Research

1. STRENGTHENING
RESEARCH TO IMPROVE
SCHOOLING OUTCOMES

2. Presentation Outline
 Clarifying the concepts
 Action research
 Some research areas
 Possible research questions
 Mixing research methods
 Points to remember in writing research reports

3. Research
MICHAEL BASSEY,
Faculty of Education, Nottingham Polytechnic
• process of finding out which
is conducted not on a
random or arbitrary basis but
in the light of some
theoretical perspective.
Systematic
Inquiry
• perceptions, interpretations,
explanations and conclusions
are subject to questioning
which challenges them both
logically and ethically.
Critical
Inquiry

4. Two Categories of Research
Workers
Understand
• trying to describe, interpret or explain what
is happening without inducing any change
• giving a theoretical account which links with
existing theoretical ideas
Change
• trying to induce some change which they
see as beneficial
• using systematic and critical enquiry in
attempts to improve the practical situation

5. Action ResearchNSW, Australia, 2010
 the term which describes the integration of
action (implementing a plan) with research
(developing an understanding of the
effectiveness of this implementation).

6. Educational Action Research...
 “refers to taking a systematic look at some
educational practice and recording what was
done, why it was done, collecting data,
analyzing the data and reflecting on how the
results might influence future teaching
endeavors.”
 (http://actionresearch.altec.org/)

9. What Works in Schools
Marzano, 2003
School Level
Factors
• A guaranteed and viable curriculum
• Challenging goals and effective feedback
• Parent and community involvement
• Safe and orderly environment
• Collegiality and professionalism
Teacher Level
Factors
• Instructional strategies
• Classroom management
• Classroom curriculum design
Student Level
Factors
• Home environment
• Learned intelligence and background knowledge
• Student motivation

10. Master teachers have high skills
and high will - Jackson, 2003
SKILL
is the science of teaching
involves a teacher’s pedagogical and
content knowledge
WILL
is the art of teaching
has to do with a teacher’s passion
involves a teacher’s drive to help all
students be successful

11. The Will and Skill Matrix

12. Four Categories of Teaching
SkillMaster Teacher
• teaching is fluid and automatic
• seems to know the right thing to do at the right
time
Practitioner
• proficient in practice but approach to teaching is not entirely
seamless
Apprentice
 takes time to understand curriculum objectives and figure out
how to meet them all, but tends to attack each objective
separately and misses interrelationships and how each
objective contributes to the big picture of student learning
 lessons of apprentice teachers often lack coherence
Novice
 tends to struggle with planning and classroom management
and therefore has a disjointed approach to teaching

13. Strategies for Addressing
WillIF TEACHERS NEED … GIVE THEM …
Autonomy Several suggestions or recommendations from which they can
choose
Choices about time, task, technique, team, and territory
Descriptive rather than prescriptive feedback in noncontrolling
language that implies that they always have a choice
Mastery Deliberate practice with clear goals and immediate feedback
Novelty
Challenge
Frequent growth-oriented feedback
Purpose Opportunities to set their own professional learning goals
Reasons behind new initiatives, requests, and suggestions
Opportunities to participate in teacher inquiry
A clear vision for the organization and an understanding of their
own role in it
Nested praise
Belonging Nonevaluative, casual conversation about teaching
Access to you and to others who can help them
Opportunities to work with others
Strategies for forging positive relationships with colleagues and
students

14. Helping Every Teacher Become
a Master Teacher
FOR YOUR … SHAPE THE
ENVIRONMENT
SHAPE YOUR
LEADERSHIP
APPROACH
MANAGE THE
POWER DYNAMICS
Low-Will/Low-Skill
Teachers
Create an
instructional
environment where it
is easier for teachers
to do the right thing
and harder for them
to do the wrong thing
(or nothing at all).
Engage teachers in
conversations to
determine which is
more prevalent, low
will or low skill, and
start there first.
If in doubt, address
will first and then
skill.
Focus on building
cooperation rather
than defaulting to
coercive leadership
techniques.
Give teachers time
to cooperate but
start with these
teachers first once
you shift to
evaluative feedback.
Low-Will/High-Skill
Teachers
Develop
environmental cues
that feed their
primary will driver.
Build skill while
maintaining will.
Clarify leadership
roles throughout the
process.
Resist the urge to
engage in power
struggles.

15. Helping Every Teacher Become
a Master Teacher
FOR YOUR … SHAPE THE
ENVIRONMENT
SHAPE YOUR
LEADERSHIP
APPROACH
MANAGE THE
POWER DYNAMICS
High-Will/Low-Skill
Teachers
Incorporate making
and learning from
mistakes into the
instructional culture.
Build skill while
maintaining will.
Clarify leadership
roles throughout the
process.
Give teachers time
to practice before
shifting to more
evaluative feedback.
High-Will/High-Skill
Teachers
Keep the focus on
how mastery directly
affects the school
vision and goals.
Sustain will by
continuing to invest
in these teachers.
Allow them to
choose how they will
improve their skill,
and provide
appropriate
supports.
Maintain high will
and skill by not
abusing your power.
Allow these teachers
plenty of freedom,
and provide informal
leadership
opportunities.

16. Four Critical Aspects of
Education
Lemke and Sabelli
• where
people learn
or learning
environment
• which
people learn
and why
• what people
learn
• how people
learn
Cognition Content
ContextEquity

18. In addition to profiling
respondents....
 Are there significant differences in the
performance of respondents who experienced the
intervention and those who did not?
 To what level has the intervention produced the
desired outcomes?
 What factors fostered/hindered the production of
the outcomes?
 Why do these factors facilitate/constrain the
production of the outcomes?
 What other strategies that can produce the
outcomes are identified by the respondents?

19. Mixed Research Methods
 Research in which the investigator collects
and analyses data, integrates the findings, and
draws inferences using both qualitative and
quantitative approaches or methods in a single
study or program of inquiry (Tashakkori and
Creswell, 2007:4).

20. Combining qualitative and
quantitative methods....
 brings together the strengths and benefits of
each while reducing their respective
weaknesses and limitations (Bryman, 1988).
 can provide some corroboration or offer fuller
understanding than can be achieved through a
single method.
 ensures or increases the internal validity of
results.

22. Research Paper Evaluation Criteria
Kelley, Bennett and Moore, 2002
 How well does the Title introduce the study?
 How well does the Abstract describe the
research study?
 Are the Research Questions adequately
defined?
 Does the Rationale justify the purpose for the
study and/or place it within the context of current
theory and practice?

23. Evaluation Criteria cont.
 Is the Methodology clearly described and well
matched to the research questions?
 Is the Analysis of Data adequately described?
 Are the Findings clearly identified?
 Are the Implications for future research,
classroom practices, or policy discussed?

24.  When you take stuff from one writer it's
plagiarism; but when you take it from many
writers, it's research.
 Wilson Wizner
 Research is to see what everybody else
has seen, and to think what nobody else
has thought.
 Albert Szent-Gyorgyi