Action research transcends constraints of poverty in elementary ...

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students to value our problem solving sessions as I did. I wanted them tofeel safe, trust and enjoy the process of problem solving but this appearednot to be the case. So I set about on an informal action research project.I say informal as the action unfolded as I moved forward (and it was notfor university credit). Although it was not intentionally planned fromstart to finish here is a retrospective list of the actions I took followed bythe claims I am making:Action taken to improve student attitudes in math1. Research student attitudes towards math2. Intentionally model inviting criticism of my own practice asa teacher3. Conduct action research with results of attitude survey andafter discussion, with students as co-researchers4. Reflect on results using video data5. Repeat 3 & 4 as needed6. Continue to meet with my TLLP group and Jack, Jackie andLiz for supportMy Claims had I set out to do an action-research project might haveincluded the gathering of quantitative data to show:1. A reduction in complaints when math was seen on the schedule.2. Increase in student engagement in problem solving.3. Improvement in math scores on provincial testingHowever, this is an action research project that grew from the reality ofeveryday life in the classroom and I did not set out at the beginningknowing where I was headed. So, I had collected no baseline data andwould have to do a more long-term project to get really reliablequantitative data. Along the way I realized that the very process ofinvolving my students in research on my practice was having unexpectedresults. The qualitative data I was collecting through journaling, studentjournals and conversations was very rich and compelling. My intentionin mentioning the different sorts of data is to twofold. First, to highlightthe difficulty in and impracticality as a classroom teacher of collectingquantitative data as a measure of one’s success in the sorts of inquiriesthat unfold in the process of being a reflective practitioner. By the timewe collect and analyze this sort of data, you no longer have the same setof students to work with. Nor are we the same “teacher” Plus, it is verydifficult to compare one set of students to another. Second, and moreimportantly, the indicators of an authentic, democratic co-learningenvironment are easily, and more effectively seen in qualitative data.Therefore, there are claims I feel confident and passionate in making:My claims and expected indicators or evidence for what unfolded
through the process of engaging students in action research:1. Claim: By intentionally asking my students to give me feedback andusing this feedback for action research, I am able to change my teachingpractices to transcend the constraints of moral poverty and create anauthentic, democratic co-learning environment.Indicators: teacher and students as co-learners (learning from and witheach other), feedback and action cycle between student and teacher andvice versa, evidence of changes made to teaching practice which honourstudent voice and student embodied knowledge.2. Modeling the action-research process by inviting criticism of my ownteaching practice and acting on the feedback I received proved to be aneffective way to lead into student-directed action research projects whichaddress issues of moral poverty.Indicators: teacher recognises the need to let student’s voice their ownquestions, students voice their own questions in the form, “How can Iimprove my learning?”, questionsPraxisACTION 1-4: Researching and acting on student attitudes towardsmathIn the following video I describe the activity I did with my studentswhich was inspired by the title of a chapter in a book by Judy Willis(2010) entitled Learning to Love Math. The chapter title is, “Reversingmath negativity with an attitude makeover”. I decided to do an in class,informal survey of their attitude towards math. Although I talk in thevideo about negative and positive ideas about math, with my students Iwas much more explicit. I explained that what I was looking for wereexamples of when they find math enjoyable and they learned as well asexamples of barriers that made it difficult for them to enjoy math andlearn. Below I have written the instructions I gave students at thebeginning of the class taken from my journal after the event.I am going to ask you to do a think –pair–share today aboutmath and what you love or like about math - what helps youlearn math and what does not... I want you guys to focus on theproblem solving we are doing in class. Can you make a chart inyour notebooks, please (T-Chart with a heart and an X as titles).I am going to give you some quiet thinking time to think aboutthe following questions:
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