Practitioner Research: A Special
Staff Development Opportunity
1999-2000 Virginia Adult Education Research Network
The Virginia Adult Education Research Network in cooperation with the
Adult Education Service, Virginia Department of Education and the
Virginia Association of Adult and Continuing Education is seeking a
group of sixteen adult literacy education practitioners to take part
in a special staff development opportunity, December 1999 - June 2000.
An overview of practitioner research as staff development
- Practitioner research is a project-oriented approach to staff
development through which practitioners become researchers, learners,
and reformers. Practitioner research provides participants with the
tools and techniques, the structure and the support to carry out a
long term, data based project in their classrooms and programs. In
practitioner research, adult literacy practitioners generate valuable
knowledge for themselves and for the broader field in the form of
brief reports that they write.
- The term "practitioner" is used to denote anyone working in the
field of adult literacy education, i.e., teachers, tutors,
coordinators and administrators. The term "practitioner research" is
used to denote research activities that are conducted by
practitioners. We believe that research is essential to good
professional practice because it enables us to question what is
happening in our classrooms and programs; try out new ideas and
strategies, carefully study the results, and make informed decisions
for taking action in the future.
- Based on the same premises as other forms of participatory learning,
practitioner research staff development focuses directly on the
concerns that participants raise about their own practice.
Participants identify the problem or issue to study, arising from
their own professional experience or concerns. They decide what
questions to investigate and how to conduct their research. They
decide what the appropriate outcomes for the work might be, given the
constraints or demands of their working contexts.
- Practitioner research is a long-term learning process that takes
place over several months within a supportive group and continues when
researchers carry out their investigations. It offers a relatively
high level of support to a relatively small group of participants. In
practitioner research, participants become members of a learning
community, which develops as their work does. Practitioner research
gives participants the opportunity to share their research as it
unfolds, to focus on individual and group issues, and create
strategies for dealing with issues at various stages of the research
work.
Is practitioner research staff development for you?
Practitioner research staff development is hard fun. The work is
rewarding, but it is time consuming. You do not need to have a
designed project in mind when you apply, but you do need the interest
and enthusiasm to carry your project through to completion. The entire
process requires a commitment of months, December to June, for
example.
Practitioner research requires attention to details and deadlines. You
must be fairly well organized and have a relatively high tolerance for
ambiguity. It's important that you enjoy working with others but that
you also work well independently. A willingness to examine one's
beliefs and practices -- in the company of colleagues and in quiet
moments alone -- is crucial to the process.
Practitioner research is for new and experienced educators who want
the opportunity to think critically and talk openly about problems
related to teaching and learning that have been challenging them.
Practitioner research is about being critically reflective and
reflectively critical.
Expectations for participation
Attend four working retreats at the Virginia Diocesan Center at Roslyn
in Richmond, Virginia. The retreats are scheduled:
December 1-2, 1999
January 5-7, 2000
March 30-31, 2000
May 18-20, 2000
Carry out a research project of your own choosing
designed to improve teaching and learning in your classroom or
program.
Use the research skills you learn in the practitioner research group.
Collect information that will help you and others understand the
impact of your project. For example, this information might be
observational records; interviews with students, colleagues, and
others; a researcher's journal; student work, e-mail communications,
and other archived documents.
Share your research project with fellow researchers and other
interested colleagues attending the Virginia Adult Education Research
Network's Colloquy, May 20, 2000.
Prepare a two-page summary of your research covering each phase of the
inquiry process.
Participate in e-mail discussions with group members, December to June
2000.
Support for Participants
The Virginia Adult Education Research Network will provide lodging,
mileage, meals, and materials for four working retreats, December
1999-2000.
An honorarium of $500.00, received when you have completed your
project.
Ronna Spacone and Cassie Drennon will co-facilitate the working
retreats. Ronna and Cassie are experienced facilitators of
practitioner research and both have been adult literacy classroom
teachers and project coordinators. They will provide a variety of
activities designed to help you develop and successfully carry out
your research project.
Continuous support: Ronna will call at least once a month to discuss
your project and e-mail you as necessary. Members of the research
group will maintain contact in between the research meetings through
email.
Resource books: Teachers Investigate their Work: An Introduction to
the Methods of Action Research, The Adult Educator's Guide to
Practitioner research and a notebook filled with a load of relevant
literature and other resources.
What kinds of projects do practitioners work on in a research
group?
The possibilities for your research are unlimited and they are right
in your classroom or program! Take a look at the range of topics
explored by participants in the 1998-1999 Virginia Adult Education
Research Network:
Understanding Learners
- Why They Come: An Exploration into Retention and Motivation in an
Adult ESL Program by Thomas Nowalk, Montgomery County Public Schools,
Blacksburg, Virginia
- Taking a Closer Look at Student Retention by Tina Spencer, Newport
News Public Schools, Newport News, Virginia
- Leveled Children's Literature and the Adult Learner by Marion
Harley, Oak Grove Adult learning Center, Montross, Virginia
- When Learners Write about Work, Family, and Community by Terry McElhone, Literacy Volunteers of America, Louisa County, Virginia
Improving Instruction
- Goal-Setting in the New River Valley: Teachers' Perceptions and
Strategies by Sue Barton, New River Community College Adult Education
Program, Dublin, Virginia
- Guiding Teachers with Student Input by Jane Roy, Arlington Education
and Employment Program, Arlington, Virginia
- Designing Instruction for Incarcerated Men by Beth Rohne,
Haynesville Correctional Facility, Haynesville, Virginia
- Orienting Adults to Program Options Using Small Group Research by
Marti Giese, Adult High School Completion Program, Fairfax, Virginia
- Orientation to Adult High School Programs Using the Discovery Method
of Learning Donna Chambers, Adult High School Completion Program,
Fairfax, Virginia
Linking Literacy and Communities
- "The Client vs. the Student": An Analysis of the Refugee Service
System from the Perspective of an Adult Educator by Stephanie Wood,
Families Transitioning to Work Program, Fairfax, Virginia
- What Happens When ESL Students Experience Authentic Work Situations?
by Patricia Bowyer, Families Transitioning to Work Program, Fairfax,
Virginia
The Virginia Adult Education Research Network supports qualitative
inquiry in classrooms and programs and is funded under section 353 of
the Adult Education Act, Title VI, P. 93-380 through the Adult
Service, Department of Education, Commonwealth of Virginia with
additional funding from the Virginia Association of Adult and
Continuing Education. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily
reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Department of Education,
and no official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education should
be inferred.
Virginia Adult Education Research Network
1999-2000
Application to Participate
Please read all the enclosed materials before completing the
application form below. Type your responses to items 1-3, using
separate paper, and enclose a current resume. Return all materials by
mail or fax to:
Ronna Spacone, Project Coordinator
Virginia Adult Education Research Network
Arlington Education and Employment Program
2801 Clarendon Boulevard, Room 218
Arlington, Virginia 22201-2868
Fax (703) 527-6966
E-mail:
Rspacone@arlington.k12.va.us
Deadline for Applications: October 20, 1999
Name___________________________________________________________________
Address
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Phone _________________________________
Fax______________________________
E-Mail
Address___________________________________________________________
Program Name
___________________________________________________________
Program Director's Name
___________________________________________________
Using a separate sheet of paper, type your responses to the items
below:
1.Briefly describe your current position(s) in adult literacy
education. Include information about your work responsibilities and
the number, type, and setting of your classes.
2.Share with us, generally, why you want to participate in this type
of professional development activity.
3.Describe a problem in your practice that you would like to explore
through a practitioner research project. What evidence do you have
that this is a problem? What do you suspect is causing the problem?
This may be something that has continually challenged, frustrated, or
puzzled you; it may be something related to teaching or learning -- to
you or your students.
4.Please attach a current resume.
If selected, I agree to attend four working retreats on December 1-2,
January 5-7, March 30-31, and May 18-20. I understand that I will be
expected to carry out a data based project in my program or classroom,
participate in e-mail, share my research in the colloquy (May 20) and
write a two page summary of my project once completed (by June 30.)
The Research Network will provide lodging, mileage, meals and
materials for the working retreats plus a stipend of $500.00 when I
have completed my project. Knowing this, I am applying to the Research
Network with the expectation of being an active participant in this
program. My director's signature indicates his or her full support of
my participation.
________________________________________________________________________
Applicant's Signature and Date
________________________________________________________________________
Director's Signature and Date
Questions? Call (703) 228-8024 or toll free (877) 832-2327
Selected applicants will be notified by November 3, 1999
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