Comments on: Egoist http://umb611jj.edublogs.org/2009/02/15/egoist/ Exploring the blogging frontier for my tribe... Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:41:10 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: jj730105 http://umb611jj.edublogs.org/2009/02/15/egoist/comment-page-1/#comment-35 jj730105 Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:20:11 +0000 http://umb611jj.edublogs.org/?p=62#comment-35 What is presented here is not "valid" in any scientific sense. If questions are continuously changing and there is no methodic collection of data with the exception of collection of qualitative data and impressions from the teacher (who is clearly biased), then the end result of the analysis is a teacher's feelings on the matter. While this might give other teachers new ideas about how to teach, this is not provide any generalizable path for other teachers. I disagree with your point on #4. I think that it is the job of the teacher to reflect on his or her teaching processes. I think he/she needs to adapt his/her teaching based on those reflections. I do not think that teachers have the time or the responsibility to formalize those reflections in the form of "teacher research" and publish those findings. To say that teacher research is an "unwritten part of the profession" is not acceptable, nor is it fair. This is major time investment. If it is important enough that teachers be expected to do it, then it is important enough to be written in a job description. And, then it needs to be important enough to make time for in the school schedule. Teachers need down time. I know several teachers who went through the process of "teacher research" as a part of their teaching courses and who have never engaged in it since. Why? It is a time factor. This does not mean that they are bad teachers. It does not mean that they don't adapt their teaching based on student needs. It does not mean that they don't sit around with other colleagues and talk about strategies to help students. But, expecting them to take the extra step of this research along with teaching, marking, extra-duties, curriculum development, lesson planning (including differentiation or universal design), cocurricular activities, departmental planning, etc. is not healthy for either the teachers or the students. In an article (http://archon.educ.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-20.html) from Bryan Bardine (Kent State University (one of my Alma Maters)), he showcases a teacher who uses her summer vacations to do her writeups, publishing, etc. This is great if this is what she really likes to do and this is what recharges her. But, I think that she is the exception and not the rule. I don't think that it would be healthy to demand this of all teachers in their vacation (or free time), nor would I want an entire staff of teachers who all want to do this sort of thing in vacation. It is important to maintain balance in your life if you are going to be working with children and adolescents. What is presented here is not “valid” in any scientific sense. If questions are continuously changing and there is no methodic collection of data with the exception of collection of qualitative data and impressions from the teacher (who is clearly biased), then the end result of the analysis is a teacher’s feelings on the matter. While this might give other teachers new ideas about how to teach, this is not provide any generalizable path for other teachers.

I disagree with your point on #4. I think that it is the job of the teacher to reflect on his or her teaching processes. I think he/she needs to adapt his/her teaching based on those reflections. I do not think that teachers have the time or the responsibility to formalize those reflections in the form of “teacher research” and publish those findings.

To say that teacher research is an “unwritten part of the profession” is not acceptable, nor is it fair. This is major time investment. If it is important enough that teachers be expected to do it, then it is important enough to be written in a job description. And, then it needs to be important enough to make time for in the school schedule.

Teachers need down time. I know several teachers who went through the process of “teacher research” as a part of their teaching courses and who have never engaged in it since. Why? It is a time factor. This does not mean that they are bad teachers. It does not mean that they don’t adapt their teaching based on student needs. It does not mean that they don’t sit around with other colleagues and talk about strategies to help students. But, expecting them to take the extra step of this research along with teaching, marking, extra-duties, curriculum development, lesson planning (including differentiation or universal design), cocurricular activities, departmental planning, etc. is not healthy for either the teachers or the students.

In an article (http://archon.educ.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-20.html) from Bryan Bardine (Kent State University (one of my Alma Maters)), he showcases a teacher who uses her summer vacations to do her writeups, publishing, etc. This is great if this is what she really likes to do and this is what recharges her. But, I think that she is the exception and not the rule. I don’t think that it would be healthy to demand this of all teachers in their vacation (or free time), nor would I want an entire staff of teachers who all want to do this sort of thing in vacation. It is important to maintain balance in your life if you are going to be working with children and adolescents.

]]> By: Donna D. http://umb611jj.edublogs.org/2009/02/15/egoist/comment-page-1/#comment-34 Donna D. Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:55:25 +0000 http://umb611jj.edublogs.org/?p=62#comment-34 Jenn, These are some thoughts as I'm reading... - I completely understand about the organizationally challenged thing... I lose any papers that are not attached to me. So I make everything digital. I would recommend that you come up with a system of taking notes in an electronic format. - While it is nice to have other people to help you think, this project is yours. you do not need to reach out for support in your community if that becomes difficult... - you are asking good questions in your bullet #3. These are things that need to be surfaced continuously and you must keep asking yourself all kinds of questions to be sure that you are not steering the data and outcomes. And yes, you do need to tell students that they are part of a study. You cannot collect data without a signed permission statement from the student. - In #4 you say that researching is not part of your job description. While this might be the case, we are all researchers to some degree. We need to ask questions, look at data and make informed decisions about what and how we teach. This is an unwritten part of the profession - and necessary one for the most effective education of our youth... - I'm not sure what you are saying exactly about validity. Validity is always a part of research. Teacher research (or any kind of research) is not based on our own interpretations of teaching and learning, they must be grounded in adequate data to support what we are asserting. This will become more clear as we move on. I would recommend that you do more of your own research on where you have questions. I will reach out to my community here to see if they have some PDFs that I can send you while you continue to do your own searches. Jenn,
These are some thoughts as I’m reading…
- I completely understand about the organizationally challenged thing… I lose any papers that are not attached to me. So I make everything digital. I would recommend that you come up with a system of taking notes in an electronic format.
- While it is nice to have other people to help you think, this project is yours. you do not need to reach out for support in your community if that becomes difficult…
- you are asking good questions in your bullet #3. These are things that need to be surfaced continuously and you must keep asking yourself all kinds of questions to be sure that you are not steering the data and outcomes. And yes, you do need to tell students that they are part of a study. You cannot collect data without a signed permission statement from the student.
- In #4 you say that researching is not part of your job description. While this might be the case, we are all researchers to some degree. We need to ask questions, look at data and make informed decisions about what and how we teach. This is an unwritten part of the profession – and necessary one for the most effective education of our youth…
- I’m not sure what you are saying exactly about validity. Validity is always a part of research. Teacher research (or any kind of research) is not based on our own interpretations of teaching and learning, they must be grounded in adequate data to support what we are asserting. This will become more clear as we move on.

I would recommend that you do more of your own research on where you have questions. I will reach out to my community here to see if they have some PDFs that I can send you while you continue to do your own searches.

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