teachers action research and the generation of knowledge the southampton music action research...
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![Page 1: Teachers action research and the generation of knowledge The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08 Tim Cain UCET Annual Conference, Nov 10,](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022060106/5515dd11550346dd6f8b4b55/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Teachers’ action research and the generation of knowledge
The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08
Tim CainUCET Annual Conference, Nov 10, 2009
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Not ‘proper research’• Teachers’ action research tends to exist in the margins (Zeichner,
1995)
• This description rings true in the field of music education.
• ‘I know it’s not proper research but …’ (Clayton & O’Brien et al., 2008).
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First Generation researchPositivist and post-positivist
The world can be known objectively
Knowledge is obtained empirically and logically (i.e. by answering questions like
“what are the causes of . . .?”)
Disciplinary roots in psychology
Methods include Randomised, controlled trials; experiments and quasi
experiments, surveys, tests, mostly quantitative
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Second Generation researchInterpretativist, constuctivist, phenomenological, hermeneutic
No objective standpoint
Research into lived experience; subjective meanings uncovered by ethnographical means – disciplinary roots in anthropology
Phenomena studied in contexts Ethnographies, case studies, “thick description”; mostly qualitative
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Third Generation researchCritical theory, action research/practitioner research
Insider research
Aims to change the world by understanding it and vice-versa
Primacy of practical knowledge, supported by experiential, presentational &
propositional knowledge
“the word ‘prove’ does not exist in Action Research” (McNiff, 2002)
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Types of action research• Experimental action research (broadly positivist)
• inductive action research (interpretivist),
• participatory action research (a limited form of participation)
• participatory research practices (underpinned by critical theory)
• deconstructive action research practice (a postmodernist, anti-essentialist stance)
• A previous study produced ‘27 different “flavours” of action research’ (Cassell & Johnson, 2006)
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Action researchPlan > act > evaluate (“observe”) > reflect > plan . . . (etc.) spiral
Starts with questions like, “How can I improve what I am doing?” (Whitehead)
A natural extension of a teacher’s work (with emphasis on data & reflection)
Generates experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge
(Heron & Reason, 1997)
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Foster (1999): 25 teachers’ studies • Most studies related to important educational concerns
• reports contained ‘significant omissions and ambiguities’
• ‘researchers appeared unable to distance themselves from their preconceived views about effective practice’
• insufficient evidence presented to support claims
• significant doubts about the validity of evidence
• ‘a minority … could not be characterized as research’
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Furlong & Sainsbury (2005): 100 studies • taking part in action research was a valuable form of continuing
professional development
• teachers becoming more confident, more knowledgeable, collecting and using evidence, and learning about their own learning
• For many, the research led to ‘informed reflection’
• impacts on practice: schools, teaching, children and occasionally, parents
• significant impact on the morale
• ‘the outcomes are often hard to disentangle from the development of the people … not always based on rigorous evidence’
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Bartlett & Burton (2006): a research group• an under-developed use of research conventions, including
systematic data collection and ‘the issue of validity’
• more awareness of the complex nature of what is often treated superficially during in-service training
• began to seek out the relevant associated literature
• able to evaluate suggested innovations
• Validity ‘strengthened through peer examination and discussion’
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Knowledge• Foster (1999): the production of knowledge is the ‘primary goal’ of
research, which teachers’ action research fails to achieve
• Furlong and Sainsbury (2005): research outcomes are ‘hard to disentangle’ from the teacher-researchers’ professional development.
• Lytle & Cochran-Smith (1998) the knowledge question is, ‘the question that persists’
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Knowledge• Garvey & Williamson (2002) ‘Big K’ and ‘Little K’ knowledge:
• Big K knowledge develops ‘cumulatively … is consolidated and made explicit in books, journals and encyclopedias … is passed from one generation to the next through the institutions of formal education … is no longer the property of individual minds’, ‘is driven forward by research and development on a global scale’
• Little K knowledge, ‘is the knowledge that individuals possess for themselves … [it] reflects their experience of work and understanding … is firmly anchored in the realm of individual education and experience’
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ResearchAIMto investigate how music teachers use educational action research as
a means of improving class music teaching in Secondary schools
QUESTIONSHow do Secondary school music teachers undertake action research?What knowledge is created in the process?
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Action
Nov 1, 2007Project teachers learnt what action research is, how it is carried out and how it differs from other sorts of research
Nov – Dec, 2007Project teachers carried out project in schoolsEntered plans into wiki
Jan – Jun, 2008Projects continued in schoolVisit by LA adviser (in some LAs)Project teachers visits to each other*
Jun 18, 2008 Teachers presented research projects to each other
July 4, 2008I presented preliminary findings2 other presentations Teachers evaluated the project as a whole
*This planned event did not happen
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Projects Involving TAs by Liz O'Connell: what happened when
Teaching Assistants became involved in planning and teaching music.
KS3 Composing by Jason Edgell: what happened when Y8 pupils were given several chances to record their compositions.
KS3 Feedback by Sarah Moore: how pupils understood the feedback, given them in music lessons, and how this was improved.
GCSE Listening by Nikki Budd: how Y11 pupils used non-musical stimuli to develop their understanding of music from different eras.
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Projects Vocational Relevance by Sally Wilcocks: how music
lessons became more relevant through bringing the music industry into the classroom.
Open all hours? by Philip Dowd: how pupils moved from skills-based learning to ideas-based learning.
Creative Skills by Rheann Long: how three Y8 pupils became more creative through imaginative approaches to performing tasks.
Projects are at www.practitionerresearchinmusiceducation.org
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Finding a research problem
• teachers started by identifying a problem
• National programmes influenced Philip, Sarah and Rheann and Nikki
• Whole-school matters influenced Sally, Liz and Jason
The topics chosen by the teachers were about meeting professional expectations, rather
than questioning or opposing such expectations
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Structuring the research
• 2 undertook a ‘reconnaissance’ phase, the others did not
• 3 created a plan and implemented it, evaluating the implementation
• 1 had three separate parts, with a single, overarching aim
• Collaboration: pupil voice, guest speakers, involvement of other adults
• 3 employed a cyclical structure, altering their plans as their projects developed, in response to their emerging findings.
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Data
• In planning, 2 identified the evidence that might demonstrate improvement
• Collected data included: questionnaires; interviews; recordings of work; pupils’ written work; assessments of pupils’ work; photographs & video; observation & diary
• Awareness of validity issues
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Consequences
• improvements in the quality of pupils’ work
• improved enjoyment, attendance and engagement in extra-curricular music
• improved confidence and concentration
• projects increased teachers’ self-awareness
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Reporting
• Initial plans & reasons written on wiki
• 1 wrote & edited directly to the website
• 1 co-written with me
• Most gave a verbal presentation which I recorded, transcribed and uploaded
• All structured as ‘narratives of personal experience’ (Strand, 2009)
• Considerable interest in each others’ projects (but tended to think of their own projects as ‘obvious’)
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Knowledge
• Experiential (‘I certainly have a much clearer idea about the strengths and weaknesses of those students’) and self-awareness
• Presentational (Liz’s planning document, Rheann’s scaffolding worksheet and Sarah’s feedback diaries and prompt cards)
• Propositional (see handout)
• Practical (demonstrated in teachers’ stories about their teaching, such as Sally presenting a real-life task as, ‘you are a music producer and you have been sent this track; you have to mix it and send it back to the band so it gets released’
• ‘Little K’: generated by reflective processes, drew on data, lacked scientific rigour, stored in narratives of individual experience, not generalisable
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Issues to explore
• Teachers claimed to have learned from each other, (‘listening to others was the best bit’ and ‘[my project] made a difference, not just to me but to others’)
• Big K knowledge not always propositional (Kodaly, Orff, Suzuki)
• How might knowledge, generated by teachers’ action research, become ‘Big K’?
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How do Secondary school music teachers undertake action research?The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08
Tim Cain: [email protected] Nov 9, 2009
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Teachers’ action research and the generation of knowledge
The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08
Tim CainUCET Annual Conference, Nov 10, 2009