RADICAL TEFL

4. 4 Reality check: are the proposals made for teacher research realistic?
Whilst Dewey's description of enquiry is quite complex, implementation can be, I
have found (4.5 below), fairly straightforward. The re-conception of teacher research
proposed here may, firstly, encourage more teachers to believe that they can be a
'researcher' and that, secondly, the ideas presented here can demystify 'research'. It
may also give teachers an entry point and strategy for their longer-term CPD (above).
However, in proposing any fresh approach to teachers one needs to ask: Is this
approach realistic? and Can it fit in with their existing approaches? 30
A proposal made to secondary teachers can only be claimed as realistic if it takes into
account the constraints under which teachers work in secondary schools. 31 What are
the constraints on doing research in secondary schools? What will prevent the teacher
from being a researcher in her own classroom – what factors might impede this
ambition? The three clusters of constraints listed below restrict the teacher in what it
is possible to achieve – they are 'reality checks' (although not necessarily blocks) on
the possibilities of researching the classroom encounter:
(1) Lack of time, of funding and of access to professional
development opportunities: e. g. , courses and seminars; reading materials;
(2) a prescribed syllabus, integrated with regular testing, with the
pressure to follow a programme and get results for her students (and this
according to criteria she herself has not chosen) which will limit her
freedom to experiment and try out new ideas. Similarly, a prescribed
coursebook will also limit her freedom to try things out and experiment;
(3) pressure from students: teenagers are often conservative in their
expectations from teachers – they often want work and 'rules' explained,
pressurising teachers to use transmission-style teaching styles; they may
not respect a teacher who does not give them 'answers'; and they often
have the underlying attitude of “teach me!”. Because of these
expectations, trying out new ideas involves risk and many teachers settle
down to a routine of 'preparing for the test'. All professionals risk their
approach becoming repetitive, and it can be difficult to break away from
teaching using routinised approaches where students 'pass the test',
resulting in satisfied students, management and parents. 32
If one compares constraints on teacher research in the state secondary with the private
sector, I found in my own teaching experience that private-sector teachers often have
much more freedom to experiment. There is often no marking; few time-consuming
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31
Brown and McIntyre write (1993: 15): “Teachers' existing patterns of classroom teaching are highly
adapted to the circumstances in which they find themselves and the purposes to which they find they
have to give priority To have any chance of being perceived as practical, plans for innovation would
have to take account of what is already being done - particularly what is being done well - in
classrooms” This point is also put in Lortie (1975:77/78; & see ch. 7 on the teacher’s standpoint).
On constraints on secondary teaching see the important educationalist James Calderhead (University
of Lancaster) (1984: ch. 5) for an extensive discussion. On the importance of constraints in any kind
of design, see Lawson (1980: pp. 75/76; 88 & 139). (Also on constraints in teaching, see the article by
Alan Waters in this issue of Radical TEFL, section 3.2.)
32 For an entry point to the literature in mainstream education which explores issues in persuading
novice teachers to move away from their preconceptions about teaching, see Ruth Ethell & Marilyn
McMeniman's A Critical First Step in Learning to Teach, in Sugrue & Day (2002).
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