Standard 3 – Teacher leaders improve teaching and learning through the use of educational research at the classroom and school levels.
Prior to engaging in the Teacher Leadership program, I was not very involved in utilizing research in my classroom or with my colleagues. I have participated in one or two loosely structured attempts at something similar to action research, but saw little success. From the start of the program I have seen the importance of conducting research to improve my knowledge of pedagogy and become the best teacher possible. As Sagor (2011) states, "even the most celebrated teachers, who are teaching the highest-achieving students, leave their classrooms frustrated, feeling that despite their best efforts, each individual student didn't progress as far as he or she might" (p. 1). This feeling of frustration has helped guide me through this program to focus on things that are going to help increase my ability as a teacher. Reflecting on my second and sixth quarters in the program where I took classes on applying research and action research, respectively, my understanding of what is necessary to grow as a teacher has increased.
My introduction to research and its’ application came in Applying Action Research in School Settings. During this course, we learned to dig into the research to determine the validity of the findings presented. The practice of deciphering valid research from primary sources helped me refine my overall research ability and develop a better eye for valid academic research. The final product from this class
My Action Research in School Settings class allowed me to use the information gleaned from the applying research class and helped me understand what I needed to do to perform a successful action research project and report. As I stated earlier, I have had very little practice with performing structured research in the classroom, so having a bit of a guidance was very helpful. Reflecting back to my Survey of Instructional Strategies class, I had the opportunity to perform some action research, at least to some extent, with a colleague. This experience also gave me a bit of knowledge about what to do and expect when performing my own research in my classroom. The approach taken in the instructional strategies class was based off of collaborative work, but did not take a great deal of research outside of what we did for class. The collaborative work did provide a basis for determining what issues may be addressed in a classroom setting and what approach may be taken to help rectify them (as evidenced in my collaborative inquiry project).
In undertaking my action research, I first had to understand what approach I should take. As Ravid (2011) states, "Action research is conducted by practitioner-researchers in their own settings to solve a problem by studying it, proposing solutions, implementing the solutions, and assessing the effectiveness of these solutions" (p. 4). Working from this definition, I decided to look at the literature about technology and formative assessment in a high school math classroom. I was able to find very little, so I decided to do some research of this on my own. Performing this research did not yield a great deal of positive data, but was very useful in determining what steps should occur for me moving forward (see my action research paper). Because of this, I am continuing my research in the area of technology and formative assessment so that I can better utilize what I have started.
Moving forward, I will continue utilizing what I have learned from both my project and action research in general. As Sagor states, "The greatest value of what we learn from our action research lies in the power of the new knowledge and the insights we gained for informing our future actions and consequently benefiting our students" (2011, p. 163). Moving forward is where the real value of action research lies. The changes that I will enact as a result of my research from all of my classes is going to help me to become the teacher I hope to be. Figuring out where all of this research will take me moving forward, I was struck by another quote by Sagor, "If we are to become truly reflective practitioners, the thing we must always do before commencing action is to reflect deeply on what we already know about the challenges before us and use that thinking to design thoughtful theories of action to guide our future work" (p. 163).
Further, I plan to work with my peers on developing action research that may be applicable to my school. York-Barr, Somme's, Ghere, and Montie (2006) state that, "Action research, therefore, should also be considered as a way to promote reflection and learning in small groups or teams, and schoolwide" (p. 141). As a teacher leader, I will work to help all of my colleagues conduct their own action research, possibly together, to attack one of the many difficulties we all have. As Hattie (2012) urges, "A key role of learning leaders is to construct the learning of the adults in the schools" (p. 175). To help move my school in a positive direction, I need to take on the role of a teacher of students and of adults. This is one of the most important realizations I have had as a part of this teacher leadership program.
Sources:
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. New York, NY: Routledge.
Ravid, R. (2011). Practical statistics for educators. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.In undertaking my action research, I first had to understand what approach I should take. As Ravid (2011) states, "Action research is conducted by practitioner-researchers in their own settings to solve a problem by studying it, proposing solutions, implementing the solutions, and assessing the effectiveness of these solutions" (p. 4). Working from this definition, I decided to look at the literature about technology and formative assessment in a high school math classroom. I was able to find very little, so I decided to do some research of this on my own. Performing this research did not yield a great deal of positive data, but was very useful in determining what steps should occur for me moving forward (see my action research paper). Because of this, I am continuing my research in the area of technology and formative assessment so that I can better utilize what I have started.
Moving forward, I will continue utilizing what I have learned from both my project and action research in general. As Sagor states, "The greatest value of what we learn from our action research lies in the power of the new knowledge and the insights we gained for informing our future actions and consequently benefiting our students" (2011, p. 163). Moving forward is where the real value of action research lies. The changes that I will enact as a result of my research from all of my classes is going to help me to become the teacher I hope to be. Figuring out where all of this research will take me moving forward, I was struck by another quote by Sagor, "If we are to become truly reflective practitioners, the thing we must always do before commencing action is to reflect deeply on what we already know about the challenges before us and use that thinking to design thoughtful theories of action to guide our future work" (p. 163).
Further, I plan to work with my peers on developing action research that may be applicable to my school. York-Barr, Somme's, Ghere, and Montie (2006) state that, "Action research, therefore, should also be considered as a way to promote reflection and learning in small groups or teams, and schoolwide" (p. 141). As a teacher leader, I will work to help all of my colleagues conduct their own action research, possibly together, to attack one of the many difficulties we all have. As Hattie (2012) urges, "A key role of learning leaders is to construct the learning of the adults in the schools" (p. 175). To help move my school in a positive direction, I need to take on the role of a teacher of students and of adults. This is one of the most important realizations I have had as a part of this teacher leadership program.
Sources:
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. New York, NY: Routledge.
Sagor, R. (2011). The action research guidebook: A four-stage process for educators and school teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
York-Barr, J., Sommers, W.A., Ghere, G.S., Montie, J. (2006). Reflective practice to improve schools: An action guide for educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
