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Teacher as an Action Researcher #swayamprabha — Transcript

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0:05[music]
0:20Hello and welcome
0:23in today's session of your course
0:25learning and teaching.
0:28Today I'm going to discuss about a very
0:30important topic that is action research.
0:35Actually sometimes it has been believed
0:38or you can say it is a misconception
0:41that research is something which is not
0:43a work of every teacher.
0:49But
0:50the reality is
0:53the teacher faces a lot of problems in
0:57day-to-day classroom transactions
1:01and many times they are not able to get
1:03appropriate solution of his of their
1:06problem.
1:08So what they do
1:11they try to find out the probable
1:14solutions either they discuss with the
1:16peers the fellow teachers or they try to
1:19read the literature or the research
1:21journals available with them or they try
1:24to think some innovative ways some ideas
1:27and they try to implement and experiment
1:30it
1:32don't you think they are not doing
1:33research
1:35they are also doing research and They
1:38are doing research being in the action
1:42being in the classroom
1:44along with teaching learning they are
1:47researching to find out the solution of
1:49their problem.
1:51So this is called action research. I am
1:55Dr. Gorav Singh from school of education
1:57IGNU and today I'm going to talk about
2:01the basic types of action research and
2:04basic fundamental ideas and concepts
2:07involved in action research.
2:11You know history of action research is
2:14very old. The term was coined by Colt
2:17Cleven in 1940s.
2:20But in the field of education,
2:24it was a Stephen Corey
2:26who did some experiments or who used the
2:31principles and the steps of action
2:33research in the field of education
2:36because earlier action research was
2:39being used in defense especially during
2:43the World War II.
2:46Many
2:48army officers
2:50of European countries have done action
2:54research to find out the problem to find
2:57out the solution of the problem which
3:00they have faced in the battlefield
3:02immediate. So from there this term has
3:05emerged because when the researcher is
3:07in action whether the researcher is an
3:10army officer or a teacher
3:12our army officer an army officer is in
3:15battlefield a teacher is in the class
3:19they face the problems
3:22new problems the problems about which
3:25they have never thought of. So what they
3:28do they try to find out the solution of
3:31such problems and when they try to find
3:34out the solution of such problems they
3:37do action research.
3:41If you classify the types of the action
3:44research, you can classify it in many
3:46ways. But if you see the terminology
3:50which is being used as a replacement or
3:53synonymous of action research, you will
3:55find that many people call it
3:58practitioner research. Many people call
4:01it teacher research. Many people call it
4:04sitebased research and some call it
4:07action science. How action research is
4:10practitioners research?
4:12Because in this like the fundamental
4:16researches
4:17the core researchers conduct the
4:20research but in action research the
4:24action researcher is a practitioner.
4:26For example, in educational settings, if
4:29action research is to be carried out, it
4:32can be carried out by a teacher, by a
4:35principal, by any school administrator,
4:39by any district education officer. It
4:42depends that up to what extent the
4:45problem is and at what level they want
4:47to find out the solution.
4:50The practitioner can be solo, the
4:52practitioner can be in groups. So
4:55practitioner means the teachers when
4:57conduct the research
4:59this research become teachers research
5:03and you know the research is not being
5:05done uh in terms of the action research
5:07is not being done in the artificial
5:09settings of a laboratory or somewhere
5:12else. Action researches are being done
5:16in the naturalistic and realistic
5:19settings.
5:20If the problem is in the school,
5:23the experiment will be conducted in the
5:25school. The solution will emerge within
5:28the school. So school is the site of the
5:32research.
5:34If the problem is emerging in a
5:36classroom, the classroom will be the
5:38site of the research. If a problem is
5:41related to all the schools of a district
5:43of a particular area, so all the schools
5:46of that particular area will be the site
5:48of the research. So that's why action
5:50research is also known as sitebased
5:53research
5:54and because it follows the step of
5:57scientific methods it is very systematic
6:00and it is being done during the action
6:03that's why some people call it action
6:07science.
6:08So what action research is in order to
6:12define action research many
6:14practitioners tried to define it in
6:17different ways.
6:18I'm going to talk about few important
6:21definitions of action research and first
6:24such definition was given by Watts in
6:271985.
6:29What is in the definition? The
6:31definition is saying that action
6:33research is a process in which
6:36participants examine their educational
6:38practices systematically and carefully
6:42using the techniques of the research. So
6:45if any educational practice, any
6:47educational problem is being studied
6:49systematically and carefully using the
6:52steps in techniques of fundamental
6:54research. There are many types of
6:56fundamental researchers. There are many
6:58methods, many techniques of the
6:59researchers. So if we apply those
7:01techniques, those methods, those steps
7:05to solve the classroom problem, the
7:07practical problem during our educational
7:10practices, we are conducting an action
7:14research.
7:17What are the assumptions of action
7:18research? You know, uh many people think
7:22that action research is different from
7:25fundamental research in many ways. So
7:28there are some common assumptions, some
7:30basic assumptions which are related to
7:32the action research and one such
7:34assumption is that the problem is
7:37identified by the teacher or principles
7:40who work on the problem themselves.
7:44You know in fundamental researches
7:46generally problem emerges somewhere else
7:50and it has been given to some
7:51researchers and they start working on
7:54that.
7:56in medical research if any disease is
8:00emerging somewhere. So researchers from
8:02different uh
8:05medical science institutions,
8:10researchers from different pharmacy
8:12companies. They have started researches
8:14research about that disease its probable
8:18causes possible solutions medicines
8:22which can be used medicines which need
8:25to be developed. So what is this that
8:28problem has emerged somewhere else not
8:30in that institution or not in that uh
8:33pharmacy lab but they are started
8:36working on that but it is not the case
8:38of action research. The problem is faced
8:41by the researcher means the teacher or
8:43the principal. The problem emerges
8:46within the system means in the classroom
8:48or in the school and those who face the
8:52problem the same set of people work to
8:56solve the problem.
8:58So the problem is identified the
9:00teachers or the principles as well as
9:03they work to solve the problem
9:06themselves. So this is the first
9:08assumption of action research.
9:11The next assumption of action research
9:13is that working on their own to improve
9:16the practices and solving problems
9:19through examination and assessing their
9:21own work make teachers more effective.
9:26This is again a very important
9:28assumption of action research. Actually
9:30when a teacher identifies the problem in
9:34his or her practices
9:37and he or she himself
9:40himself try to solve the problem by
9:43examining the problem by identifying its
9:46root root causes. What will be the
9:49problem solution? What will be the
9:51possible solutions? How these solutions
9:54will work? Then he or she himself or
9:57herself implement the solution.
10:00saw its outcomes,
10:03its result and he or she generalize it
10:08then action research become a complete
10:11action research. So when a teacher is
10:14involved in all these processes and all
10:16these steps his or her effectiveness
10:19automatically improves.
10:22So this is a very good assumption of
10:24action research.
10:26The third assumption of action research
10:28is that if teachers and principal work
10:32collaboratively,
10:34they find better solution.
10:37This assumption advocates collaborative
10:40thinking, collaborative working to find
10:43out the solution of an educational
10:45problem. The problem may be identified
10:48by a particular teacher but if more than
10:51one brain works on the same problem
10:56the solution is always good and better.
11:00So if more than one teachers are
11:02involved if teacher and principal both
11:04are involved
11:06you will get a better solution of your
11:09problem. So that's why this assumption
11:11is saying that teacher and principal
11:13should work collaboratively to find out
11:16the solution of the problem.
11:19The next assumption is that action
11:22research helps teachers
11:26and principles in their professional
11:29development if colleagues works
11:31together. Here professional development
11:34is not to earn any certificate or to
11:37earn any credit or professional
11:40development for some incentive.
11:42Here the professional development is
11:46your own development for the betterment
11:49of your profession for the betterment of
11:52your position your expertise in your
11:54profession
11:56to make you a better professional.
11:59So this assumption says that if teachers
12:02work collaboratively, they work together
12:05with their colleagues on a particular
12:07problem or on a particular solution,
12:10they improve, they learn from each
12:12other, they share views of each other.
12:15They contradict to each other. They
12:18learn how to accept others ideas.
12:21They generate their own ideas with the
12:24help of other ideas. Many ideas work
12:27together. If you are missing a
12:29particular point, your colleague may
12:31point out that particular point. So it
12:33improves your practice. So it means that
12:36you professionally grow if you do action
12:39research with your fellow teachers or
12:42with your colleagues.
12:45Now the question is that if all this is
12:48action research, what is not action
12:51research? You know if you think okay I
12:55want to conduct an action research what
12:57are the common topics on which action
12:59research can be conducted. There are
13:01very famous topics. There can be very
13:04famous you know reports articles
13:07research papers on some action research.
13:11You identified okay I'm interested in
13:13homework so let me do an action research
13:15on homework. No it is not an action
13:17research. Action research never emerges
13:21from your interest.
13:23The topic of your interest cannot be
13:26topic of the action research
13:28because topic of the action research
13:31emerges from the problems which you face
13:34actually in your classroom. So if you
13:37are facing a problem related to homework
13:39in your classroom and for which you are
13:41not able to find a solution by
13:43discussing with your colleagues or there
13:44is no solution available in the teacher
13:46training manuals or the manuals which
13:48have been given to you
13:51then you try to find out the solution
13:53through an action research but that
13:57action research is driven by the actual
14:00problem which you are facing in the
14:01classroom not on the basis of only your
14:04interest
14:07then
14:10sometimes uh it is not an inquiry to
14:12find out what is happening and why it is
14:15happening wrong
14:17that is not action research.
14:19If you are facing some problem and if
14:21you try to find out the reasons of this
14:23problem, it is not action research
14:27until or unless you are not trying to
14:29find out the solution of the problem as
14:33well as you are not implementing the
14:35solution and find out its outcomes or
14:38its impact or effect or effectiveness as
14:41a solution of your problem. So action
14:44research never ends with the
14:48reasons that why something is happening
14:50wrong rather how that wrong can be made
14:56right.
14:58What are the methods which you can adopt
15:01and you adopt those methods you apply
15:03those methods and you come out with a
15:07possible acceptable viable solution of
15:11the problem that is action research. So
15:14action research focuses on how to
15:16improve not what is wrong.
15:22Action research is never people
15:25oriented.
15:27I want to conduct an action research on
15:29class five students. No, if there is no
15:32problem on class 5 students, you cannot
15:34do any action research on them.
15:37I want to conduct an action research on
15:39a visually impaired child. If there is
15:41no visually impaired child in your class
15:43and he or she is not facing a problem
15:45which is
15:47qualifying to become an action research
15:50problem, you cannot conduct an action
15:52research.
15:53It means action research is never people
15:56oriented. Action research is always
15:59problem oriented. The problem which you
16:03are facing in your class for which you
16:05are not able to get any possible viable
16:08and applicable solution from the
16:10literature from the peers from the
16:11experiences and from your teacher
16:14training manuals. For that you conduct
16:17action research. So believe me action
16:20research is not driven by your interest.
16:22It is not only the uh reason oriented
16:26and it is always problem oriented not
16:29the people oriented.
16:32So
16:35when we think what is action research
16:38and what is not
16:41remember that in action research you
16:44never study your learners rather you
16:48study the problem of learners.
16:52Learners are never the subject of the
16:54study in our action research. If the
16:57students are not doing the homework, so
17:00why homework is not being done and that
17:03is the problem of the study not the
17:06students who are not doing homework.
17:09So students or the learners are not our
17:14uh focus of study. The problem which
17:17they are facing,
17:18the problem which we are facing in the
17:20classroom is our focus of research.
17:25Our intention is never to know why to do
17:29certain things rather to make things
17:32better. So we cannot give any
17:34hypothetical solutions. Okay, there is a
17:36problem let us do there are four pipe
17:39solutions you can adopt any one. No, it
17:42is not a suggestive thing. This should
17:45be done is never the subject of an
17:47action research.
17:49You need to do that. You need to see its
17:52impact, its effect and then you need to
17:58work to make things better. Only then
18:02you are doing a good action research
18:06because in action research the focus
18:09always remain on improving instructions
18:13to facilitate
18:15learning.
18:18Basically action research promotes three
18:21things. Collaborative learning,
18:25reflection
18:26and dialogue.
18:29How action research promotes
18:31collaborative learning or collaborative
18:34inquiry?
18:35Because when you examine any problem,
18:38when you study any problem which you are
18:41facing in your class, you also discuss
18:43with it your colleagues that are they
18:46also facing the similar problem.
18:50Sometimes the problem the focus of the
18:54problem is the scope of the problem is
18:56not your classroom but your whole school
19:00across the classrooms. Sometimes you
19:02face such problems. So when there are
19:05problems either in your class or this
19:08others class of your colleagues or it is
19:11of your school you discuss about it with
19:15your colleagues
19:16fellow teachers principal and sometime
19:20even the administrator of your school.
19:22So what you do you collaboratively
19:25inquire about the reason you do a
19:29collaborative investigation actually to
19:31find out the solution which are school
19:34related issues. So that's why action
19:36research is a kind of collaborative
19:39inquiry.
19:41Action research is also a reflection or
19:43refractive practice. How it is? Actually
19:47when you face any problem in your class
19:50you start reflecting and thinking that
19:52why this problem is emerging.
19:56You try to reflect on your practices
19:58that is there something wrong with my
20:00practice with my method with my tool
20:03with my teaching learning with my uh uh
20:07learning aid which I'm using. So
20:12a teacher who is an action researcher
20:16always reflects on his or her own
20:19practices
20:21that how these practices are performing
20:24in the classroom. Is there any need to
20:26improvement in my practices? Is there
20:29need to improvement in any teaching
20:31method? Is there any need for
20:33improvement in any you know material
20:36which you are using to support the
20:38teaching learning or to facilitate the
20:39teaching learning or is there any change
20:43required in the assessment technique
20:46what is
20:48going on in your classroom practices. So
20:50actual researcher always keep on
20:53reflecting on his or her classroom
20:57practices.
20:59And when you reflect, when you discuss,
21:02you basically dialogue.
21:05You discuss the issues with other
21:07teacher colleagues, you discuss the
21:10issues with your principles and
21:11administrators,
21:13you discuss with the school system,
21:16within the school system, with your
21:18management
21:20and sometimes you discuss with the
21:21parents, even with the learners.
21:25So action research basically create a
21:28situation of a dialogue about the issues
21:31which are being faced in your school.
21:33The dialogue can be with the teacher,
21:35the dialogue can be with the parents,
21:36the dialogue can be with the principal,
21:38the dialogue can be with the school
21:40administration, the dialogue can be with
21:41anyone but there is a continuous
21:43dialogue which is very important.
21:48If we try to classify the action
21:50research, you will find a lot of
21:51classifications of the action research.
21:53But uh I'm going to discuss in brief
21:56about only three types of action
21:58researches that is individual teacher
22:01research, collaborative action research
22:03and a schoolwide action research and
22:05this classification was given by Amaly
22:08Kolhan in 1993.
22:11So according to him what is a individual
22:14teacher research
22:17especially the
22:19problem or the issue which is being
22:22faced by a teacher in his or her
22:25classroom only
22:28which is not across the classrooms which
22:30is not across the school. Sometimes it
22:34can be related to a particular teacher
22:36only even not with the whole school or
22:40whole class.
22:41Means with other teachers the student
22:43are comfortable but with one teachers
22:46that that teacher is facing a lot of
22:48problem can be in the methodology can be
22:51in the classroom management can be in
22:52the homework can be in the bullying can
22:56be in any area. So sometimes if the
22:59problem is related to a particular
23:01classroom or a particular teacher
23:04then if teacher is doing an action
23:06research that is called individual
23:08teacher research where a teacher need to
23:12be engaged as an individual researcher.
23:17You may find some support from your
23:19colleagues, you may not have support
23:21from your colleagues. It doesn't matter.
23:24But it is always suggested that even if
23:27you are conducting an action research as
23:29an individual, you take support from any
23:33knowledgeable educator.
23:36You can seek support from any external
23:39resource. Also you can discuss with the
23:42researchers, educators, teacher
23:44educators, the people who are working in
23:46teacher education and researching in
23:47teacher education or in psychology or
23:50the area which is associated with your
23:52problem.
23:54So it doesn't mean that if you are doing
23:56any individual teacher research you will
23:58do everything on your own and you are
24:00not required and you are not allowed to
24:03discuss with others. You are required
24:06you require to discuss with others but
24:08the whole planning and action and
24:12working is being done by your own only
24:16by you.
24:18Then comes the collaborative action
24:20research.
24:22If the problem which you are going to do
24:25to take in your action research is not
24:28in one classroom, it is more than one
24:30classroom or more than one teacher are
24:33facing the same problem. Then it
24:36requires the involvements of more
24:38teachers
24:40sometimes administrator also.
24:43So such researches involve more
24:46collaboration
24:47where teacher and administrators
24:50work together.
24:52So it promotes basically a joint effort
24:55in a specific area of study
24:58where you find different opportunities
25:00to share and dialogue with your
25:02colleagues. You know there are many
25:04issues which are being researched and
25:07which are of very common concern.
25:11So in collaborative action research more
25:14than one mind work together. The other
25:18mind can be of your colleague can be of
25:20a principal or any other administrator.
25:25Then comes the schoolwide action
25:26research. Actually when we talk about
25:29the schoolwide action research
25:33every faculty member of the school is
25:36involved in studying a specific issue
25:40identified from the school-based data.
25:43So sometimes you identify a problem
25:45which is a school bite
25:48means
25:51you need to solve it with the help of
25:54your colleagues with the help of your
25:58principal
26:00because the problem is
26:03being faced by all the classrooms or by
26:05most of the classes
26:08by most of the grades. So you require a
26:11lot of support, infrastructural support,
26:15data management support, data collection
26:18support, experimentation support from
26:21the administration as well as with your
26:22teachers. So you need the involvement of
26:25your whole school or many people of the
26:28school of different label are involved
26:30in such researches because the result
26:32can lead to a schoolwide change later
26:34on. So such researches are known as
26:37schoolwide action researches. These are
26:39basically directly related with your
26:41school improvement plan and such
26:44researchers deal with various issues
26:46which are related to school improvement.
26:50Sometimes you may find that there is a
26:52issue which is not directly related to
26:54the school but it has a strong impact on
26:57the
26:59school improvement. So it can be an
27:02improve school improvement indicator
27:04too. Let us see certain examples.
27:07For example, time management is skill.
27:10So if a teacher is facing a problem
27:13to manage the time within the classroom,
27:16he or she is not able to finish the
27:18whole class within the given time period
27:20or if he or she is not able to you know
27:23distribute the task in the whole class
27:26and if you do so if he do so or she do
27:29so then uh
27:32they are not able to manage the time. So
27:34that can be a class related problem or a
27:36particular teacher related problem. So
27:38that can be an example of a teacher
27:40centric or teacher uh single teacher
27:42level action research
27:45if you want to study the implement of
27:47peer tutoring for an effective method to
27:49reach out each learner in large
27:50classroom. So because you are going to
27:53uh study about the effect of peer
27:55tutoring you need peers.
27:58So it can be an example of collaborative
28:02action research.
28:04If you want to implement a positive
28:06behavior support program in your school,
28:09then you may require a schoolwide action
28:11research to see its effectiveness for
28:13improving the learner's safety.
28:17Let us compare all the three researches
28:19in brief. What is the focus in
28:23individual teacher research? the focus
28:26is single classroom issue. Whereas in
28:28collaborative action research, the focus
28:31can be single classroom with more than
28:33one teacher or can be several classrooms
28:36facing the common issue. So more than
28:37one teacher or teacher and principal are
28:39involved. But a schoolwide action
28:41research the focus is always a school
28:43issue. The problem or the area which is
28:46of collective interest. So what kind of
28:50support is required for individual
28:52teacher research? You just require a
28:54mentor or a coach or a person who is
28:55more knowledgeable who has the idea of
28:57the area where you are working. You just
28:59need to assess the technology and some
29:02assistance for the data organization and
29:03analysis.
29:05But if you are doing collaborative
29:06research more than two teachers are
29:08involved then sometimes you require a
29:10colleague to help you the time which is
29:13your time as a substitute. So you
29:15require sometimes substitute teachers.
29:17You require some release time where you
29:19can think about the research and work
29:20about the research with your uh
29:22collaborators. So you need a close link
29:25with your administrator for a schoolwide
29:27research. School commitment is very
29:29important. School leadership should be
29:31very positive. There should be
29:32continuous communication between the
29:34researchers between the all participants
29:37of the researchers and sometimes you may
29:39require some external participants.
29:42The potential impact of a teacher
29:44centric action research can be on
29:46curriculum, on instruction or on
29:47assessment. But a collaborative research
29:50may bring the changes in the curriculum,
29:52instruction and assessments along with
29:54the policy. But a schoolwide action
29:56research has a potential impact on the
29:58school restructuring, change in policy,
30:01parent involvement or sometimes
30:03evaluation of the program.
30:06There are certain side effects also
30:08which are possible.
30:10If a teacher continuously doing action
30:12research for each and every problem he
30:13or she is facing, then his or her
30:15practices are basically more dependent
30:18on the data information.
30:21And in action research, the data which
30:23is being shared with you sometimes it is
30:26not correct. So if there is some problem
30:28in the data, your outcome of the
30:30research will also be equally affected.
30:34uh there are two positive
30:37of collaborative research that it
30:39improve the collegiality as well as the
30:42formation of partnership takes place in
30:44the school. So positive effects are not
30:47always negative, they are positive also.
30:50In schoolwide action research, not only
30:52it improves the collegiality but the
30:54collaboration but also the
30:56communication, team building and people
30:58also know that how to share our
31:01disagreements and how to learn to be
31:04agree being disagree. So many such type
31:07of skills are being developed with such
31:08researches.
31:11So dear teachers with this I must say
31:15that if you want to improve your
31:17teaching learning practices.
31:20If you want to find out the solution of
31:22the problems which you are facing in
31:24your classroom and you are not getting
31:25any idea from any other.
31:28Let us plan an action research.
31:31In coming sessions I will talk about how
31:33to plan an action research. But let us
31:36place that to find out the solutions.
31:38Let us plan for an action research. Let
31:40us do action research. It will help to
31:43improve our practices. It will bring
31:46some professional development in ourself
31:48and make our learners well-informed
31:51learners. Thank you very much.
32:00[music]

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