International Portal of Teacher Education
The online resource of academic content on teacher training and teacher education
Section archive - Research Methods
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288 items
1
The professional development of teachers in China takes place, to a large extent, in Teaching Research Groups (TRG) that exist in all schools.
Though there are diverse models of TRG activities, these might, on the surface, appear to resemble forms of Action Research (AR) or include elements that might resemble AR.
In conducting a Lesson Design Study (LDS) with a TRG in Shanghai, the authors encountered the specific challenge of what might be the interconnectedness and differences between AR and their LDS.
To address this issue, they applied a research-informed depiction of the distinguishing characteristics of AR to their LDS. Based on this analysis, they found that (1) in contrast to the depiction of AR that encompasses a choice of methods, their LDS follows a specific ‘design research’ methodology, (2) whereas the depiction of AR is simultaneously directed towards teacher self-change and restructuring the organisation or institution within which the teacher works, LDS concerns more than the practical questions in one local social context and aims to tackle bigger questions across the social contexts in the subject research field, and (3) whereas in the depiction of AR, teachers engage in a process of authentic collaboration with other teachers seeking to improve their practices, in the LDS community the external researchers and expert teachers play other roles in the TRG.
Even though there may be differences between the depiction of AR and their LDS, the interconnectedness is important in that both AR and their LDS contribute directly to school-based teacher professional development.
Published: 2019
Updated: Apr. 20, 2020
2
Detecting a Sustainable Mindset through Using Content Analysis of Teacher-produced Learning Journals
Having developed and piloted a professional development blended learning course for teachers of home economics with the purpose of promoting a sustainable mindset in their students, the authors used the written learning journals by the teachers during the 15-week course to detect various aspects of a sustainable mindset, which could be attributed to the course.
They assumed that the learning journals of 19 participants might reveal reflections on sustainability, the pedagogy of sustainability, a positive association between sustainability and the pedagogy of sustainability, and the development of a sustainable mindset over the period of the course.
The analysis confirmed that the participants reflected a great deal on learning and sustainability as the course progressed; revealing that a positive link between teaching practice and sustainability can be observed.
However, the analysis also indicated some important concepts that might have been under-emphasised in the course.
Published: 2019
Updated: Jan. 29, 2020
3
In the context of the major influence that ‘effectiveness’ is having internationally, this paper studies the contemporary methodological perspectives in educational research when considering teachers’ practice.
It shows that current trends can be boiled down to:
(1) naturalistic methodology,
(2) descriptive methodology, and
(3) the nonmethodological solution.
It states two main conclusions: first, there is a neat continuity with traditional methodologies, which were in decline long ago; second, contemporary perspectives in educational research fail to provide a consistent methodological model for ‘effective practices’.
The author finally draws some conclusions and makes some suggestions for the further development of methodology in educational research and teachers’ practice.
This study is noteworthy for teachers’ practice, collaborations and partnerships, and also for the relationship amongst research/practice/policy, which is at the core of the implementation of educational systems.
Published: 2019
Updated: Dec. 05, 2019
4
The central focus of this multilayered educational action research project was three-fold:
(1) to provide opportunities for public school student leadership activities grounded in participatory and youth participatory action research;
(2) to support a group of teacher-researchers in practicing and innovating in participatory action research frameworks;
(3) to practice linking an educational action research project in a local region to the larger movement for democratizing education knowledge production and dissemination.
Project participants included 11 teacher-researchers, a staff-developer, a consultant, a university-based faculty member, and students in K-8 schools in the Lehigh Valley region of Eastern Pennsylvania USA.
To move from a traditional top-down administrative and curricular decision- making model to a distributed and more democratic model of leadership, the team argues that
(1) children must be permitted to play a leading role in their own learning, leading, and researching;
(2) teacher offers significant advantages over traditional in-service based professional development models; and
(3) in an era of increased deskilling and deprofessionalization, teachers must have the opportunity to reclaim their profession as they conduct research, create new knowledge, and share their findings publicly.
Published: 2019
Updated: Dec. 03, 2019
5
The starting point for this inductive study is to determine, through a search of studies, what critical viewpoints in terms of research are delivered, based on experiences, observations and evaluation, concerning the Bologna Process over time?
The aim is to present a description using a thematic analysis based on data from 38 papers (2004–2016) that reveal the critical reasoning behind the research.
The reasoning is critical in the sense that various authors have elaborated on and problematized aspects of the Bologna Process in terms of what to avoid and/or have characterized aspects related to the Bologna Process that are not desirable.
Based on the outcome of the thematic analysis, theorists were selected in order to deepen the reasoning and meaning highlighted in three themes.
The findings are further discussed in terms of knowledge and curriculum development for the future and the advancement of European higher education policy and beyond on equal terms.
The article suggests that there are causes for concern regarding unwanted consequences in the aftermath of the Bologna Process.
Published: 2019
Updated: Sep. 12, 2019
6
This literature review aims to examine the use of action research in higher education. It examines pedagogical research as a field of study. It also considers student engagement. The authors conclude that action research has produced important changes in practice. However, it needs to continue to evolve and respond to the limitations identified in this review.
Published: 2017
Updated: Oct. 07, 2018
7
This paper introduces the concept of ‘co-impact’ to characterise the complex and dynamic process of social and economic change generated by participatory action research (PAR).
The authors developed a conceptual framework, based on a threefold distinction between ‘participatory’, ‘collaborative’ and ‘collective’ impact. They apply this framework to a case study action research project, Debt on Teesside, working with low-income households in North East England. They aimed to show what kinds of individual, organizational and social changes were generated in this particular case, and what conceptual framework might be useful for organising and understanding co-impact.
Published: 2017
Updated: Sep. 06, 2018
8
This paper explains what clinical research is and why it is necessary. The author argues that the term ‘clinical’ refers to an academic way of solving practical problems. The author wonders whether clinical research contribute to knowledge for the teaching profession. She suggests that the (tacit) knowledge acquired in classrooms enables researchers to perceive more relevant factors in practice and enables them to understand the problems of teaching better. She concludes that clinical research is a type of action research in the sense that it acknowledges the epistemic function of doing, thus emphasizing the need for integrating scholarship and craftsmanship.
Published: 2017
Updated: Aug. 15, 2018
9
This paper describes the experiences of three pre-service teachers as they engaged in teacher research as part of their teacher education program.
Specifically, this paper investigates the role of the teacher’s personal and academic history in the design of their teacher research projects; how their research worked to disrupt classroom cultures and practices. It also examines the ways in which the pre-service teachers interpreted their research in light of new contexts during their first year of teaching. The authors argue that the action research process fostered a deep engagement with certain ideas. This process allowed the pre-service teachers a space to develop these ideas fully and test nascent theories about teaching and learning. In conclusion, the authors contend that action research would be a powerful programmatic framework allowing multifaceted engagement with significant questions and problems of practice from initial methods courses through student-teaching.
Published: 2015
Updated: May. 13, 2018
10
The purpose of this study is to examine whether using Lesson Study with preservice secondary mathematics teachers might better prepare students to be teachers. The main finding of this action research is that Lesson Study can have a strong influence on the efficacy of preservice mathematics teachers. In addition, it was found that a key factor in establishing the confidence of the preservice teachers was the direct connection from the field-experience school to the methods classroom.
Published: 2015
Updated: Mar. 25, 2018