Research School Network: Intelligent Adaptation John Rodgers (Cornwall Associate Research School) on when and when not to adapt the active ingredients of an intervention

In ​“Adaptation”, an essay from the book ​“Languages of Truth”, Salman Rushdie describes Darwin’s finches:

Active ingredients of programmes and practices that we may be implementing could be thought of in a similar way. We must ask of our interventions, ​“Wherein does their finch-ness lie? Of what does their essence consist?”

In a useful resource from the EEF exploring the implementation theme of active ingredients, one finds a recommendation to ​“Make thoughtful adaptations only when the active ingredients are securely understood and implemented”.

Much like the different conditions (for example the food sources) on each of the Galápagos Islands drove each species of finch to different local adaptation, there may be scope for local adaptation in school contexts for the flexible elements of a programme or practice. These flexible elements are ​“features or practices within an intervention that are not directly related to the theory and mechanism of change”.

The ​“finch-ness” of the intervention must be securely understood, however. The ​“finch-ness” – the essence of the intervention – is the feature that makes the intervention work, it’s the thing that makes the finch a finch. Once the essence of each active ingredient is securely understood, characterised and implemented, local adaptations might be introduced. Schools may find value in professional flexibility and autonomy, and intelligent adaptation could encourage staff buy-in and ownership. It may enhance the fit between the intervention and the local conditions. The most likely beneficial adaptations are novel additions rather than modifications. These enhance rather than change the essence, the finch-ness of the intervention.