1. Teacher Action Research A Model for Professional Development Sylwia Bielec October 14th, 2011 © Todd Berman - Creative Commons license

2. Plan for the Day ✤ Exploring Action Research ✤ My Research Question ✤ Planning ✤ Resources available to you

3. What is Action Research? Think, Pair, Share

4. © Todd Berman - Creative Commons license

5. Action Research is... Asking questions Reflecting Taking action, doing something Trying something new and seeing how it works Following something over time Having a plan Changing things if they don’t work

6. “ Action Research is the systematic study of attempts to improve educational practice by groups of participants...

7. ... by means of their own practical actions and by means of their own reflection upon the effects of those actions. ” (Ebbutt, 1985)

8. “ Action Research is a fancy way of saying: let ’ s study what ’ s happening in our [classroom] and decide how to make it a better place. ” (Calhoun, 1994)

9. Why Action Research? ✤ Develops a problem-solving ethos (Sirotnik, 1987; Joyce, 1991) ✤ Encourages the emergence of reflective practitioners ✤ Allows progress to be made on school wide priorities ✤ Builds a professional culture in the educational arena. (Sagor, 2000)

10. Creative Commons license - http://www.flickr.com/photos/xadrian/http://www.flickr.com/photos/xadrian/

11. Question What is my concern in my practice?

12. Question What is my concern in my practice? Plan What am I going to do about it? Act Implement the change or action that you planned Observe & Collect How do I find out if I made a difference? What evidence can I gather to help me decide how it is going, what happened? Reflect So what? What next? Should I share this information?

13. Question What is my concern in my practice? Plan What am I going to do about it? Act Implement the change or action that you planned Observe & Collect How do I find out if I made a difference? What evidence can I gather to help me decide how it is going, what happened? Reflect So what? What next? Should I share this information?

14. Action Research Spiral - Kemmis (1983)

15. How do I decide on a focus? ✤ A problem from your classroom ✤ A puzzle or dilemma about the learning of a particular student or group of students ✤ A question you have about your teaching ✤ A situation that has arisen in your classroom ✤ How to develop and support particular learning qualities (Rigsby, 2005)

16. How do I define the problem? (Rigsby, 2005) Teacher’s First Question or Puzzle Action Research Version Version with Hypothesis and Strategy

17. How do I define the problem? (Rigsby, 2005) Teacher’s First Question or Puzzle Action Research Version Version with Hypothesis and Strategy How am I going to cope with the wide spread of literacy levels in my classroom? What can I do to help my struggling students learn to read? What happens when I give my struggling students materials that are appropriate to their level AND interests?

18. How do I define the problem? Teacher’s First Question or Puzzle Action Research Version Version with Hypothesis and Strategy My students are using their cel phones in class and its very distracting. How can I get my students to focus more on their schoolwork during class time? What happens when I integrate cel phone use strategically into classroom activity to meet learning goals?

19. Sources of data Interviews Portfolios Diaries Field Notes Audio recordings Photographs Journals Samples of student work, projects, performances Video recordings Case studies Self-assessment Records - tests, report cards, attendance Anecdotal records Checklists

20. What are you going to do with it? Data collection needs to be strategic and purposeful. Ask yourself: How will I know if it’s working?

21. © Kathy Cassidy - Creative Commons license

23. References ✤ Ferrance, Eileen. (2000). Action Research. found at http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf on October 7th, 2011 http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf ✤ Field, Teresa. Action Research. found at http://www.sitesupport.org/actionresearch/index.html on October 7th, 2011 http://www.sitesupport.org/actionresearch/index.html ✤ Rigsby, Leo. (2005). Action Research: How is it defined? found at http://gse.gmu.edu/assets/media/tr/ARRigsbyppt.htm on October 7th, 2011 http://gse.gmu.edu/assets/media/tr/ARRigsbyppt.htm ✤ Queen’s University. Action Research: Who, What, Why, So what? found at http://resources.educ.queensu.ca/ar/guide.htm on October 7th, 2011http://resources.educ.queensu.ca/ar/guide.htm ✤ McNiff, Jean & Whitehead, Jack. (2005). Action Research For Teachers: A practical guide. London, David Fulton Publisher.

24. © Oliver Oike - Creative Commons license