FWB) and from StatBel (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels) show a steady reduction in the proportion of young people dropping out of school for over a decade. The latest figures available (2023) do not seem to indicate any clear change in this situation in relation to the COVID pandemic. We'll have to keep an eye on longer-term trends to see if this observation holds true. 
 
Interviewer: Scientific researchers sometimes appear as working from their ivory tower with little to no connection to the reality of the ground. This is not your case as you worked as a high-school teacher and were a member of a school executive board. How did this experience shape the academic professor and scientific researcher you are today?
 
This experience occurred after I had completed my PhD. It convinced me of the usefulness of certain types of research for field practice and strengthened my desire to conduct applied research, in touch with the difficulties encountered in educational settings. The regular exchanges I have with various educational stakeholders (parents, pupils, teachers, policy makers, etc.) are an important source of inspiration for my research projects. The challenge then is to connect these concerns with relevant theoretical frameworks and identify methodological approaches that can provide rigorous answers to the research questions raised. I have the feeling that there is a strong demand from educational stakeholders for this type of applied research, which I see as complementary to more fundamental research. 
 
Interviewer: Your research has direct implications for education. On several occasions, you cooperated with the central administration of the education system in Belgium's French-speaking Community. What impact your research has on educational policies in our country?
 
The path leading from research results to political decisions is probably very complex and uncertain. After my PhD, I noticed that some of our findings had been used in parliamentary debates to oppose a minister's plan to set up boot camps for young people involved in school violence. After 2010, the combination of testimonials from (parents of) victims of bullying and scientific data (notably concerning bullying prevalence) reported in the media might have contributed to an increase in public interest in this issue. The position paper that underpinned the FWB’s recent anti-bullying policy quotes many of our publications. These few examples suggest that there can be bridges between research and policy-making. In my experience, these bridges are facilitated by (a) the choice of research questions with strong societal relevance, (b) the time devoted to disseminating scientific knowledge to the general public (conferences, articles in professional journals, interactions with journalists, etc.), and (c) long-standing collaborations with members of the administration.
 
Interviewer: Where is your field heading to in the future? Are there initiatives that you are particularly excited about, that might shape the development of new practices in the education system?
 
I am enthusiastic about research that seeks to understand how education can help us deal with the multiple crises facing humanity (climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, geopolitical instability, the rise of extremism and conspiracy theories, ...). I believe that the future of our field will depend in part on our ability to demonstrate its relevance and usefulness in these areas. I'm also particularly interested in the development of research on the implementation of interventions (implementation science). We know more and more about how to support young people's well-being, motivation and learning, but we still don't know very well how to get practitioners to act on this knowledge. I think this is an important avenue of research for the future. 


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