Teacher Research

1. Teacher Research Carol Bedard, Ph.D. Greater Houston Area Writing Project

2. Teachers Are Knowers(Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) • Research defined • Contributions and Criticisms of teacher research • Components of a research study • Example of a teacher research inquiry • Group Work

3. Teacher Research Defined Teacher research is a distinctive way of knowing about teaching and learning. It involves the careful study of students in educational practice---what and how they learn. The research is personal because it represents not only the search for general principles or theories of school curriculum or classroom instruction but also the search for understanding and improving one’s everyday practice (Zeichner & Noffke, 2001).

4. Teacher Research Contributions Knowledge Generation for: • One’s own practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) • Immediate community of teachers (Feiman-Nemser & Featherston as cited in Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993) • Larger community of educators (Calkins, 1985)

5. Teacher Research Contributions Teacher research adds another dimension to the student/teacher relationship. “Now I need them [students] as much as they need me.” (MacLean and Mohr, 1999, p. 21)

6. Teacher Research Contributions Teacher research creates opportunities for professional development (Goswami & Stillman, 1987). • Research presentations at national, state, and local conferences. • Research presentations at school-district in-service meetings. • Research published in educational journals.

7. Teacher Research Criticisms • Teacher Research adds to a teacher’s workload (Zeichner & Noffke, 2001). • Does teacher research maintain standards for methodological rigor? (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993)

8. How ToConduct Teacher Research • Formulate research question (s) • Conduct a literature review • Establish methodology 1. Research design 2. Instructional context 3. Participants 4. Instrumentation 5. Data collection strategies

9. How-ToConduct Teacher Research • Obtain permission from parents/students/ administration • Collect data • Determine relevant data • Analyze data • Draw conclusions, implications • Draft • Publish/Present results

10. Teacher Research Example The Relationship Between Talk in Peer- Response Groups and Students’ Writing in Fifth-Grade Classrooms Research conducted during the 2003-2004 school-year.

11. The Questions • How can talk in peer group conferences be characterized? 2. Will talk about writing in peer group conferences influence the outcome of the final draft? In other words, in what ways will suggestions given in the conferences be taken into account and acted upon?

12. Literature Review Topics • Teacher Research • The Writing Process Model for Teaching Writing • Genre Development • Classroom Talk • Collaborative Learning

13. Methodology Research Design: Conducted teacher research using sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods. Instructional Context: Writing Workshops in two fifth-grade classrooms.

14. Methodology Participants: 24 fifth-grade students Instrumentation: • Two writing rubrics • Two student surveys

15. Methodology Data Collection Data were collected from a variety of sources including: • field notes of writing workshop activities • audio tapes of peer writing group conferences • video tapes of selected writing workshop activities • student written work from two essays, an informative essay and a narrative essay • student surveys • student interviews.

16. Methodology Determine Relevant Data • Peer Conference Transcriptions • Student Writing • Student Surveys • Fieldnotes Analyze Data Code, chart, reflect

17. Findings • The optimal group had mixed-gender members with similar academic abilities. • Students learned to talk in an exploratory manner (Students supported their ideas with facts and challenged the ideas of others.) • Students learned the importance of each member’s contributions, learned to value differences, and learned to stay on task. • Groups that remained together for the entire year developed positive working relationships and benefited from knowing each group member’s strengths, weaknesses, and operating styles. • Group members expanded their problem-solving skills.

18. Implications for Writing Teachers Student Suggestions: 1. Writing proficiency influences suggestion usage 2. Explicit suggestions are more often incorporated 3. Groups felt they were helped in both informative and narrative essays, but the help was different. 4. Instructional content (mini-lessons) influences the content of the writing conferences.

19. Implications for Writing Teachers Empowerment: • Student voices were heard • Students gained a sense of empowerment—involvement • Through talk students developed a concept of self

20. Implications for Writing Teachers Process: • Peer-group conferences encourage revision • Both criterion based feedback and reader based feedback are useful Learning: • New perspectives were introduced • Conferences provided opportunities to practice exploratory talk, assimilate new and old knowledge, and use higher cognitive functions

21. Implications for Collaborative Learning • Students must be taught how to work in collaborative groups • Each group developed its own personality and operating style • Students gained respect for student knowledge • Encouraged group norms for interaction and behavior • Diminished student indifference

22. Group Work • Brainstorm possible research questions. • Participate in a collaborative activity. • Big group reflection on collaborative activity experience.

23. References Calkins, L.M. (1985). Forming research communities among naturalistic researchers. In B. McClelland & T. Donovan (Eds.). Perspectives on research and scholarship in composition (pp. 125-144). New York: Modern Language Association. Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. (1993). Inside outside: Teacher research and knowledge. New York: Teachers College Press. Dawes,L., Mercer, N., Wegerif, R. (2000). Thinking together: A Programme of activities for developing thinking skills at KS2. Birmingham: The Questions Publishing Co. LTD. Goswami, D. & Stillman, P. (1987). Reclaiming the classroom: Teacher research as an agency for change. Upper Montclair, MJ: Boynton/Cook. MacLean , M.S. % Mohr, M.M. (1999). Teacher researchers at work. Berkeley, CA: National Writing Project. Zechner, K.M. & Noffke, S.E. (2001). Practitioner research. In V. Richardson (Ed.). Handbook of research on teaching. Washington, D.C.: American Educational Research Association.