Research into Practice

Hello all,

I'm hoping this post finds you well and for those of you on Module two, useful?  For those that don't know me and know what my practice relates to, my name is Beverley and I work as a teacher in a secondary school teaching English, Dance and Drama.  I also freelance as a dance and drama teacher at various theatre schools.  On a Friday at my secondary school all staff attend CPD sessions in the afternoon.  On Friday we had a session that focused on Research in Practice as part of the school initiative on working in groups to improve various aspects of the school.  I found this really insightful as it allowed me to think about how approaching the research project in module three may work.  Having already been thinking about possible questions I can explore in module three and how to plan my inquiry in this unit I have found that I am already looking at it through different eyes.  I would like to add here that the session we had related solely to teaching but I have, where possible, tried to generalise for the benefit of others who are not in a educational institute.

The CPD lasted around an hour and was run by an external gentleman called Paul Clark who merely referred to research as formalised curiosity.  Rather than focusing on research as a task that involves reading and trying to make sense of previous research into your chosen field, it's about talking and asking questions, essentially becoming a continuous conversation about what matters to you in your practice.  In my instance, as a teacher, it is about including the students in your line of enquiry and looking at yourself, the teacher, as a learner also.  Listening to students views is vital in answering the questions you are posing.  For those of you coming from a different line of practice this can imply to audience members, performers within your companies and other such associates.  You need to be able to look at where you are in your enquiry and then gear your work towards student and teacher outcomes.

Mr Clark then proceeded to discuss a theory by a gentleman named Otto Sherman (spelling may be incorrect as I was writing notes as dictation).  It is called the U Theory and essentially discusses how people change their minds whilst research is being conducted.

This is not an overly clear image but his model is all about looking at the current trends for research and looking for patterns within it, thinking about all the current cultural buzz words and then modifying the model you have.  He explained that if you don't look at the research you are conducting with an open mind, you will never move back up the curve.  Moving back up the curve allows success within your research.  This can only be achieved if you look at the research with a fresh set of eyes and don't allow the research already conducted by others to define what you are doing.  You need to redirect the inquiry and be prepared to shift your thinking.  In order to do this you need to be more self aware and in the case of my school, use your group dynamic, however for us as learners we have each other to provide input via our blogs.  Ultimately, it's the redirection that is the difficult process, it's a massive thing and in the end comes down to a willingness to change the way you look at your practice.

Research is not a done and dusted process and we shouldn't be expecting to have rapid answers, it's an open process and can take years to gain your desired results.  Prioritise what you need to do.  He told us to think of any change we are researching into putting into place as a positive contagion.  You are looking at or changing something about the way you practice in a positive way.

We were advised to follow the recommended structure of research/inquiry which follows the individual-pair-share philosophy.  It comes down the following five steps.

1.  Individually listing the range of opportunities and experiences that you would hope to make available.  In the case of my practice this would centre around what I would make available to each student during a typical day at school.  This would come under three subheadings of; 1. Range of learning opportunities, 2. Range of topics and finally 3. Access to use of resources.

2. Join with a colleague following a similar line of inquiry and compare your lists.  Try to agree on three opportunities/experiences which you believe should be made available to all students in the school day. (Alternatively relate to your own practice).

3. Planning the tracking.  Identify a group whose experience you would like to tap into and make arrangements to follow that group.  (ideally for a whole day, but if not then arrange to spend parts of days at different times to gain an overview of the experience).

4.  Following the tracking exercise, meet with colleagues who have also carried out the activity (or similar) and discuss the following:  1.  What picture of the students day is emerging from our experience? 2. How widely are the experiences/opportunities we see as important being made available to students in a routine day a school? 3. What (if anything) have we learned from this experience which surprises us? 4. What might we do to improve the range and quality of student experience?

5.  Debriefing the activity by reflecting on the exercise.  How important/useful is this kind of information in planning for school development?  How important is it to establish that each member of staff can contribute to the overall picture?  Are there other aspects of school where we could usefully build up a more systematic picture of what is happening?  How can systematic enquiry of this sort be built into our normal information processing and decision making procedures?

Mr Clark finished the session with an exercise in listening to each other.  This may sound like a somewhat ridiculous task but was harder than it seems.  This is a skills procedure introduced by a gentleman called Carl Rodgers (again the spelling of the name may be incorrect).  It requires one partner to do the talking whilst the other listens, hears what is being said, probes and then paraphrases back, what they have heard.  You are at no point to agree on what has been said or interject with your own experiences of what you have discovered on your inquiry.  It is purely an exercise in gathering information.  The other person then gets their chance to speak, respond and reflect.  By listening in this manner eventually your interpretation will deepen.

I hope you have found this useful?  I will add that I have no real concept yet of what this module entails due to having yet to attend the first Skype session on module two.  I did however read the handbook and looking at what we are required to do found this useful in thinking about how I will approach the task.  I very much look forward to hearing your views and ideas surrounding this.