UNIVERSITY OF CALDAS

DOCTORATE PROGRAM

IN SCIENCES AND EDUCATION

RUDECOLOMBIA

And

MASTER DEGREE PROGRAM

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH SEMINAR2006

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

BY: JOSEFINA QUINTERO CORZO. PHD(U Antioquia-U Caldas. 2001)

1. The meaning of action research.

2. The crucial role of reflective teachers in the quality of education.

3. The function of educational research in the teacher training programs.

4. The relationship between pedagogical practice and research processes at school.

5. The need to train the new teacher to be a ‘problem solver’ in a changing world.

6. The traditional dilemma: “to work as a teacher it is enough to have a wide set of technical procedures without research training.

THE SCHOOL: SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

EPISTEMIC PARADIGMS IDEALISM RATIONALIST EMPIRISM EXPERIMENTALISM NATURALISM PRAGMATISM INDUCTIVE REASONING CRITICAL APPOACH REFLECTIVE / TRANSFORMATIVE APPROACH PHENOMENOLOGY COMPREHENSIVE PARADIGM

INSTRUMENTS

Kemmis and McTaggart, 1998

THE INTROSPECTIVE SPIRAL

Ideas-in-action

The study of a social situation with a view to improving the quality of action.

A form of collective self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in order to improve the productivity, rationally, and justice of their own social and educational practices.

To provide a way of working which links theory and practice.

To produce active knowing which will preserve and enhance this capacity and this power.

Trying out ideas in practice as a means of improvement and as a means of increasing knowledge about the curriculum, teaching, and learning.

The result is improvement in what happens in the classroom and school, and better articulation and justification of the educational rationale for what goes on.

To improve what is already happening

To act to implement the plan

To observe the effects of action in the context in which it occurs

To reflect on these effects as a basis for further planning,

subsequent action, through a succession of cycles.

A GENERAL IDEAA DIFFICULT PROBLEM REQUIRING SOLUTION

PLANNINGHOW TO SOLVE THE

PROBLEM

ACTING

A FIELD EXPERIMENT. IMPLEMENATION OF A

STRATEGIC PLAN

OBSERVINGCOLLECTING DATA.

AN EVALUATION OF THE ACTION. APPROPRIATE

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

REFLECTINGREGARDING THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF ACTION. REFLECTING ON THE RESULTS AND ON THE WHOLE PROCESS Identification of a new problem

and a new cycle Lewin, 1946.

S

T

E

P

S

OFACTION-

RESEARCH

PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Recognizing real contexts

Decision-Making

Solving problems

Improving teaching practice

•QUESTIONS ¿?

• OBSERVATION

•TAKING NOTES

•RECOGNIZING REAL CONTEXTS

•ANALYSIS

•REFLECTION

•INTERPRETATION

•DECISION-MAKING

•PLAN

•ACTION- EXPERIMENTS

•WRITING

•SOLVING PROBLEMS

•RESTARTING THE CYCLE

If teacher-trainees transfer the reflective action-research cycle into their classrooms…

Will they improve and change their action as educators?…

Will they be able to produce pedagogical knowledge?

• To introduce a new potential of young teachers in the Licenciatura Program to the concept and practice of action-research in order to improve and qualify their action as educators.

•Young teacher-trainees will be able to transfer the action research cycle to real situations in their field of practice.

• To transform into a more reflective process, the educational practice, in order to promote pedagogical knowledge and to improve decision making by teacher-trainees and advisors.

PURPOSES

•Initial enthusiasm

•Anxiety, patience and acceptance

•Research problems obssession

•Time management

•Separation of previous training and the field of practice

•Sophistication in terminology and procedures

•Long-term questions

•Excessive data collection

•Constant changes in research projects

KEEPING A DIARY

Instruments.doc

DESCRIPTIVE LEVEL INTERPRETATIVE LEVEL REFLECTION LEVEL -ACTION PLAN

Topic: The Diary.Date:_____ OBSERVER:____________

Sitting around the table, I began the seminar at 2:30 p.m. On the table was the material: The readings, definitions of a diary, a list of some methodological instructions, samples of diaries, teacher’s and students’ notebooks...

I consider that the diary is definitely a fundamental tool in the process or learning action-research methodologies...

It is necessary to begin the diary in order to give the teacher-trainees confidence and freedom to write their experiences. They will grow as observers.

Note-taking improve.

Transcripts - Diary.doc

“It is the written production coming up from teachers´ reflected experience.”

“Teaching, learning, and education are the distinctive features of every teacher. There is the genesis of pedagogical knowledge.”

(Quintero, 2001. Doctoral Dissertation. U Antioquia-U Caldas)

“It is the written production coming up from teachers´ reflected experience.”

“Teaching, learning, and education are the distinctive features of every teacher. There is the genesis of pedagogical knowledge.”

(Quintero, 2001. Doctoral Dissertation. U Antioquia-U Caldas)

Evidences

Action Research contributions to educational practice

Deeper comprehension of school reality

Capability of deeper analysis of classroom situations

Creativity to report observations and analysis of data

Reflective and assertive decision-making processes

More critical analysis and conclusions of pedagogical issues

Coherence in the way of thinking, feeling, and acting.Scientific competences: -Writing skills, questions

-Observation, taking notes -Recognizing real contexts, -Analysis, Reflection, interpretation

-Action plans- experiments

- -Solving problems

FINDINGS

•Teachers are in the ideal position to improve (transform) the environment, context or conditions in which their practice takes place.

•Research necessarily has an impact on the educational processes: New methodologies, new evaluation methods, new teaching strategies, etc. are taken into the classroom.

•The competences of observing, questioning, describing, taking notes, interpreting, reflecting, planning, acting, and writing should become part of the routine of every teacher.

•Action-research process is intended to promote professional maturation of beginning teachers.

•Educational reforms should include Action-Research.