Action research transcends constraints of poverty in elementary ...

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I had a conversation with one boy whose strengths weindependently recognize as: he - “being efficient, listening,communicating, finding new ways to be efficient” me- “ beingfocused, task oriented and efficient” . When I wrote his learningskills comment last night, I had this idea of the question I wantedhim to ask: "How might I find fulfilment and do my best ratherthan rushing to get tasks done then escaping into a book?" or"How might I engage, do my best and find some enjoyment in theprocess?"Even today, in our conversation I was trying to get him to askthat question I wanted him to ask. What is the question he wantsto ask? Not surprisingly it comes back to his value, obvious inhis listing of his strengths, of efficiency. He wants to know“How to get groups to work better together?” Well, isn’t that abetter goal for us all? If this boy, whose strength is efficiencycan help us all be more efficient everyone will be better off!And what if this turns into a career in systems management?Engineering? WOW! Oh the hubris we mortal teachers mustovercome. And if his enjoyment is actually in things runningefficiently, perhaps he will find his way to level four along theway.Planning for next year: How can I get the students to write thewhole report card??? I can do this!! My question: “How can Ilive according to my values of love, trust and authenticity byhaving students write their own report cards?”By the end of the report writing process, each student in my class hadtheir own research question. I had found my own way. In the followingvideo, four of my students read their personal research question,. Sincecreating their questions, I have sorted them into groups based on thethemes of their inquiries including focus, group work, independence inlearning, interacting with others and conflict management and fear oftalking of front of the class. In these small groups we had a discussion ofthe barriers that prevent the students from reaching their goals of learning. Based on their ideas, their embodied knowledge, the students havechosen action to take in their inquiry. You will hear each student explainthe barriers and action they are taking.Video 4: Our Questions: Student Action Research ProjectsInfluencing Others and Social FormationsParent quotes? Quotes from validators? Quote from Brad (from masters)who continues to encourage his students to write stories of ruin as well asvictory narratives? Selection from TLLP group?The Sustainability of Living Theories and Cultures of InquiryI am concerned about the sustainability of this learning with students so
young. They have a lot of schooling left in their lives. Will they be ableto sustain this approach to their own learning without reinforcement? Ifthey do not encounter another teacher who teaches this way?More to come..Concerns and obstaclesMy greatest concern in doing this type of research with students so youngis that I facilitate the process effectively to allow them to take productiveaction, action which addresses their concern, which helps them to grow asa person. (I HAVE A QUOTE here from another paper I will find aboutthe disengaging effect of teaching ‘doom and gloom’ environmentalissues without allowing students to take positive action. )I feel the conflict between preparing students for standardized testing andallowing student questions to guide my instruction. I teach my studentsmath, language, science, social studies, health, physical education, art,drama and dance. I have pages and pages of expectations for two gradesto cover in a year. Despite giving students time to follow their personalinquiries, the majority of my days with them are more directed by me.My students help me plan units and have choice and I endeavor to followtheir questions and approach units of study as a co-learner. I have founda way to navigate to rich, personal, important questions help by students.But we are still investigating those questions within a teacher led strandof the curriculum - math. My control of the curriculum and the pressureto do well on standardized testing are two obstacles I need to workaround.http://youtu.be/rz2sSUeZlnoPART THREE: Jackie’s passion for improving learning and teachingthrough living theory action researchWhile my passion for improving teaching and learning has encompasseda lifetime in education both as teacher and learner (which I am convincedoccurs symbiotically), a committed focus on a means or pathway toimproving the educational experience became more clear in 1996 when Iwas introduced to the Living Educational Theory model of actionresearch (Delong, 2001). As I share in that paper, I had for many yearslooked for the solution for the conundrum of integrating the knowledgeinherent in professional development programs (inservice education andtraining - INSET) into regular practice in the classroom: the perennialquestion asked by education researchers: How do we get teachers to readand use education research and bridge the gap between educationresearch and classroom practice? It seemed to me that teachers would notread and think about the theory of academics until they themselves had anappreciation for and an understanding of and confidence in their own
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