research and academic working methods - 2

summary of the second class 13.03.2013

- research in primary education - connection Malaysia -

 

The role of research in primary education:

analysing a research report in groups

a) Please read: Jonathan Snell: Improving teacher-Student Interaction in the EFL Classroom: An Action Research Report. (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Snell-Interaction.html

 

 

b) Please explain the concepts “research style” and “research report"

Research report is an example for an research; research style is the way how you do the research (the method)
 

c) How is action research defined in the text and by Judith Bell?
Definition in the Text:
Teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase the teacher's understanding of classroom teaching and learning and to bring about improvements in classroom practices. Action research typically involves small-scale investigate projects in the teacher's own classrooms. This usually includes, having an observer collect data, and together with the teacher develop a plan to bring about the desired change, act on the plan, and then observe the effects of the plan in the classroom.

Definition of Judith Bell:
Action Research is an approach which is appropriate in any context, when specific knowledge is required for a spec problem or in a spec situation, or when a new approach is to be crafted onto an existing system. It is applied research, carried out by practitioners who have themselves identified a need for change or improvement, sometimes with support from outside the institution; other times not.
 

d) Why can problem identification be difficult?
Because normaly everybody has to interpret what he sees. You have to find out why the pupils for example do not answer. You have to find out if the problem is, that they did not understand or that  they do not want to talk to the teacher or the difference of cultures is the problem but you have to identify that there is a problem.

It is so difficult to find out, that there is a problem because the teacher could not teach and observe at the same time. Most of the time teachers concentrate on the subject and on what they want to teach and do not recognize any problem. The teacher is just in the situation and he has no overview and in that way he would have to observe himself too. He is concerned about a specific topic and so he cannot concentrate on the problem. He has a focus on f. e. learning them grammar.
An outstanding person can identify the problem easier.
 

e) Observation, why ask another person to do the observation in the classroom? Could the teacher do the observation himself?
Because so the other person can concentrate on observing and you can concentrate on teaching. It would be good to get another point of view and another opinion about the situation in class. Maybe the person cannot see the problem you see but another one.

Observation is so difficult, because you easily interpret what you see. You should not interpret because you only have to observe and then find something out. You have to focus on a specific part of situation but not on everything you can see.
 

f) Differences in culture create differences in student and teacher expectations; please suggest alternatives and more ways to improve the situation in the class.
Learn about the different cultures and get some information about these cultures. So that you can understand how they learn what they expect from a teacher.

 

g) How would you plan the intervention and collect the data, please include Bell p.6-8 in the discussions.
Because the activity of action research almost inevitably affects others, it is important to have a clear idea of when and where the action research necessarily steps outside the bounds of collecting information which is purely personal and relating to the practitioners alone. Where it does so, the usual standard of ethics must be observed: permissions obtained, confidentiality maintained, identities protected.
Of equal or perhaps even greater importance is that before the research begins, everyone involved must know why the investigation is to take place, who will see the final report, and who will have responsibility for implementing any recommended changes.
Evidence has to be collected systematically, the relationship between variables studied (a variable being a characteristic or attribute) and the investigation methodically planned. Though observation and interviews are most frequently used, no method is excluded.

 

Globalization and research: Connection Malaysia

Definition of a vision: A picture of a preferred future, a description of how something will look like in 25 years. It is a dynamic picture of the future. It is more than dreams or hope; it is a kind of obligation(Pflicht). The vision provides the framework (system) to create and manage the changes that are necessary to achieve the goals.

 

My vision about my own class in 25 years I am a teacher in a primary school in a small town in Austria. Today it is the 15th of June 2038. In the last 25 years the educational system has changed very fast and in many different ways. You can see an obvious change, if you look at the technology that is used in class but also if you have a look at the organization of the school system. These changes of the educational system took place because of the drastic changes in society. Values of people have changed and everybody thinks that education and going to school for social reasons is the most important thing in a child´s live. Nobody wants his/her child to not go to school, because it can only achieve something with the right education. There are no private schools anymore, because every child should have the right to go to a good school, even without much money and without having everyone looking on their social or socio economical background. Everybody has the chance to get the education he needs and to improve in some ways. Today I just woke up at 7am to get dressed and to make me up. I am now 45 years old and live in a big house with my husband and our two children. After having breakfast and chatting with my partner, I am going to the bathroom and get dressed. I wear a school uniform, because not only the pupils but also the teachers have to wear uniforms. This is better for society, because so everybody is equal and will not be treated different because of his/her cloths or his social status. Another point why the decision for school uniforms had been made was that parents do not have to spend too much money on cloths for their pupils. It is a cheap offer and every school has the same uniform, so that there cannot arise any power struggle between different schools. After I have put on my cloths I am making me up, but only in a decent way, because teachers should be a positive example to the children in all ways. We should look natural. At 8:30am I am going to school with my hybrid car, which had been loading the whole night, so that I can drive to school today. It takes me 30 minutes to get to school. At 8:00am I am there and prepare everything for class. I teach one class with two other teachers, because there are so many different pupils to be taught. Everybody has the right to be treated in the right way especially because everyone in some ways has special needs. There are handicapped, highly gifted and all other pupils in one class. 25 years ago it started that pupils from different ages are taught in one class. This system is now generally accepted and children from 5 to 9 are now taught in one room at the same time. In the other classes there are pupils from 9 to 13 years. The great advantage of it is that pupils learn from pupils and help each other. It is a great thing in the social part of education but also in the specific subjects. School starts at 9:30 and every pupil is at school 15 minutes before class starts. They prepare their laptops and other technological resources. There are only eBooks, which the children can read. All things that can be done in reality are tried to be done in this way. For example the topic “tools” is taught in a very practical way, so that every child has the chance to use one of these tools on his own. In my class there are only 15 pupils, because there are so many different persons and characters. With my two colleagues I try my best to achieve everyone´s needs. When I started to teach I had to teach every subject but now things have changed and every teacher specialized on two favorite subjects. Through this change the status of teachers has increased highly and so now being a teacher is a highly regarded profession. Every teacher likes the subject he/she teaches and so pupils can really profit. I am finished at 5:30pm, because the children go home at 5pm. There aren´t classes the whole day, but there are different activities and some free time for the children. So my working day lasts longer than 25 years ago, but I can profit from it. I can correct texts and everything at school and so, when I come home I do not really have anything to do for school anymore.

   To my opinion the educational system has changed in a very positive way!