|
|
|
Overview of practitioner research as staff development
| Organization of this guide |
Implementing practitioner research as staff development
| Acknowledgements
|
|
Overview of practitioner research as staff development
|
Practitioner research as staff development provides participants with
the structure and the encouragement to systematically conduct inquiry
about their teaching and learning, to reflect on the findings, and to
make changes in their practice or program. It is essential to good
professional practice to question what is happening in classrooms and
programs, to try out new strategies and innovations, and to make
informed decisions for taking action in the future.
Practitioners conduct informal research all the time. They think about
why some instructional activities work better than others, how to
reach certain students, or why some adults learn faster than others.
Practitioner research as staff development formalizes the process.
Based on the same premises as other forms of participatory learning
and staff development, practitioner research focuses on concerns that
participants raise about their own practice. They identify the problem
or issue to study and what questions to investigate in their own
classroom or program. They decide how to conduct their research and
what the appropriate purpose or outcomes might be, given the
constraints or demands of their working contexts.
Practitioner research is a long-term learning process that occurs over
several months within a supportive group and as the practitioners
carry out their individual investigations. Participants become members
of a learning community that develops along with their research
projects. In a practitioner research network, participants have the
opportunity to share their research as it unfolds, to focus on
individual and group concerns, and to create strategies for dealing
with issues at various stages of the research.
In practitioner research, the term practitioner is used to denote
anyone working in adult literacy education, including teachers,
tutors, project coordinators, and program managers. Practitioner
research is for new and experienced educators who want the opportunity
to think critically and to speak openly about problems related to
teaching and learning that have been challenging them.
|
|
Top of page |
|
Organization of This Guide |
Meeting One: Coming Up With A Research Question (two days of
activities)
Session 1. Establishing Ourselves as a Learning Community
Session 2. Introducing Practitioner Research and the Inquiry Process
Session 3. Understanding the Issues for Research
Session 4. Clarifying Ideas about Practice
Session 5. What Makes a Good Research Question?
Session 6. Developing a Question to Guide the Research
Meeting Two: Collecting Research Data (three days of activities)
Session 7. Learning About Data
Session 8. Practice Collecting Data
Session 9. Designing a Whole Research Project
Meeting Three: Analyzing Research Data (two days of activities)
Session 10. Learning About Data Analysis
Session 11. Working With Our Data
Session 12. Our Preliminary Findings
Meeting Four: Making Our Research Knowledge Public (three days of
activities)
Session 13. Writing to Report the Research
Session 14. Telling Our Stories
Session 15. Celebrating Our Accomplishments
At the beginning of every session, the individual activities within it
are listed, along with the objective of each activity and the amount
of time it takes to facilitate. The activities, which are formatted in
a similar manner throughout the guide, are laid out to include:
- Details about what the facilitator does and what the participants do
- Participant handouts and instructions
- Work samples from practitioner research networks
- Information about homework requirements and meeting preparations
- Information about the materials necessary
Explore the
Site Map for a more detailed outline of the four meetings
and fifteen sessions that includes the individual activities, the
participant handouts, and the work samples.
|
|
Top of page |
|
Implementing practitioner research as staff development |
Important Resources
Participant Homework and Meeting
Preparations
Recruiting Practitioner Researchers
Important Resources
More complete information to obtain the following resources is
included in References and
Resources for Practitioner Researchers.
Facilitators must have the following texts in order to implement this
research process:
- Brookfield, S.D. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (Meeting One)
- Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (Meeting Two)
- Brookfield. S.D., & Preskill, S. (1999) Discussion as a Way of
Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (Meeting One)
- Altrichter, H., Posch, P., & Somekh, B. (1993). Teachers
Investigate Their Work: An Introduction to the Methods of Action
Research. London and New York: Routledge. (participant text)
Participants need to each receive a copy of Teachers Investigate
Their Work, which is used in the group activities and to support the
individual research process. Also provide participants with copies of
The Adult Educator's Guide to Practitioner Research, which is
available on the web. Other publications that participants in
Virginia's Research Network found useful include:
- Krueger, R. A. (1998). Developing Questions for Focus Groups.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
- Power, B.M. (1996). Taking Note: Improving Your Observational
Notetaking. York, ME: Stenhouse. and
- Hull, G. (1997). Research
with Words. Cambridge, MA: National Center For the Study of
Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL), Focus on Basics, Volume 1,
Issue A, p. 13-16.
- Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A.M. (1994). Qualitative Data
Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. (2nd ed.) Thousand oaks, CA:
Sage, 1994.
- Hubbard, R.S., & Power, B.M. (1993). The Art of Classroom
Inquiry: A Handbook for Teacher-Researchers. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
The participants in your group will also need to get three-ring
binders (three-four inches wide) to hold all the handouts from
meetings and other papers created in the practitioner research
process.
Top of Page
Participant Homework and Meeting
Preparations
Specific information about homework requirements and meeting
preparations for both participants and facilitators is incorporated in
the meeting agendas. In each meeting's final activity, look for
details about the type and amount of work participants will need to
accomplish before the next meeting.
Homework is a critical feature of this research process. In fact, the
meetings' activities depend on the materials that participants
develop. Therefore, facilitators need to be clear with the group about
expectations for participation and use email to share information and
communicate throughout the project.
For Meeting One only, facilitators must prepare and mail materials to
participants so that they can complete the
pre-meeting assignment.
After that, participants attend the meetings prepared to share
relevant aspects of their research projects. Additional meeting
preparations (belonging primarily to group facilitators) are
delineated in the agendas, from throughout this guide.
Top of Page
Recruiting Practitioner Researchers
Group facilitators and program managers should describe practitioner
research as staff development and what is involved as clearly as
possible, before the project begins. Practitioner research as staff
development has many benefits. On the other hand, it can also present
some challenges. Prospective participants in the Virginia Adult
Education Research Network (1998-2000) received a
recruitment package
with the following topics and information included:
- Is Practitioner Research For You?
- Support for Participants
- Expectations for Participation
- What Kinds of Projects Do Practitioner Researchers Carry Out?
- Participant Application Form
Participants from the 1998-2000 Virginia Adult Education Research
Network reflect on practitioner research as staff development. |
|
Top of Page |
|
Acknowledgements |
The Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center has published
Practitioner Research as Staff Development: A Facilitator's Guide to provide a
training resource for programs and localities using inquiry groups and
research methods in their program improvement efforts. Ronna Spacone,
Coordinator of the 1998-2000 Virginia Adult Education Research
Network, developed this guide.
This guide is based on an approach to facilitating practitioner
research that the Virginia Adult Education Research Network adopted,
1998-2000. During that time, two groups and a total of twenty-five
adult educators carried out research. The process and materials they
used are collected here, making it possible for others to replicate
this comprehensive model of practitioner research staff development.
The Arlington model was developed with methods and materials borrowed
from three other practitioner research networks that were already
established and operating around the same time:
- Georgia Adult Literacy Staff Development Practitioner Inquiry
Project
- Pennsylvania Adult Literacy Practitioner Inquiry Network
- Southeast Practitioner Research Group, National Center for the Study
of Adult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL)
The coordinators/facilitators of these projects contributed generously
to the start-up efforts of the Virginia Adult Education Research
Network. Beth Bingman (NCSALL), Sandy Harrill and Alisa Belzer
(Pennsylvania), and Cassie Drennon (Georgia) shared not only the
materials they had developed but their knowledge and experience as
well -- altogether invaluable guidance and support. Additional thanks
and appreciation go to Cassie Drennon who provided the project with
technical assistance, helped produce the practitioner-authored
research briefs, and co-facilitated the 1999-2000 group.
The Virginia Adult Education Research Network was funded under Section
353 of the Adult Education Act, Title VI, P.L. 93-380 and amendments
through the Adult Education Service, Department of Education,
Commonwealth of Virginia, with additional funding from the Arlington
Public Schools and the Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing
Education.
From 1991-1998, the Research Network was housed at the Dayton Learning
Center supporting practitioner research among adult educators in
Virginia through research grants, professional reading groups, and
publications. Suzanne Cockley, the Research Network's first
coordinator, wrote The Adult Educator's Guide to Practitioner
Research, a practical handbook for first-time researchers published in
1993.
In1998-2000, the Virginia Adult Education Research Network moved to
REEP (the Arlington Education and Employment Program), Arlington
Public Schools. This guide is based on the research process developed
during the two years the Research Network was housed there.
|
|
Top of page |
|
Introduction | Research Meetings and Materials |
References and Resources |
Site Map | Home
|
|
