Friday, 2 June 2017

Week 17

Research, Policy and PracticeEducation is often divided into three key areas, research, policy and practice. In an ideal world all three areas will inform and shape each other. Unfortunately this often is not the case. There has been much written about the lack of connection between research and practice in education (see for example Hargreaves, 1996; Levin, 2004) and the subsequent impact this has on all three areas of education.
What is research?There is much debate surrounding definitions of research and more particularly education research. Here are some useful concepts related to research:
"Educational research is not just a way to come up with new ideas about teaching and learning, but most often it is a way to convince us that the ideas we already have are worth exploring - that they are worth buying into" (Morrell & Carroll, 2010, p.2).
and
"Research is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our understanding of a topic or issue. At a general level, research consists of three steps:
  1. Pose a question.
  2. Collect data to answer the question.
  3. Present an answer to the question." (Creswell, 2011, p.3)
For more information on research in education, including how research projects are designed, you could take a look at the first chapter of Creswell (2011) which you can find in the reference list.
The main things you should take away from this reading are:
  • What research is and the roles that it can play
  • The basic steps in the research process
  • The nature of quantitative and qualitative research
  • Different types of research design in education
How Research can Support Teachers – Evidence Informed PracticeYou may have heard the term evidence-informed practice or evidence-based practice used in relation to schools and education. Evidence-informed practice refers to the ways in which teachers and schools use research evidence, in conjunction with other sources of evidence (such as student data) and their own expertise to make decisions and to support their teaching. It is based on the idea that to be their most effective teachers should engage with research and keep up to date with the latest developments in their curriculum areas and in the discipline of education more generally.
For further reading on evidence-informed practice, read Coe's (1999) short but incisive article, available in this week's media, which makes the point that "The only really sound evidence about what works comes from actually trying it." (p.5)
Choosing a Research TopicThis week you should focus on identifying an area that you would like to research and develop for the Teacher Inquiry project. It is anticipated that you will focus on this topic area for the two main assessments. The list below provides possible areas to focus on. You may select a topic outside of this area, however, we suggest that if you do so you get advice from the postgraduate team about whether it will be suitable for the assessments.
Suggested Topic Areas (with links to the first 16 weeks’ topics)
Note that it is possible that you might want to focus on a specific aspect of one of these topic areas (e.g. for blended learning you might focus specifically on the flipped classroom model or the station rotation model).
How Your Chosen Topic Maps to the Course AssessmentDuring this course, you will:
  • Engage with the research literature to explore your chosen area for the Teacher Inquiry project and what is already known about in the area
  • Analyse how the research literature could help to support and inform the project and your practice
  • Identify ideas, opportunities or gaps within the research literature that you could build upon in the project
  • Use the research literature as a basis to develop and justify an Teacher Inquiry project plan, which engages with your community in addressing the chosen area/topic
  • Demonstrate how you will utilise evidence from your Teacher Inquiry project in your practice and evaluate the potential influence this evidence will have for you and your community.
How to Select Your Topic AreaDecide on the topic area you want to focus on for this course. You may choose a topic from the list or select your own topic. To help you to decide on your topic it might be helpful to think about:
  • a question you have about your practice
  • an issue that you are currently facing
  • an area of your practice that you would like to develop
  • a particular initiative or intervention that you would like to trial in your practice.
Pine (2009) suggests some ways to identify your topic:
conversations with your colleagues; professional literature; examination of your journal entries and teaching portfolio to identify, for example, patterns of teacher/student behavior or anomalies, paradoxes, and unusual situations; dissonance between your teaching intentions and outcomes; problematic learning situations in your classroom that you want to resolve; a new teaching strategy you are eager to implement; an ambiguous and puzzling classroom management concern; or your curiosity about testing a particular theory in the classroom.
Caro-Bruce, Flessner, Klehr & Zeichner (2007) suggest some questions that might help you to identify an area:
  • What would I like to improve?
  • What am I perplexed by?
  • What am I really curious about?
  • What do I think would really make a difference?
  • What is something I would like to change?
  • What would happen to my students’ learning if I did _______?
  • How can I implement _________?
  • How can I improve _______?
Kaupapa Maori ResearchAccording to the Rangahau website, there are 8 key elements or principles of Kaupapa Māori research:
  • Tino Rangatiratanga - The Principle of Self-determination
  • Taonga Tuku Iho - The Principle of Cultural Aspiration
  • Ako Māori - The Principle of Culturally Preferred Pedagogy
  • Kia piki ake i ngā raruraru o te kainga - The Principle of Socio-Economic Mediation
  • Whānau - The Principle of Extended Family Structure
  • Kaupapa - The Principle of Collective Philosophy
  • Te Tiriti o Waitangi - The Principle of the Treaty of Waitangi
  • Ata - The Principle of Growing Respectful Relationships
If you are not already familiar with these concepts, you should take a look at the website and consider how they might be integrated into your literature review and Teacher Inquiry project plan.
ReferencesCaro-Bruce, C., Flessner, R., Klehr, M. & Zeichner, K. (2007). Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.
Coe, R. (1999). Manifesto for Evidence-Based Education. Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University. Retrieved from:http://www.cem.org/attachments/ebe/manifesto-for-ebe.pdf
Creswell, J. (2011). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. London: Pearson. Chapter 1, Retrieved from: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/9780131367395/downloads/Creswell_C01.pdf
Hargreaves, A. (1996). Transforming Knowledge: Blurring the boundaries between research, policy, and practice.Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18(2), 105-122.
Levin, B. (2004). Making Research Matter More. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(56), 1-20. Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/download/211/337
Morrell, D. and Carroll J. B. (2010). Conducting Educational Research A Primer for Teachers and Administrators. Published by: Sense Publishers, P.O. Box 21858, 3001 AW Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Retrieved from: https://www.sensepublishers.com/media/187-conducting-educational-research.pdf
Pine, G. (2009). Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
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