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Research Project MAIED 2011-2012
Thomas SalmonThe Impact of ESL Teacher Training and
Professional growth in Madrasah Tsanawiyah in Indonesia
Doing the Research Project
Contents
1. First steps
2. Getting Organised
3. Finding the Logic
4. On the Road
5. Writing Up
6. Final Tips
First steps
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Topic / Idea
English Language Teacher
Indonesia
Teacher Training
Governance
Quality
Key Questions for Research Design
WHAT is the research topic and WHICH methodology will be employed
HOW will the research topic be addressed in this study
WHERE and WHEN will the topic be studied, and WHO are the subjects
WHERE will the subject be found and HOW will the data be gathered
HOW will the data be processed and IN WHAT WAY will it be interpreted
HOW will the findings be communicated to the community and interested parties
LAPIS – ELTIS (AusAID 2004 to 2011)English Language Training (ELTIS) in Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs)
Component of Learning Assistance Program for Islamic schools (LAPIS)
Delivered by the Australian Indonesian Language Foundation (IALF) & State Islamic Universities in Indonesia
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• Trained 771 teachers, 125 master and district trainers
• Supported 14 teacher support groups in Java, Lombok and Sulawesi.
• Cascade training model
• In-service language upgrading
• Introduced communicative ELT methodology
• Adapted In-service Cambridge English Language Teaching (ICELT)
• Created materials and resource kits and packs including textbooks, flashcards and listening materials with a focus on Islamic life.
• Aimed to introduce ways of teaching English in a more communicative and less didactic way.
• Broadly successful evaluation of short term impact by AusAID
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ELTIS Cascade Model
Master Trainers in IAIN Institutes
Teachers in schools
Teachers working between schools
Teachers working in support groups
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Bases for Methodological Distinction
Ontology
Epistemology
Methodology
Design
Instruments
Paradigms of Research
Positivism Symbolic InteractionismPhenomenology,Feminism, etc.
Ontology Realism / Objectivism Constructionism
Epistemology Empiricism Interpretivism
Methodology Quantitative Qualitative
Research Fixed Design Fixed /Flexible Design
Ontological Assumptions
There is no objective reality
There are no absolute truths
Knowledge does not come
through the senses alone
Research focuses on the
construction of meanings
Meanings emerge out of
people’s interaction with the
world
Meanings do not exist before a mind engages with them
The world is constructed by
the people who live in it
My initial chosen paradigm was “Relational Co-constructivism”
Getting A Focus
Context Contingent
Issues
BackgroundMain focus
Initial Focus
Enabling conditions for change
Experience / perspective of actors
Real vs / projected change
Methodology and practice of ESL pedagogy
Post Colonial perspective and Globalisation
Neoliberal Education Reform in Indonesia
English as a global “linguistic currency”
Bourdieu
cultural / social capital perspective
Clifford Geertz
Cultural Anthropology
Education and Modernisation & historical background
Plans Changed
Took an internship with UNESCO for 3 months
Worked in Australia for 6 months
Travelled to visit the project HQ in Indonesia
Set up contacts to work with in Indonesia
Returned to Sussex in 2012
Getting Organised
Research questions
1. What is the impact of ELTIS training on teaching and learning practices for teachers within these schools?
a.What is the impact on their teaching practice?
b.How do teachers describe changes in their teaching practices since being trained?
2. What has the program enabled teachers and trainers to do within their institutional contexts and professional network?
a.What do teachers say they have been able to do as a result of the project within their institutions and teacher support groups?
b.What do teachers and trainers see as important factors in the process
enabling them to do this?
c.How do teachers describe themselves as agents of change within their
contexts? 17
Steps for Flexible (Qualitative) Design
Selection of the research topic and methodology
Framing of research questions; literature review; conceptualisation strategy and rationale
Choice of: setting, key informants, study groups, events, methods of data collection and assistants
Entering field; collecting data; re-defining, aligning methods / sampling; checking for soundness of data and the approach
Analysing data; formulating / testing hypotheses; aligning research process.
Preparing a report for discussion and submission and publication
Steps for Flexible (Qualitative) Design
Selection of the research topic and methodology
Framing of research questions; literature review; conceptualisation strategy and rationale
Choice of: setting, key informants, study groups, events, methods of data collection and assistants
Entering field; collecting data; re-defining, aligning methods / sampling; checking for soundness of data and the approach
Analysing data; formulating / testing hypotheses; aligning research process.
Preparing a report for discussion and submission and publication
Iteration of the Research Design
Issues My Solutions• Effectiveness of interviews (open or closed) and tools to collect data
• Try to pilot questions and improve them if necessary. Consider the wide range of instruments to collect information
• Scope and number of research questions given the short time frame
• Be prepared to cut back if absolutely necessary, try to be realistic
• Gaining unrestricted access to teachers in schools and negotiating local bureaucracy to gain information
• Email, use social media, snowball contacts, write letters, build relationships upfront via official and unofficial channels
• Reporting results to stakeholders afterwards
• Seek and be clear about support early on, keep stakeholders informed and use ethics process to set permissions
• Language issues, transport and dates of school holidays
• Use translators & internet services, find out distances and travel details, plan dates for interviews and schedule
• Concerns about gaps in my literature review and methological design of the proposal
• Keep reading, thinking about research design and questions
Issues My Solutions• Effectiveness of interviews (open or closed) and tools to collect data
• Try to pilot questions and improve them if necessary. Consider the wide range of instruments to collect information
• Scope and number of research questions given the short time frame
• Be prepared to cut back if absolutely necessary, try to be realistic
• Gaining unrestricted access to teachers in schools and negotiating local bureaucracy to gain information
• Email, use social media, snowball contacts, write letters, build relationships upfront via official and unofficial channels
• Reporting results to stakeholders afterwards
• Seek and be clear about support early on, keep stakeholders informed and use ethics process to set permissions
• Language issues, transport and dates of school holidays
• Use translators & internet services, find out distances and travel details, plan dates for interviews and schedule
• Concerns about gaps in my literature review and methological design of the proposal
• Keep reading, thinking about research design and questions
Finding the logic
Finding the logic
Theoretical Frameworks
_____________
Methodology andMethods
Dunne, M.(2012) Insights From Different Stages of The Research Journey
Focus and Design
• What are the substantive issues I want to address?• What theoretical ideas will I use / confront?• What data ? From where ? How does this position
you as a researcher?• How will the data speak to the substantive /
theoretical issues?• Your research questions indicate your focus – what
are yours?• How has the process of focussing (context –
substantive – theoretical – methodological) influenced your design?
Dunne, M. (2012) Insights From Different Stages of The Research Journey
Finding the logic
Theoretical Frameworks
Substantive Issues
Methodology andMethods
Dunne, M. (2012) Insights From Different Stages of The Research Journey
Into the Vortex
f
o
c
u
s
Reflective diary
On the Road
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31
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34
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What HappenedI was given a lot of amazing support, time and help from the district trainers
and local teachers, provincial and district authorities, and the project staff
and the schools themselves.
I spent a lot of my time with people. I talked with teachers, visited private
universities for workshops, interviewed staff at partner institutions in person
and with skype, held focus group discussions with teacher support groups,
and interviewed the principals of schools and observed 6 lessons.
I also spent a lot of time travelling around with teachers and local Imam’s,
visiting villages and local schools and teachers.
I recorded as much as I could using my tools and in four weeks I collected
plenty of data.
Writing up
Changes and Revisions
• I made some revisions to my project design / plan.• I had so much data but I found that I still needed to
go through it all again.• I found new uncertainties and gaps in my knowledge.• I began to recognise more of my own assumptions
and also my own bias in my work.• I under-estimated the time it would take to get work
done.• I coded everything (using Invivo)• I had to get into a new frame of thinking for writing
Final Tips
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com
Focusing
• Many tools helped and guided me through (mental exercises, ethics process, Invivo, research books, toolkits etc).
• I used time management tools (Pomodo).
• My tutor helped me a great deal to find ways to set limits around the research process and my thinking.
• It was essential to set priorities and plan tasks out.
Finding My Way
• It was a complex iterative process.
• Stepping away and thinking about the big picture / story I wanted to tell was often helpful.
• Asking people for feedback, discussing and presenting my ideas to others helped.
• Giving myself time to engage with people and the process was important too.
Finishing
• I had to make compromises to get things done.
• I had to learn to recognise if things were not working and change them.
• I had to take a few risks, but they were calculated risks.
• I had to pick quick wins and find ways to avoid intractable problems.
Any questions ?
"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com