Y510 Action Research: Becoming Deliberate Course Readings

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Course Texts

Required

Altrichter, H., Posch, P., & Somekh, B. (1993). Teachers investigate their work: An introduction to the methods of action reseach. London, Routledge.

This is a good book for the nuts and bolts of how to do action research. The authors walk the reader through the strategies and methods of doing action research. This is a good book to get started with action research as the authors explanations and examples are clear and concise. This will be the primary book for the course.

Calhoun, E. F. (1994). How to use action research in the self-renewing school. Alexandria, Virgina: Association for the Supervision and Curriculum Development.

This is perhaps the most popular book on how to conduct action research. The book is short and to the point. Of particular interest are chapters 2,4, and 5. Chapter 2 describes how to establish a conceptual framework. Chaper 4 describes (what Calhoun calls the first phase of action research) how to select an area of focus of the action research. Chapter 5 describes how to go about collecting data. The reminder of the book discusses how to interpret the data and then how to put the findings into action. If you are new to action research then this is a good book to start with.

Optional

Stringer, E. T. (1999). Action Research (2nd ed). New York, Sage.

This book describes what action research from a community-based action research approach. The book does a good job of explaining the various statges of an action research project ranging from choosing a topic to determining, the role of the researcher, ethical considerations, and how to encourage and support all stakeholders to become part of an action research project. The book closes with how to report the findings from the conducted research and how action research can inform theory.

Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2001). Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice. New York, Sage.

This book is a summary of the current state of the art in action research. The book focuses on the theoretical groundings of action research and how those groundings support action research as a research methodology. The second half of the book focuses on the skills and practices of action research. The authors of the chapters are the leaders in the field of action research and this is a good book to have on your bookshelf as a reference. Note: This is an expensive book but we will be reading a few chapter out of it.

Other readings:

Ball, D. L. (2000). Working on the inside: Using one's own practice as a site for studying teaching and learning. Handbook of Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education. A. E. Kelly and R. A. Lesh. Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

This chapter is written by one of the leaders in the field of action/practitioner research. In particular, she examines the benefits and pitfalls of conducting research on one's own practice. She does this by examining published research by other educational researchers and her own experiences in conducting research on her own classes. She makes the distinction between researcher-teacher and teacher-researcher and presents research from both perspectives. The chapter closes with suggestions on how to avoid the pitfalls that other educational researchers have encountered when conducting an action research project and with suggestions on how action research can be used to gain a more holistic view of teaching.

Bruce, B. C. and J. A. Easley (2000). "Emerging communities of practice: Collaboration and communication in action research." Educational Action Research 8(2): 244-259.

This article describes the esperiences of a university and school collaboration. This article is of particular interest because much of action research is collaborative with university faculty members. This article shows the importance of accomadting differences within a school's culture as well as providing mutual suppport for long-term collaborations.

Cochran-Smith, M. and S. L. Lytle (1993). Inside, Outside Teacher Research and Knowledge. New York, Teachers College Press.

This book describes why teacher research is needed and how educational researchers can work with practicing teachers to better understand how to improve both teacher education and in-service teacher education. Of particular interest in this book from an action research perspective is chapter 6 that focuses on journal writing. Also chapter 2 which discusses how we can use teacher research to inform theory and improve practice is of interest.

Cook, T. (1998). "The importance of Mess in Action Research." Educational Action Research 6(1): 93-108.

This is a wonderful article by a former teacher who discussess the problems and the overwhelming amount of data or possible areas that one can examine when doing action research. This paper describes the authors personal experience in conducting an action research project and as such may provide you with some insight into some of the pitfalls, issues, and other concerns that you might have before beginning your own project.

Doerr, H. M. and P. P. Tinto (2000). Paradigms for teacher-centered, classroom-based research. Handbook of Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education. Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

This chapter describes the various theoretical perspectives that one can take when undertaking an action research project. This chapter describes the role of the researcher as an intepretative lens through which all findings are viewed and examined. This chapter also describes how to conduct large scale action research projects with many teachers and how action reseach can be used to support change within a school.

Eisner, E. W. (1981). "On the differences between scientific and artistic approaches to qualitative research." Educational Researcher 10(4): 5-10.

This paper is brief and to the point. This is a good paper to read if you are not sure about all the fuss about doing scientific research and doing qualitative research. The paper lays out 10 dimenstions along which scientific and qualitative research differ. It worth your time to read to see if you agree.

Feldman, A. and J. M. Atkin (1995). Embedding action research in professional practice. Educational Action Research: Becoming Practically Critical. S. E. Noffke and R. B. Stevenson. New York, Teachers College Press.

This chapter first describes the authors style of doing action research and then goes on to the discuss the relationship between university researchers and school teachers when doing action research. The authors also examine how action research can be designed to self-sustaining and disucsses the goals of action research.

Feldman, A. and J. Minstrell (2000). Action research as a research methodology for the study of the teaching and learning of science. Handbook of Research Design in Mathematics and Science Education. A. E. Kelly and R. A. Lesh. Mahwah, New Jersey, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

This chapter is written by two leaders in the field of action research. This is a very readable chapter and proposes a definition for action research and describes how they have conducted action research in their own classes. This chapter has a fairly detailed example of an action research project and as such this is a good chapter to read if one is thinking of beginning an action research project. This chapter is also a good chapter to read if you are an external researcher and planning on facilitating and action research project.

Flores, E. and S. Granger (1995). The role of the collaborator in action research. Educational Action Research: Becoming Practically Critical. S. E. Noffke and R. B. Stevenson. New York, Teachers College Press.

This chapter is an attempt to share the authors experience with an on-going action research project and to share their experience with being a collaborator in an action research project. This is a good chapter to read if you are going to facilitate action research amongst a group of teachers.

Gall, J. P., M. D. Gall, et al. (1999). Chapter 15: Action Research. Applying educational research: A practical guide. New York, Longman.

This is an excellent introduction to action research. The authors describe action reseach how it differs from other types of qualitative research. Provides mutliple examples and even has a sample write-up and the end of the chapter.

Ginns, I., H. Ann, et al. (2001). "Beginning teachers becoming professional through action research." Educational Action Research 9(1): 111-133.

This article describes the conduct of and acquired understanding from a study designed to promote the professional growht of a gorup of beginning primary school teachers through participatory action research. The teachers in this study collaborated with university academic staff during the design and implementation of the study. The overall findings of this study, from the view of the university researchers, found that action research provides and ideal conduit for the reflection on teachers' belief systems and supported the teachers in developing the decision making capabilities that would enhance their teaching, and help the teachers assume control over their respective situations.

Gomez, M. L. (1996). "Telling stories of our teaching, reflecting on our practices." Action in Teacher Education 18(3): 1-12.

This article explores how one teacher educator developed contexts in which White, middle-class prospective teachers told teaching stories to one another in a weekly, on-campus, student-teaching seminar. The goal of the seminar was for the student teachers to consider alternative ways to think about and to behave toward children different from themselves in race, social class, and language backgrounds. Through storytelling, the prospective teachers saw the strengths of children whom others wished to label as deficient. By sharing stories, the prospective teachers engaged in collaborative critique regarding classroom events, took greater control over their own development as teachers, and developed plans for future action that support all children.

Holly, M. L. (1989). "Reflective writing and the spirit of inquiry." Cambridge Journal of Education 19(1): 71-80.

This paper describes how journal writing can be used to improve teacher practice. This paper also examines the art of journal writing and how journal writing informs one about the self and ones own beliefs systems. This article also describes how thorugh journaling one can create and re-create everyday events so careful attention needs to be paid to ones journal.

Kemmis, S. and R. McTaggart (2000). Participatory Action Research. Handbook of Qualitative Research. N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.

This chapter describes the various approaches that can be taken when udertaking an action research project. This chapter also does a good job of explaining and clarifying the criticisms toward action research as a educational research methodology. This chapter a bit lenghty, but is a must read for beginners to the field of action research as it lays out the foundation upon which action research is built.

Lacey, P. (Educational Action Research). "Improving Practice thorugh reflective enquiry: Confessions of a first-time action researcher." Educational Action Research 4(3): 349-361.

This is an interesting paper that describes the challenges and successess that a beginning action researcher experienced in her first attempt. This paper is a good paper to read if you are feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of tackling an action research project on your own.

Lampert, M. (1986). "Knowing, Doing, and Teaching Multiplication." Cognition and Instruction 3(4): 305-342.

This is perhaps one of the best examples of an action research project. The author examines how her teaching ifluences her studnets understanding of multiplication and provides considerable detail into justifying her interpreation and claims. In particular the author does a good job of tying her work to recent work on how students learning mathematics and how through her research she is able to take the theory and put it into practice and then examine her practice so that it informs theory. This is an excellent example and good article read to get an idea for how an expert action researcher writes up their study.

Lather, P. (1986). "Research as praxis." Harvard Educational Review 56(3): 257-277.

This paper is an early paper to explore the implications of doing emancipatory reseach such as action research and how it relates to theory. Reading this paper will give you a good foundation of the recent history (action research goes back to the 1940s) and how action research (though not called that in the article) can generate valid and informative knowledge.

Leitch, R. and C. Day (2000). "Action research and refletive practice: Towards a holistic view." Educational Action Research 8(1): 179-193.

This article takes a step back and looks at the evolution of action research . In particular, this article examines the part played in teachers' development by different kinds of action research. The papers general thesis is that, although action research has a critical role to play not the least of which is supporting the teachers in building the capacity to control their own local situations, there has been a paucity of attention given to both the nature of reflection in the aciton research processes and its relationionsip to the goals and outcomes of the action research. The authors suggest that more attention should be paid to the role of emotion in understanding and developing the capacities for teacher reflection.

McMahon, T. (1999). "Is reflective practice synomymous with action research?" Educational Action Research 7(1): 163-168.

This article discusses the similarities between theoretical conceptions of reflective practice and action research. In both, reflection on experience is seen as potentially transformative of the individuals and situations involved. Reflective practice can be seen as the spectific application of experiential learning to activities carried out as part of one's profession or job. The article then concludes that action research is much more than simple refletion, but reflection plays a critical role within an action research research project.

McTaggart, R., H. Henry, et al. (1997). "Traces of participatory action research: Reciprocity among educators." Educational Action Research 5(1): 123-139.

This paper describes how the authors manage to sustain a participatory action research project over time. This study describes the teachers' views about an effort to transform their current school culture into a setting where the teachers would openly examine and constructively criticize their own teaching. The authors discuss the importance of the reciprocity between the prinicpal, the teachers and the university researchers.

Melrose, M. and M. Reid (2000). "The daisy model for collaborative action research: application to educational practice." Educational Action Research 8(1): 151-165.

This paper proposes a model for the implemenation of action research. The model, the Daisy Model, is a conceptualisation of the way in which a core group of experienced and novice action researchers work on a reange of related, but smaller projects that contribute to organastionational improvement. The authors have been developing this model since 1995 and claims that the model is particularly useful when working with large teams and when there is a diversity in expertise. The authors describe their model in detail and describe how each member of the action research team contributes to the larger goal of the action research (i.e. improved organasations)

Messner, E. and F. Rauch (1995). "Dilemnas of Facilitating Action Research." Educational Action Research 3(1): 41-53.

This paper describes how the authors facilitated 10 teachers in conducting an action research project. They interviewed the teachers concerning their views of the project and found that they were continouing struggling to find their role. Specifically the authors found the primary tension in their work was either being and advisor or expert or being a critical friend or a dissassociated observer.

Newman, S. (1999). "Constructing and critiquing reflective practice." Educational Action Research 7(1): 145-161.

This work reviews Donald Schon concpetion of reflective practice and in the authors view points out some difficulties in his view of what reflective practive means. Specifically, the author critiques a case study presented by Schon with the goal of pointing out inconsisties within Schon intepretation in relation to his conception of reflection in and on practice. The author then reinterprets Schon's analysis through a metaphilosophical lens and concludes that the term reflective practice may be more of a hindrance that a help in understanding the conception of reflection. The author claims that critical practice may be a better term as that emphasizes interpretation rather than simple reflection.

Pinnegar, S. (1996). "Sharing stories: A teachesr educator accounts for narrative in her teaching." Action in Teacher Education 18(3): 13-22.

Currently, there is strong interest in narrative and story and their role in learning how to teach. As a teacher educator working with students, not yet teachers, I became interested in my use of story in my teaching. This study examines the use of story in an adolescent development course. The article reviews the methodology employed, the problematics of storytelling in teaching, and three patterns of storytelling that emerged. The patterns of discourse reflect the underlying purposes of teacher education and highlight the relationship of teller and audience. The discussion highlights the role of storytelling as a way of expanding experience and the analysis of experience for beginning teachers.

Placier, M. (1996). "An action research approach to a contradiction in teaching: Reconciling grades with democratic education." Action in Teacher Education 18(3): 23-32.

The following study applies the action research model recently proposed by British educators Jean McNiff (1993) and Jack Whitehead (1993). This model emphasizes the centrality of a teacher's values in teaching decisions. McNiff and Whitehead propose that the process of acting to resolve contradictions between one's values and practices is a process of creating living educational theory. In this case, the author identified an aspect of her teaching--grading of student papers--that was a continuing source of tension. Some students considered her grading process to be unfair. The author decided to attempt to break out of this power struggle by opening decisions about grading to democratic decisionmaking. The outcomes were more positive professor-student relationships, more emphasis on student learning, and improved student evaluations of the class.

Price, J. N. (2001). "Action research, pedagogy and change: the transformative potential of action research in pre-service teacher education." Journal of Curriculum Studies 33(1): 43-74.

In this paper the author examines 11 pre-service teachers' experiences of action research and unravel ways in which they made connections among pedagogy, research, and change. He contends that crafting an action-research course needs careful deliberation, because its content can powerfully influence theshape of teaching practice. He explains four critical components of such a course: reflection and inquiry; learning about students; learning about pedagogical content
knowledge; and learning about social justice and democracy. Through a close study of
three teacher candidates' action-research studies, the author shows how they used this framework
as a springboard to develop and enhance their commitments, ideas, and practices
as beginning teachers.

Rearick, M. L. and A. Feldman (1999). "Orientations, purposes and reflection: A framework for understanding action research." Teaching and Teacher Education 15: 333-349.

This paper presents a framework for the comparison and evaluation of action research that describes and attempts to clarify the differences among existing models. The foundation for this paper is built on the theoretical construct of praxis. To test their framework the authors examine several recent books such as Cochran-Smith and Lytle's book to clarify the different orientations and approaches taken in their action research work. The authors close with a model for action research that they hope will allow other researchers to use to focus their work.

Robertson, J. (2000). "The three Rs of action research methodology: reciprocity, reflexivity and refletion-on-reality." Educational Action Research 8(2): 308-326.

This article presents and exploration of the methodology of action research. The author presents the paper as a reflection on her own work where an action research methodology was used by the researcher and how the theory that emerged from the work fed into a model for professional development. Specifically, this paper describes how a researcher can not only use action research methods to gather data on a development, but can also lead a group of action researchers towards a greater awareness of their own practice in their own institutions.

Rosaen, C. and A. R. Gere (1996). "Both sides of the desk: Collaborative self-study in teacher education." Action in Teacher Education 18(3): 56-67.

The authors describe how they address this challenge by building stronger connections between teaching practices in their own methods classes and in the K-12 schools where preservice teachers observe and teach. These efforts were strengthened by their collaborative work in the Michigan English Language Arts Frameworks (MELAF) project. This state standards project--an integrated approach to speaking, reading, writing, listening, and viewing--aligns curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development. The MELAF content standards and professional developmental guidelines also provided a common text against which the authors could intepret their own curriculum and practices. The authors describe how reflective dialogue, action research, and critical inquiry into a standards-based English language arts curriculum supported revisions and improvements in their classroom practices and curriculum development, led to new ideas about collaborative structures, and stimulated additional research questions.

Steele, D. F. and T. F. Widman (1997). "Practitioner's research: A study in changing preservice teachers' conceptions about mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning." School Science and Mathematics 97(4): 184-191.

This paper discusses an ethnographic action research study in which 19 pre-service teachers conducted research on their own teaching as part of their elementary teaching certification training. Findings showed that students who participated in the action research project had a firmer understanding of their strengths and weaknessess regarding how to teach mathematics. The researchers also plan to examine the students own understanding of mathematical concepts and pratice.

Stenhouse, L. (1981). "What counts as research." British journal of educational studies 29(2): 103-114.

This is a good short article that investigates the question what counts as educational research. This is a quesiton that one will have to answer if you embark upon an action research project as action research has often been critized as not being rigourous and as such not seen as true educational research.

Toomey, R. (1997). "Transformative action research." Educational Action Research 5(1): 105-121.

This paper presents a case study of teachers in Papua New Guinea. The action research project was undertaken to support the teachers in taking more ownership and control over their own curriculum. However, as the project unfolded the author found that a the action research project was pushing the teachers in ways that were unanticipated. In particular through participation in the project the teachers began to take on new leadership roles and begin to see their role in the school and one of change and hence someone that could transform the current practices.

Valli, L. and J. N. Price (2000). "Deepening our understanding of praxis: Teacher educators' reflections on action research." Teaching Education 11(3): 267-278.

Although a significant body of scholarship examines action research, little has been written about its pedagogical implications within preservice teacher education. This article highlights some of the challenges involved in teaching action research to preservice teachers. In analyzing contrasting cases of receptivity to change, the authors derive new insight from and about praxis, a concept that signals the dual nature of action research: understanding and action. Two of the cases described in the article represent resistance to the change orientation of action research. One of these cases is at the individual (teacher candidate) level and one is at the institutional (cooperating school) level. The other two cases are examples of a teacher candidate's and school's readiness for change. By using praxis as an analytic tool, the authors developed deeper awareness of the problems that teacher candidates can have with both understanding and action. They describe these problems and conclude with pedagogical insights they gained from this analysis.

Zeni, J. (1998). "A guide to ethical issues and action research." Educational Action Research 6(1): 9-19.

This paper briefly discusses the ethical considerations of doing action research. There are numerous articles and books on the ethical considerations of doing qualitative research, but if you are new to the field this short article is a good place to start.

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