action research booklet for teachers320777/teacher... · 2019-10-10 · action research booklet for...

ACTION RESEARCH BOOKLET FOR

TEACHERS

We could see already that this project was very important. It builds teacher capacity, it helps us, and it will help us in our profession, especially as classroom teachers (A classroom teacher)

2

© 2012 The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. ABN 63 942 912 684, CRICOS Provider No: 00025B

ACTION RESEARCH BOOKLET FOR TEACHERS

This booklet was developed as part of a research study funded by the Australian Development Research Awards. Identifying strategies to sustain professional learning communities for teachers in remote primary schools in Papua New Guinea was a study that investigated the use of Action Research as a method that teachers could use to further their professional learning.

The first version of the booklet (Draft 1) was developed in February 2010 by Dr Eileen Honan from The University of Queensland, and Dr Patricia Paraide from The National Research Institute, PNG as part of their responsibilities in the study.

Draft 1 was used by teachers in East Sepik and Western Provinces as part of their participation in our study. Their comments and feedback about Draft 1 have been incorporated into this final version.

A revised version was developed in March 2011 (Draft 2). Draft 2 was used with staff and students involved in the DEP(I) program at the Papua New Guinea Education Institute to provide them with information about using Action Research. We also received valuable comments about Draft 2 from these groups, and we have incorporated this feedback into this final version.

In addition, we used Draft 2 as the basis for our presentations and discussions with key stakeholders in 2011 about the future use of the booklet.

This last version of the booklet (Final) has been developed and distributed so that teachers in PNG can use it to further their professional learning.

We acknowledge the generosity of teachers, particularly those in the site schools in Middle Fly and Ambunti/Drekikir who were involved in the project, teacher educators, Standards Officers, Officers of PNG National Department of Education, and Provincial Education Officers, who have supported and advised us during the course of our study. We hope that the booklet is useful in supporting teachers to provide quality education to all students in PNG.

Dr Eileen Honan, The University of Queensland

Professor Terry Evans, Deakin University

Dr Patricia Paraide, National Research Institute, PNG

Ms Medi Reta, National Research Institute, PNG

Dr Sandy Muspratt, The University of Queensland

Copyright Notice 2012

Unless otherwise indicated, copyright in the content of this publication is the property of The University of Queensland. All content is protected by Australian copyright law and, by virtue of international treaties, equivalent copyright laws in other countries.

No material contained within this publication may be reproduced or copied in any way without the prior written permission of The University of Queensland. The National Research Institute of PNG and teachers of PNG may reproduce the publication for educational purposes only.

3


CONTENTS PAGE

WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING? ..................................................................................................... 4

WHY USE ACTION RESEARCH IN SCHOOLS? ........................................................................................... 5

THE ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE ................................................................................................................ 6

USING THE ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE ..................................................................................................... 7

HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET ................................................................................................................... 8

STEP ONE: IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM ........................................................................................................ 9

STEP ONE CONTINUED .......................................................................................................................... 12

Action Research Template Two ............................................................................................................ 13

STEP ONE CONTINUED .......................................................................................................................... 14

Action Research Template Three ............................................................................................................ 1

STEP TWO: DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN ................................................................................................ 18

Action Research Template Four ............................................................................................................ 20

STEP THREE: TRY IT OUT ....................................................................................................................... 21

Action Research Template Five ............................................................................................................... 1

STEP FOUR: LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED............................................................................................... 23

Action Research Template Six ............................................................................................................... 25

STEP FIVE: REFLECT ON WHAT HAPPENED ........................................................................................... 26

Action Research Template Seven ......................................................................................................... 27

STEP SIX: USE RESULTS TO UPDATE AND MODIFY PLAN ...................................................................... 29

Action Research Template Eight ........................................................................................................... 30

STEP SEVEN: SHARE RESULTS WITH COLLEAGUES AND OTHERS.......................................................... 31

Action Research Template Nine ............................................................................................................ 32

STARTING A NEW CYCLE ....................................................................................................................... 33

4


WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL LEARNING? To improve the quality of education in Papua New Guinea, it is important to improve the quality of teaching. An important part of quality teaching is ongoing learning, where teachers continually work to improve their teaching to achieve better outcomes for their students. Research in Papua New Guinea and in other countries around the world indicates that the best kind of professional learning:

• involves teachers working as active lifelong learners;

• focuses on improving teacher practice;

• is based on a whole school approach;

• has a focus on student achievement;

• is undertaken when teachers are given time to learn;

• has continued support from head teachers and other key leaders;

• focuses on building individual teachers’ competencies;

• uses an evidence-based enquiry model; and

• requires teachers to use critical reflection on their own teaching.

Action Research is one method that can be used for effective professional learning.

This booklet is designed to help classroom teachers undertake their own Action Research projects.

5


WHY USE ACTION RESEARCH IN SCHOOLS? Action Research is:

• One useful method of undertaking effective professional learning.

• A method of undertaking research where the researcher (the teacher) takes some kind of action to solve a problem.

• One way to link new knowledge with existing knowledge.

• A process that teachers can use to solve their own school problems without relying on experts.

• A method that teachers can use to research their own professional practice.

• A method that asks teachers to do reflective practice. This means teachers asking themselves: What have I done in the classroom? Why have I done it that way? Why do I do the things that I do?

• Action Research can be used to investigate problems identified in your SLIP.

Action Research is based on a cycle of action. The cycle is shown on the next page but also it is explained throughout the booklet.

6


THE ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE

In Step One you decide which problem you are going to focus on for the whole cycle. You write a ‘story’ about the problem. You collect data about the problem.

In Step Two you decide what you are going to do to solve the problem. You write a detailed plan of what you will do.

In Step Three you try out your plan.

In Step Four you collect data to see if your plan worked to solve the problem.

In Step Five you reflect on what you did in Step Three and the new data you collected in Step Four.

In Step Six you think about what you will do next. Will you keep using the same plan? Modify or update the plan to try something new? And then you move into Step One again or go Straight to Step Three.

You also might like to add a Step Seven which is sharing what you have done with teachers from other schools.

7


USING THE ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE 1. A brief description of what happens in each step of the Action Research

cycle is included on the diagram.

2. Each of the steps in the cycle is explained in this booklet in further detail with some examples of what to do at each step.

3. In this booklet there are some templates for you to complete so that you can keep a record of your work in the steps.

4. You may also like to keep your own journal where you write down your thoughts and reflections about each step of the Action Research process.

5. At each step in the cycle you should be thinking and critically reflecting on what you have done and why you have done it in that way.

8


HOW TO USE THIS BOOKLET 1. The teachers in each school can work together as a whole staff to complete

the templates in this booklet. This means that teachers can support and help each other as they learn the process.

2. Each teacher can use their own copy of the booklet so that they can keep a personal record of the process and progress in the project. Teachers might like to write notes on each page. This means that each teacher can keep a record of his or her own personal learning.

3. It is a good idea for all the teachers in a school to work together, and it is a very good idea for the head teacher to be involved.

4. It is a good idea to select ONE problem for all the teachers to investigate.

5. It is important to work through each step of the Action Research cycle to investigate ways to solve the problem.

6. It is important to work together during meetings to reflect critically on the Action Research process to improve your own teaching and learning.

9


STEP ONE: IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

• In this step you and your school will decide which problem you are going

to focus on for the Action Research project.

• Avoid problems that you can do nothing about or that you will not have the required resources to solve.

• You need to make sure that everyone agrees to work on the same problem.

• Try to think about problems that are related to the teaching and learning that occurs in your school.

In Template One (on page 11), write a description of the problem with as much detail as you can about the ‘story’ behind the problem. On the next page, you will see two examples. We will use these two examples throughout the booklet.

10


Example One: What is the problem? How can we support students to understand fraction operations better?

What is the ‘story’ behind the problem? Students have been having difficulties with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of fractions. The majority of students in the school cannot solve fraction problems during mathematics lessons. This is a common problem in all grades. It is of greater concern for teachers and students in the upper grades because we feel that by this level, the students should have acquired sufficient knowledge in fraction operations. We also feel that there is a knowledge gap in fractions, especially for the current grade 7 and 8 students because the school was closed for two years due to teacher shortages, so these students missed two years of schooling. We are also concern about their preparation for the grade 8 national examination and how they will perform in it. We feel that this is a whole-school problem, therefore, our lower primary school teachers are involved because they are responsible for building basic knowledge areas at the lower grades. These knowledge areas are developed further in the upper grades. Therefore the school is working as a team to address this problem in all grades.

Example Two What is the problem? How can we support students to improve in their understanding of English texts?

What is the ‘story’ behind the problem? Students in all grades have been having difficulties in understanding English texts. Most of them are unable to understand English texts in class activities. We feel that they do not have sufficient comprehension skills. This is a pressing problem for us because if the students do not have sufficient reading comprehension skills in the English language, they will not be able to understand texts in other school subjects. We are also concerned about this because the grade 8 national examination is in English and we are worried that they may not perform well in it because of their weak comprehension skills in English. As a whole staff, we believe that we can address this problem. We know that we do not have sufficient English reading materials for our students to read for pleasure and information. Also, our focus on reading for understanding in the English language is minimal in our language lessons. Consequently, most of our students in all grades have not developed their reading comprehension skills in the English language well. Therefore, we have decided to work as a team to identify strategies to improve our students’ comprehension level in the English language.

11


Action Research Template One

What is the problem?

What is the story behind the problem?

12


STEP ONE CONTINUED COLLECTING DATA ABOUT THE PROBLEM

• What type of information do you need to help you describe and understand this problem?

• Where will you get this information from?

• How will you collect it?

• Why do you need it?

ISSUES ABOUT DATA COLLECTION

• Data collection involves gathering different kinds of data.

• Do not just rely on one set of data.

• The term “data instrument” refers to the technique or method you will use to collect the data.

• It is important to use a range of data collection techniques to provide a more complete understanding of a given problem or research question.

• In Template Two (on page 13), you need to be specific about the information you provide. The two examples (see page 10) continue below.

Type of data required

Where from? How will you collect it? Why do you need this data?

Example One Mathematics test results and class exercises.

Mathematics exercise books, students' test papers.

Collect students’ mathematics exercise books and test papers and analyse data to establish students’ strong and weak areas in fraction operations.

Identify students’ weaknesses and strengths in fraction operations so that appropriate support can be provided.

Example Two Information about students’ reading comprehension skills.

Students’ language exercise books, class teachers’ language assessment records.

Collect students’ language exercise books, existing language assessments records.

Identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in reading comprehension so that appropriate support can be given.

13


Action Research Template Two Type of data required Where from? How will you collect it? Why do you need this data?

STOP – Now go and collect this data

14


STEP ONE CONTINUED AFTER YOU COLLECT THE DATA

You are still working on Step One of the Action Research cycle.

You have already identified the problem.

You have collected some data about the problem.

Now, you will need to analyse this data to find out what it is telling you about the problem. In Template Three (on page 17), write what the data is telling you about the problem, and what you want to achieve by solving the problem.

The two examples (started on page 10, and continued on page 12) continue below.

Example One Remember, the teachers in this school were concerned about their students’ performance in mathematics – fraction operations. The teachers in the school have collected data in the form of exercise books and test papers; and they conducted short interviews with some parents and students about this problem.

What are the data you have collected telling you about the problem? We collected data from the students’ mathematics exercise books and test papers and observed students’ during mathematics lessons. After correcting the exercises and tests papers, we found that:

1. The majority of students in all classes got most of the problems wrong in the fraction exercises.

2. Most of the girls scored very low in both the fraction test and exercises. 3. The majority of students who scored low in both the fraction test and exercises

were specifically from two of the six villages that enrol children in this particular school.

4. The majority of the students had difficulties in the addition and multiplication of fractions.

We then conducted short interviews with some of the students and some of the parents to find out what they had to say about the problem.

15


The students gave reasons for their low performances in fraction problems:

• Students could not understand the teachers’ explanations of the basic concept of fraction problems.

• Teachers were speaking too fast. • Students were not studying enough after school because of insufficient study

space in the home. • Home duties took priority over class homework.

The parents gave these reasons:

• Students choose to do other activities and not homework after school. • Students stay out late at night watching DVDs or setting fish traps.

From looking at these data we decided that we should deal with issues that involved teachers and students only. We could only speak with the parents to support the home environment. Our first strategy was to give multiplication drills for five minutes at the beginning and at the end of the mathematics lessons.

We also decided to provide more activities on fractions and make the effort to explain the problems better, and work with the students on solving fraction problems at a slower pace.

Parents took the responsibility to be more active in their children’s school needs after our meeting with them.

What do you want to achieve by solving this problem? What is your target? We hope that by doing all these, we can support our students so that the majority of them can understand fraction concepts better.

Example Two Remember, the teachers in this school were concerned about the students’ weak performance in comprehension in the English language in all grades.

What are the data you have collected telling you about the problem? We collected data from the students’ comprehension tests and administered questionnaires to students and parents. We analysed these data and we found that:

5. Nearly all of students do not have reading books at home. However, they have the Bible (written in the local language) and old newspapers.

16


6. Most of the upper primary students love reading their PDH and MAL textbooks. These are the only English books currently available in the school.

7. A little more than half the parents and about a quarter of the students stated that there were no reading books available in school.

8. Most of the grade 3 students cannot yet read in the English language. 9. Nearly all of grade 4 students cannot yet comprehend simple English text. 10. But nearly half the grade 5 students can now read English texts. 11. In the upper grades, only a small number of students can comprehend text in the

English language. 12. The school has no students’ English reading books. 13. In addition, the teachers noted that, apart from PDH and MAL textbooks, there was

little reading material for student use in the school.

After looking at these data, we decided to focus on increasing reading comprehension activities in all grades by encouraging students to tell stories in English during language lessons and school assemblies. We also decided to improve the quality of English reading texts by producing our own big books, and encouraging students to bring reading books from their homes to be used during lessons. We also sought funding from our LLG president for a new library building.

What do you want to achieve by solving this problem? What is your target? We hope that we can improve our students’ reading comprehension level so that by the end of the year, we can see at least some improvement for all students in their comprehension levels of English reading materials.

17


Action Research Template Three What are the data you have collected telling you about the problem?

What do you want to achieve by solving this problem? What is your target?

4B

18


STEP TWO: DEVELOP AN ACTION PLAN You are now moving into the second stage of the Action Research cycle. In Step Two you will develop a plan to solve the problem you have identified in Step One.

You should develop this plan using Template Four (page 20). The points below are designed to help you think about how you can complete this template. • Imagine at least one possible solution to the problem you wish to solve.

• Make sure that your solution is realistic and achievable within a set time frame.

• You might need to break down the solution into smaller strategies, or you might have more than one solution.

• Think about what kinds of data you could collect to show whether your solution has worked or not.

• Make sure your plan does not interfere with other school events.

The two examples are continued on the next page. Template Four (on page 20) is for you to complete.

19


Examples in Template Four

What can we do to achieve this objective/target (your strategy)

Who will be responsible for implementing this strategy

What local resources (people or materials) might be useful?

When will this strategy be implemented

How will you measure success?

What are your indicators?

What data will you need to tell you if you have attained your target?

Where will you get this data?

Example One The school decided to use multiplication drills before and after each mathematics lesson.

Teachers and students.

Teachers in the school

End of Term 3 Number of students who are able to solve multiplication problems involving fractions. The majority of the students should be able to solve with ease simple multiplication problems involving fractions.

Results of tasks involving multiplication of fractions.

Mathematics exercise books and assessment tasks involving multiplication of fractions.

Example TWO The school decided to focus on teaching reading comprehension skills in the English language in all grades.

Teachers and students.

Readings books from homes, produce own reading texts (big books) and text from textbooks.

Start beginning of Term 2.

we want to see some improvement by all students in their comprehension levels of English reading materials.

Students’ comprehension assessment results; students re-telling the story and rewriting the story in their own words.

Language exercise books, class activities and comprehension assessment tasks.

20


Action Research Template Four What is the problem?

What do you want to achieve by solving this problem?

What can we do to achieve this objective/target (your strategy)?

Who will be responsible for implementing this strategy?

What local resources (people or materials) might be useful?

When will this strategy be implemented?

How will you measure success?

What are your indicators?

What data will you need to tell you if you have attained your target?

Where will you get this data?

21


STEP THREE: TRY IT OUT You are now moving into Step Three of the Action Research cycle. In Step Three you will try to implement the plan you developed in Step Two.

Some hints and tips about using your action plan:

• it is a good idea to try out one idea first rather than trying to do a lot of new things all at the same time;

• even if your strategy doesn’t seem to work, keep records of what you did and collect data about it;

• talk to each other about what you are trying to do; and

• use Template Five to keep a record of any questions or problems.

22


Action Research Template Five Keep a record here of questions or problems that you want to talk about later. Use this Template to focus discussion at a Staff Meeting.

4B

23


STEP FOUR: LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED

Now examine what happened during your Action Research using Template Six (page 25).

The important part of this template and step is describing your results in as much detail as possible.

The first three columns of this template use information from your Action Plan (that is, from Template Four).

First, the two examples are continued from before, then Template Six (on page 25) is for you to complete.

24


Examples in Template Six

From your Action Plan (i.e., from Template Four)


Results

What did you do to solve your problem? What was your strategy? (how/way to solve

the problem

How did you measure your success?

What evidence did you use?

Did this work? Why/Why not?

Example One The school decided to use multiplication drills before and after each mathematics lesson.

Fraction assessment tasks before and after the drills strategy commenced.

Fraction assessment results (this data will tell you if the students have improved in fraction operations or not.).

If yes, can we further improve on it? If no, what else can we do to improve on it? This strategy worked for many students but we will continue with this strategy until the majority of students have mastered fraction operations.

Example Two Increased reading time for comprehension activities in language lessons.

Reading comprehension assessment tasks- compare with previous performance results.

Reading assessment results (this data will tell you if the students are improving in reading comprehension skills).

If yes, can we further improve on it? If no, what else can we do to improve on it? Increase reading time for reading comprehension activities worked, however we feel we need to continue with the current teaching strategies for students’ continuous improvement in reading comprehension in the English language.

25


Action Research Template Six What are the results?

Problem:



Results

What did you do to solve your problem? What was your strategy? (how/way to solve

the problem

How did you measure your success?

What evidence did you use?

Did this work? Why/Why not?

26


STEP FIVE: REFLECT ON WHAT HAPPENED Step Five of the Action Research cycle is very important because it is here that you reflect on your success or difficulty with solving your problem.

Reflection is an essential part of doing Action Research.

Reflecting on your actions will help you think about improving your teaching.

Reflect on both your strategies and the results of implementing the strategies by answering these questions:

• Why were your strategies successful or unsuccessful?

• How did outside/internal factors impact on the implementation of your plan?

• What would you do differently next time?

• Do you need to collect more or different types of data?

• If your strategy did work what would you do to improve it further to use again?

• How did the strategy help you achieve your target to solve the problem?

• What else do you have to do to achieve the target?

Use Template Seven (on page 27 & 28) to record your written reflections.

27


Action Research Template Seven Why were your strategies successful or not successful?

How did outside/internal factors impact on the implementation of your plan?

What would you do differently next time?

28


Do you need to collect more or different types of data?

If your strategy did work what would you do to improve it further to use again?

How did the strategy help you achieve your target to solve the problem?

What else do you have to do to achieve the target?

29


STEP SIX: USE RESULTS TO UPDATE AND MODIFY PLAN In Step Six of the Action Research Cycle you begin to consider how you can continue with the cycle through modifying and updating or changing your plan.

The Reflections in Template Seven will help you in considering what to do next.

Use all the information you have collected in each of the previous stages to help you decide what to do next.

30


Action Research Template Eight Use all the information you have already collected to decide what you will do next. Make notes here about your discussions and decisions.

Are you going to create a new plan? Or develop a modified plan? How will the new plan be different from the original plan?

Will you continue to work on the same problem? Or modify the existing problem? Or work on a new problem? Why have you made this decision?

What have you learned from doing the first five steps of the Action Research cycle?

31


STEP SEVEN: SHARE RESULTS WITH COLLEAGUES AND OTHERS

You can plan your sharing of results using Template Nine. Some reasons for sharing results are:

• sharing your results with others will help other schools and teachers learn about the Action Research process;

• Action Research can become part of the professional learning done in clusters and other school groups;

• sharing the Action Research process with other schools and teachers may result in sustainable use of this process;

• clusters or groups of schools may want to undertake an Action Research project together after hearing about the individual projects completed;

• sharing your results with your school community will show the community that schools can take ownership of their problems and find solutions to them; and

• other groups such as health staff may find the Action Research process useful in their work.

32


Action Research Template Nine

List all parts of the project that you would share with other teachers and schools? For example, data collection methods, results, strategies you used.

Who do you want to share information with? Be specific – which schools, where and when?

How? What is the best way to pass on this information? Develop a plan for the sharing.

33


STARTING A NEW CYCLE We hope that you will continue to use the Action Research process for professional learning. You can begin a new Action Research cycle whenever you like. You can start the new cycle at Step One, or you can continue to investigate the problem from this project by starting a new cycle at Step Two.

If you require further information or assistance in using this booklet or want to share your work then please do not hesitate to contact: Dr Patricia Paraide Email:[email protected] or Ms Medi Reta Email: [email protected] National Research Institute Ph: 326 0213 PO Box 5854, Boroko, Fax: 326 0213 National Capital District, Papua New Guinea

mailto:[email protected]�

mailto:[email protected]�

action research booklet for teachers320777/teacher... · 2019-10-10 · action research booklet for...

Documents