“We define research as a systematic inquiry that includes data collection and analysis. The goal of research is to describe, explain or predict present or future phenomena (Ravid, 2011).”
Prior to starting the Teacher Leadership program, I would describe my understanding of research as basic. Many of the terms one associates when hearing the word “research” were familiar, but not clear in my mind. Defining quantitative versus qualitative data would have been a challenge for me. Explaining how and when to use various research methods, near impossible! I quickly came to the realization that research is messy and is very complex, having many layers. Through my participation in two research-based courses, I have come to understand a great deal about not only implementing action research, but I have also developed skills and strategies for analyzing and “digging into” the myriad of educational research literature that is out there.
In my first of the two courses, Action Research in a School Setting, I spent time learning the stages/steps involved in the process of action research. I came to discover it is a complex process involving finding and refining a focus, articulating and drawing a theory of action, determining research questions, building a data-collection plan, implementing a plan, analyzing the data, turning the findings into action plans, and reporting and sharing the action research (Sagor, R., 2011). For this course, I completed an action research project that investigated how to produce increased engagement and motivation in my students through meaningful, challenging activities that would allow my students to take ownership and pride in their work. Through this process I learned the steps one must take in order to effectively examine and create change when there is a problem within the classroom, or school.
Working to refine my focus was a difficult task. But, I was provided with some helpful strategies from Richard Sagor’s book, The Action Research Guidebook. I found completing a literature review of my focus to be an extremely valuable use of my time. I learned more about what strategies foster a classroom of actively engaged students. I read numerous articles that shared the importance of relating the lessons we teach to our students’ own lives. Dan Ariely shared in his TED Talk that motivation is comprised of many components including meaning, creation, challenge, ownership, identity, and pride (Ariely, D.). So, integrating opportunities for my students to make connections to the learning became a focal point during the implementation of my research project. Another piece of research I found pertinent to my focus was on effective praise as a means to motivate students. Daniel Willingham shared that the teacher should always focus on praising a student’s process and not on his/her ability (Willingham, D.). Not only did effective praise end up being an integral aspect of my project as I investigated whether effective praise and feedback would help my students to become more motivated to produce quality work, but it has been a piece of literature that has continued to stick with me. Through a review of literature I was able to pull specific strategies to help myself along this journey of action research.
Another useful step within the process of action research was determining specific independent and dependent variables. This was an area I struggled with as I, at first, came up with variables that were more of hopeful outcomes to my project, rather than specific variables I could manipulate during the implementation stage. But through the process of working and reworking my graphic reconstruction (map), I was able to more clearly articulate my plan of implementation for my project. My time spent on developing my triangulated data-collection plan based on my three research questions was another part of this process that was challenging but, ultimately, very useful in helping me to achieve my goal. It helped me to get a clearer picture as to what specific strategies I needed to implement and how I would gather data on the effectiveness of those strategies.
When it came to analyzing my data, the “Qualitative Data Analysis Using Bins and Matrixes” section on pages 153-162 of Sagor’s text helped me to effectively sift through my data to draw some tentative conclusions about my research.
From my Action Research Project, I determined how to more effectively engage my students during lessons. After three weeks of implementing my strategies, more of my students became engaged in the learning process, participating more regularly and improving their quality of work. Through the examination of my data, I noticed a strong correlation between those students who perceive in themselves an increased level of engagement and an improvement in their work quality. Because of the positive results I observed, I will continue to employ such strategies as providing students with time to discuss the relevancy and importance of our lesson objectives to their daily lives. I will continue to develop lessons that incorporate specific engagement strategies such as the infusion of drama and technology. I will continue to take time each day to talk with students individually, providing specific praise and feedback while they work.
Following this course, I had the opportunity to participate in a different type of research class called Applying Research in School Settings. Through this class, I was introduced to a process for critically analyzing others’ research, examining both primary and secondary sources for the purpose of determining what learning can be drawn from what the researcher(s) discovered during their inquiry.
One of the most valuable things I learned during this course was the importance of being a skeptical consumer of information. As teachers, we are bombarded with so much literature and often that literature is touted as “the next big thing”. It can be difficult to determine if what we’re reading is truly accurate, valid and worth trying in our own classrooms. Through my time spent in this course, I not only learned an in-depth process for critiquing both secondary and primary sources; I learned to be a skeptical, critical consumer of information. My Primary Source Article Critique is evidence of that learning.
For me, this course was powerful because I left feeling more capable of making informed decisions. I am more confident that I will make sound decisions about what literature to accept and what literature to ignore. As I continue on my path as an educator, I hope to take the skills and strategies I’ve learned during these two research courses and use them to help coach and mentor teachers new to the profession.
As brilliantly articulated by a new teacher support coach in my school district, “Research, as in that done by others, influences me greatly. Coaching and mentoring is not about me sharing what I did in the classroom so much as it is me staying current with research and sharing this information with my new teachers. While they are typically recent grads from teaching programs, there are just so many things to consider when beginning a teaching position. As a coach and mentor, I have the luxury of being able to see things from an outside perspective and can offer guidance in areas as needed. Teachers usually don’t have time to comb through the research, so that’s where I come in (L.A. Jackson, personal communication, January 2015).” The skills I have developed through my two courses focusing on research have enabled me to take that next step towards my goal of becoming an effective mentor and coach.
References:
Ariely, Dan. Dan Ariely: What Makes Us Feel Good about Our Work? Lecture. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading. Apr. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. <http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work.html>.
Ravid, R. (2011). Practical Statistics for Educators (4th Edition). Landham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Sagor, R. (2011). The Action Research Guidebook (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Willingham, D. How Praise Can Motivate—or Stifle. American Federation of Teachers. AFL-CIO, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. <http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/winter0506/willingham.cfm>.
Adventures in Teacher Leadership 