Read on:
Yeah, so I've only been stuck on the issue that y'all are discussing since I became a teacher. It's the reason that I blog and the reason why I can't finish my thesis.
Sort of. We're supposed to be a little self-indulgent in this space -- or did I read Cindy's post wrong?
See, I think a teacher-researcher is more systematic than a reflective teacher. I'm definitely a reflective teacher. Big time, reflective. I think about what I'm going to do before I do it, finally decide on what I'm going to do, sometimes just before I am doing it, and then I'm thinking about what I did after.
But that's not teacher research.
I agree with Cindy, and the authors that she cites, that just being reflective isn't enough. Digging back into data, analyzing it, and then reporting out that analysis is what distinguishes teacher research from reflective teaching.
And that's frustrating. Doing teacher research (and, for that matter, a thesis) means I've got to narrow in on only one thing. Extensively.
I'm not good at doing just one thing at a time -- ergo, I'm not so good at teacher research, even though I think I understand the different pieces of the process and am very curious about others' studies and questions and analysis.
I came so quickly to blogging because I felt that it helped me to approach the bits of teacher research that I was weak on. I blog about my teaching practice, focusing from time to time on specific areas of my teaching in order to help me understand them better, try out ideas, and to share what I'm learning as I go.
That's almost teacher research. It's several steps closer than just being reflective. But it's not the whole shebang, because I'm not specifically analyzing a particular dataset through the lens of a particular question or questions. I could argue that I am, and sometimes it's true, but the blog doesn't necessarily require that I stay with a set of questions or data through to the end product. In fact, I think one of the strengths of my blog is that you can get a little bit on a lot of topics by reading through the writing collected there.
When Cindy and I were presenting on teacher research at our site back in November at the NWP Annual Meeting, we had just had the big "we should put an AI together" conversation on the airplane. We were dreaming big and the wheels were turning in our brains. We shared some of what we had in mind with our roundtable group. Paul Allison, a blogger that I've "known" for a while through blogging and podcasting and commenting, but had never met until that day, was there, and he said something that's stuck with me ever since. And I mean really, really stuck with me. Middle of the night can't get to sleep stuck, if you can believe it. What he said was basically:
We (meaning bloggers) have tons of data. But we never analyze it.
I paraphrased a little, but that was the core of his statement. I can't get it out of my head. That's the flaw in so much of my teaching career. I've got the information. I've asked the questions. I've collected the data. But I haven't done the analysis.
I want very much to figure out how to bridge the practices of blogging (the verb -- here's a post about that) with those of teacher research. It gets tricky right away and the two aren't quite the same, but I think they can inform each other.
Is there maybe a thesis in there?
So, anyway, I've been very selfish about this whole notion of an Advanced Institute. For me, from the start, this has been about putting together the best of the technology and the best of the teaching practices and seeing what works together. I want to figure out how these two very essential items complement and inform the other. I think it's a chocolate and peanut butter relationship. If I can figure out how to document it, analyze it formally, and write it up, perhaps I've finally gotten the thesis out of the way.
Like I said -- a big post. I'd be interested in all y'all's responses, if it made any sense.
15 comments:
Bud, I think I took up more space with my comment than your separate post, so now I feel as though I've foisted myself on my own petard as it were. I'll resist the temptation to erase for now. Still, I think you nailed it when you mentioned that teacher researchers report back what they have learned--to me that's the difference--it's sharing.
Maybe I'm just in an unusual environment at TVHS. My department is amazing about sitting around and talking about what we do, what works, what doesn't work, and sharing our ideas. The heads of my department have. given me more teaching material than I'd ever imagined anyone would share. And yes, it's brilliant and useful.
I've never taught anywhere else--am I alone in thinking that the vast majority of teachers are systematically reflecting on their teaching? Aren't the rest of them failing miserably and retiring early or quitting? We're not in it for money or recognition, so why else do we put up with so much if we don't honestly believe that we're doing something worthwhile?
One more thought--what does "analyzing" look like? How is it different from simply writing a blog? (Blogging?) If you can explain that, I think you'll have your thesis.
I am from the Special Education field and have been in the field for more than 30 years. So when I hear EBS and RTI I begin to get a little nervous because....I love(d) teaching...and now there is so much emphasis on taking data and passing the tests. There is so little time for teaching.
Anyway, I came from a planning meeting with an Ed team that is pre due process. This is not the sharpest team. A new administrator has taken over the team and it is amazing how the dialogue during the meeting shifted from what the child can not do to what he can do...and now what can we expand on that.
Which brings me to this analyzing and reflecting on what we are doing as educators. Prior to this meeting I got the impression that the staff really did not put much thought into what and why they are doing lessons....they just seem to go through the motions.
By the way, I am new to blogging and my blog is slpforspecialed . I hope you visit and share with me.
Good luck with your speech projects that I read on your other blog.
I suppose we would have to define reflection. It comes in many degrees, don't you think? I do think that most teachers are reflective, they have to be to create a working environment. Maybe it is the 'why' are they reflective that matters and that would come back to t-r. right?
And Bud, I think we all do this for selfish reasons. Personally I consider myself an 'idea' person. My follow at times is a bit weak. I am involved with AI to encourage myself to follow through. Hopefully my selfish act will help me to become a better teacher and maybe help other teachers too...if I am lucky.
First off, I love chocolate and peanut butter, literally and figuratively. And I'm beginning to think that teacher research and blogging can work together just about as well. I think the key is what you and Paul Allison hit on, though: "stay with a set of questions or data through to the end product."
As far as your own project goes, I think this chocolate/peanut butter relationship would be an interesting one to pursue. Maybe you should study the AI blog(s) to see how it happens?
One more thing...in my experience, data analysis is far more of a get-your-hands-dirty-'cause-you're-up-do-your-elbows-in-data process than Jason's talking about above (though I think what he's talking about above is an INCREDIBLY valuable process).
When I picture data analysis, I see a teacher researcher sitting down with physical data that s/he's collected in the service of answering a particular question and trying to figure out what in the hell it means with that some question (or a set of related sub-questions) in mind.
In other words, the other day when Rebecca and I met to talk about book clubs, we'd ask a question, and I'd turn to my fieldnotes--which included observations, reflections, and some rudimentary sketches of where kids were sitting--to see what light that data shed on the question at hand.
I'd say we were in the rudimentary stages of data analysis.
We also did some lesson planning as a result, and yep, that involved "talking about what we do, what works, and doesn't work, and sharing our ideas," as Jason puts it above, but while I think that was reflection and curriculum planning BASED ON data analysis, it wasn't data analysis itself.
Does this distinction make sense?
Okay, I have to be honest here - I've just seen a prime example of why I find this electronic forum more than a bit frustrating and less satisfying than a Reece's peanut butter cup.
First, it took me three reads to find the peanut butter and chocolate reference - reading for real content (as opposed to reading for fun) has always been a struggle for me, thus the third times the charm in finding the analogous reference to P&C and TR & blogging. I'm the kind of reader who was always flipping from the character synopsis to where I was in the book when I was reading
Agatha Christie. And we all know how shallow that literary reference is! Honestly, I need a lifejacket for some of this stuff! So, that's my first issue - just doing the reading for content. When I'm in school I read, I take notes, and then I type my notes - then maybe I'll actually get what I read. Not gonna happen here - I'm shooting for the big picture in order to just survive.
Second frustration, unlike a conversation where I can hear little sidebars, the sidebars in this electronic format escape me. I truly get lost trying to follow the little references that give this blog more meaning. For example, I'm thrilled to have someone I don't even know from Illinois reading and commenting - but gosh darn in following that lead I completely lost my train of thought and had to start all over again. Hence my search for the peanut butter and chocolate reference! Maybe I need a little ADD here - my comfort zone is to pick a topic and stay with it until I have a total and thorough understanding - mind you, I'm not saying this is a good comfort zone - just happens to be where I live.
Finally, I can't help but ask if you say that what it takes to be a true teacher researcher is sharing the analysis - is this like a tree falling in the woods? If a teacher collects the data, analyzes it and acts upon it but doesn't share - does the research actually exist? I believe it does, personal bias - but I loved the analogy this topic brought to mind.
I promise I'm keeping an open mind - just dealing with a good level of frustration at my inabiltiy to keep up with the conversation.
Natalie,
In a workshop I attended several years ago, I heard Marion Maclean and Marian Mohr say that teacher researchers have an ethical obligation to share their research. That really struck a chord with me. It's also similar to what I've heard Bud say about blogging.
Having said that, I don't always make formal presentations of my t-r, but I do try to share it with WP teachers and to share it formally in conferences and such when possible and practical.
Again, there is more clarity in the vocabulary. Through the conversations I've gotten a keener awareness of what you mean when you refer to a teacher-researcher. I intended no judgement, just appreciate knowing what the parameters are when the discussion focuses on the tr. Defining the subject is good. But truly - I did love the tree in the woods analogy! :)
I love the tree in the woods analogy too, Natalie, although with my personal bias I interpret it differently. I don't see this so much as a riddle to solve as a metaphor to point one's thinking in a different direction.
I think that when I look at Cindy's previous posts/comments I'm beginning to understand more of the t-r process, and that it's not so much "what is the one thing that makes a t-r" but, what is the process that a t-r follows/applies to his/her teaching?
Essential elements of the process are: A question to answer, data collection, data analysis, developing some possible answers, applying those answers in the classroom, collecting more data, etc. The chocolate coating to me, is where Bud's blogging comes in, and that is the sharing aspect. Without the chocolate you've just got a mouth full of sticky peanut butter.
Put the question another way: If a scientist is studying something and doesn't record his/her results so that they can become a part of the mass of human knowledge, is it still research? I would say no, but that's obviously just my personal opinion regarding the definition of research. For teachers conducting qualitative research, the sharing part is an essential--but not the only essential--component.
Natalie's point about reading, which is a sidebar from the main topic of this discussion -- sorry, Natalie -- is an important one. She writes:
When I'm in school I read, I take notes, and then I type my notes - then maybe I'll actually get what I read.
Yeah, Natalie -- that's how I read and understand, too. In my case, the blog is my notes. I try to write about what I read by incorporating what I'm reading, via quotations and links, into my blog posts. Over time, I've become a better reader and, I hope, writer and thinker as a result.
Anyway -- I've been impressed, Natalie, with how you've jumped right into these blogs and ideas -- and your feedback is useful to me. Thanks for sharing it.
Keep blogging.
Now back to the chocolate and peanut butter.
I've got to agree with Cindy that being deliberate with data and being reflective in one's practice are not the same things.
I think I've said that a few times, though, so I'll move on to the next point, which is Natalie's and Cindy's discussion of reporting out or sharing.
TR's consider it an ethical obligation issue. I think that many edubloggers do, too.
Much of the ethos of blogging is about transparency. Can we do a better job of explaining and exploring what's going on in the world of our professions, our hobbies, our institutions or our lives?
As far as the classroom is concerned, I believe very strongly that we do have an ethical obligation to share out what's working, what isn't and how and why we know what we know. There's another ethical obligation in there that is relevant to both t-r and to blogging -- the ethical responsibility to both work with and to protect our research participants throughout our process.
By protect, I mean that we're not exposing them to harm as a result of what we're doing. Don't violate their trust. Be upfront about what's public and what isn't. Protect their identities as best as you can as much as it makes sense to. Et cetera.
I'm approaching "too long for a comment" phase -- but maybe I am developing a thesis idea here . . .
Thanks for the great discussion, y'all.
i am relatively new to blogging as well, though i have discovered that my learning as a preservice teacher has rocketed forward, personally, and in comparision with some of my classmates. i consider my interaction with online networks, especially blog networks the primary accelerant for this process. however, there is so much information that seems to link (electronically and cognitively) seamlessly, i cannot decide where to stop adding ingredients and start mixing so i can bake my cake. i don't think an end product is necessary for valuable research, however, we write-to-learn proponents know the value of organizing our thoughts in a cumulative structure, in addition to writing informally as in blogging. my own thought processes have become faster and broader as of late, however, i have a hard time nailing things down. that doesn't mean i am not learning or that i cannot use the information and skills i gain, but i cannot seem to communicate these ideas to others effectively. this may circle back to the ethics of sharing research topic.
What an interesting discussion. I'm so glad to be a little more than a fly on the wall here. I've been using a blog for the very purposes y'all are discussing and the drag is that other folks I'm currently working with aren't. I have all this thinking, I post it and only a couple folks look at it. Don't mistake this for negativity. I simply think you guys are on the edge of something big – a big ole paradigm shift. This is on the edge kind of stuff. Stuff that has the potential to shift current power structures. Right now I've got about 3 folks who are regularly interested in my findings. They’re all my “superiors.” Truly, I love the feedback I get from my prof’s. But I’m missing the community aspect of teacher research and that’s what you guys are experiencing. I know that people in my research group have similar interests only because they’ve shared little tidbits in class. Then the class ends and so do the shared threads of thinking. That doesn’t happen here. My hunch is that if those conversations could be sustained, our shared teacher research experience would be… not orgasmic but something like it just a little less sexy.
And
There's not simply an obligation to share research findings, there's a thrill in it. Research is like moving through Alice's rabbit hole. There're so many strange things along the way. Stuff you never thought you'd find. Stuff you're not even sure how to make sense of. Current teacher research is Alice alone and crying to find her way out of the Tulgey Wood. Your teacher research is Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. At least it’s a party: there’s company in the face of the unknown (and sometimes frustrating).
So, here's an interesting thought. I've been reading Cindy's blog and just posted a comment there about how blogging out one's thinking and experience with teacher research is actually creating more data and inviting in data from other teacher researchers as they comment to posts with their own thinking and experience. Instead of having to go out to collect supporting data to your own observations--blogging seems to be pulling in more data to you. That's powerful!
Thanks for sharing all your great thinking, CSUWP!
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