WEEK 21: Deciding on your research question

Research question

A literature review will:

• Provide an overview of the research that has been conducted on blogging and writing
• Describe and summarise the findings of previous research
• Make connections and compare and contrast research findings
• Evaluate and analyse the research findings and organise information into coherent themes.

The literature review will serve both as an individual assignment and as the background research for my teacher inquiry project plan.

Shuttleworth's article (2009), suggests that writing a literature review in chronological order is “usually perceived as being a little lazy”, possibly because rather than making connections and contrasts in the different research papers, the reader has just looked at each paper in turn and reviewed them individually. Doing so does not look deeply at the material and synthesise the findings across the papers in the review. There may be aspects of our review that we could write in chronological order when looking at changes that have occurred over time with blogging? We might also look to structure our review around certain aspects of writing or if we can not find research on this, perhaps look at student agency, engagement and writing improvement, although this could be too broad?

Writing a literature review

The important aspects of literature reviews include: deciding on your research question, locating suitable resources, then critically evaluating and synthesising what they say. This week, I will look at the first part of the process: deciding on my (and our as we plan to do this collaboratively in our syndicate) research question (Figure 1)

Figure 1: The important aspects of a literature review, beginning with deciding on a research question.

1. Decide on your initial research question(s)

Figure 2: Deriving a literature review research question from an initial teacher inquiry question

Some potential questions I have are:

• How will blogging affect writing engagement in my Year 7 & 8 priority learners?
• How might students' use of blogs improve writing skills in my Year 7 & 8 priority learners?
• How might student agency and engagement be affected through blogging?

1.a. Turning your inquiry topic(s) into an initial teacher inquiry question:

• How might students' use of blogs improve writing skills in my Year 7 & 8 priority learners?

Table 3 shows an example of how the template works

Table 3: An example of turning a break-down question into an initial teacher inquiry question teacher inquiry question

1.b. Turning the initial teacher inquiry question into an initial literature review question

How might students' use of blogs improve writing skills?

I have chosen to exclude the ‘priority learners’ in my final question because I think I will be limiting the number literature sources that I can find through such a specific focus, this is reason for having a broader approach to the question.

References

Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (1993). How to design and evaluate research in education (Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Riel, M. (2014, Feb 18).T6-Beginning the first cycle of action research.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwWPwyv60E4

Shuttleworth, M. (2009, Sep 16). What is a Literature Review?. Explorable.com. Retrieved from https://explorable.com/what-is-a-literature-review

Week 20 Educational research

Week 20 Educational research

ERO recommend teachers “explore relevant research literature that can challenge their thinking and offer new teaching possibilities" (2011). Morell & Carroll (2010) state "Educational research is not just a way to come up with new ideas about teaching and learning, but most often it is a way to convince us that the ideas we already have are worth exploring - that they are worth buying into" (p. 2).

This is an interesting point of view that I had not considered, basically saying we are researching to justify why we are teaching the way we are, which actually makes sense. It is worth questioning why we do what we do, to see whether what we are doing is relevant or out of date and useful.

How Educational Research Can Support Teachers

Evidence-informed practice refers to the way in which teachers and schools use research evidence, in conjunction with other sources of evidence (such as student data) and their own expertise, to make decisions and to support their teaching. It is based on the idea that, to be their most effective, teachers should engage with research and keep up to date with the latest developments in their curriculum areas and in the discipline of education more generally. In "Manifesto for Evidence-Based Education" (Coe, 1999) (supplementary) notes "The only really sound evidence about what works comes from actually trying it" (p.5).

I agree with what Coe has said, you do need to ‘Give it a go’ and see whether the ideas presented work or not. It is easier to go along with what you know, as this is relatively pain free and takes less time. The Growth Mindset approach comes into play again here, am I embracing change and new ideas?

General topic area for inquiry

• What do you immediately identify as some of the greatest areas of need for your students?

Writing as a need in our school and in my class, with a specific focus on blogging- will this improve students writing?

• What is one thing you can do differently in the classroom/in your practice today that could address that need?

Give more time for peer feedback and 1-1 feedback from me to look at individual specific needs.

My Question

• What tools can be used in conjunction with blogging on our Chromebooks to accelerate student writing?

Questions that might help

• Will blogging improve student’s writing?
• What other tools are available on Chromebook to enhance student’s writing?
• How can I provide better feedback with the use of blogs?
• How can I be efficient and use time wisely so that I am not spending hours at home replying to blog posts?
• What tools/devices do I need to become familiar with the enable the students?

What Help do I need with this

• Regular meetings with syndicate to discuss initiatives and practice
• Weekly sessions with Mark to learn more about the practice of effective blogging and feedback
• Devices that work and the ability to fix issues as they arise

What are the potential problems?

• Devices not working or screen not working
• Student engagement
• Time- takes time to learn new approaches (learners time)
• Time for meetings with colleagues

Caro-Bruce, Flessner, Klehr & Zeichner (2007) suggest these questions that might help:

• What would I like to improve? Student writing and engagement- passion in the classroom
• What am I perplexed by? Some of the workings of the Chromebooks!
• What am I really curious about? New tools for children to use to enhance their writing
• What do I think would really make a difference? Children writing about things that they are passionate about in a way that inspires them.
• What is something I would like to change? Children’s passion towards learning!
• What would happen to my students’ learning if I did this? I am not sure.
• How can I implement blogging? With help!
• How can I improve writing? I think through engagement and excitement, where the learners have a growth mindset towards learning.

Integrating the Principles of Kaupapa Maori Research into your Teacher Inquiry

One of the important issues to address in the literature review is the application of Kaupapa Maori to my research topic, I need to be able to identify the community priorities that reflect a Kaupapa Maori approach. According to the Katoa Ltd website The potential of Kaupapa Māori is based upon six intervention elements or principles:

• Tino Rangatiratanga - The Principle of Self-determination
• Taonga Tuku Iho - The Principle of Cultural Aspiration
• Ako Māori - The Principle of Culturally Preferred Pedagogy
• Kia piki ake i ngā raruraru o te kainga - The Principle of Socio-Economic Mediation
• Whānau - The Principle of Extended Family Structure
• Kaupapa - The Principle of Collective Philosophy

Ideas on how these principles might be integrated into my Literature Review and Teacher Inquiry project plan

• Tino rangatiratanga is about having meaningful control over one’s own life and cultural well-being.

Ideas: I need to consider ways that the children can structure and develop their blogs to reflect who they are. Start with personal introduction, then focus on their whakapapa (especially Maori?), & then allow them to write about what they are interested in?

• Taonga Tuku Iho -ensuring cultural aspiration of Maori are actively legitimated and validated. This principle acknowledges the strong emotional and spiritual factor in Kaupapa Māori.

Ideas: Maybe I can look at ways Kaupapa Maori influences the way Māori people think, understand, interact and interpret the world. Children can blog about this or comment on some Maori speeches? Learners could consider why Maori people think in a certain way (given an article) and reflect on different viewpoints?

• Ako  - promotes teaching and learning practices that are unique to tikanga Māori (custom).

Ideas: Look at practices and teaching from a Maori perspective, learners could consider how their learning is different and why?

• Kia piki ake i nga raruraru o te kāinga - addresses the issue of Māori socio-economic disadvantage and the negative pressures this brings to bear on whānau (Maori families) and their children. This principle acknowledges that despite these difficulties, Kaupapa Māori mediation practices and values are able to intervene successfully for the well-being of the whānau. The collective responsibility of the Māori community and whānau comes to the foreground.

Ideas: Could look at this from a social justice point of view- research in the classroom and blogging about why or why not the issues are important?

• Whānau - The whānau and the practice of whanaungatanga (family connectedness) is an integral part of Māori identity and culture.

Ideas: The cultural values, customs and practices that organise around the whānau and collective responsibility are a necessary part of Māori survival and achievement. Children can look at these and write about them and why they might be important?

Kaupapa -  a collective vision and commitment.

Ideas: look at why working as a collective and being committed is important to maintaining your identity. Blogging about our vision in the classroom and our commitments in life?

Next week I will begin the inquiry project, I need to discuss with rest of syndicate to check whether we will do this individually (if they have different topics) or as a collective.

Further to this I need to do the following:

• Engage with the research literature to explore my chosen area and address what is already known about it by raising questions, and then critically evaluating the literature to find answers
• Analyse how the research literature can help to support me in my practice
• Identify ideas, opportunities or gaps within the research literature that I can build upon in my own practice
• Incorporate Kaupapa Maori concepts into my research and planning
• Use the research literature as a basis to develop and justify a Teacher Inquiry project plan, which engages with our community in addressing the chosen area/topic
• Demonstrate how I will utilise evidence from my inquiry project in my practice and evaluate the potential influence this evidence will have on my teaching and our community.

References

Caro-Bruce, C., Flessner, R., Klehr, M. & Zeichner, K. (2007). Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

Coe, R. (1999). Manifesto for Evidence-Based Education. Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University. Retrieved from: http://www.cem.org/attachments/ebe/manifesto-for-ebe.pdf

Creswell, J. (2011). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. London: Pearson. Chapter 1, Retrieved from: http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/9780131367395/downloads/Creswell_C01.pdf

Hargreaves, A. (1996). Transforming Knowledge: Blurring the boundaries between research, policy, and practice. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18(2), 105-122.

Hutchings, J., Barnes, A., Bright, N. & Taupo, K. (2013). Reflexivity in Kaupapa Māori Research: “He Ua Kōwhai”. New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington.

Kaupapa Māori Research [Web log post]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.katoa.net.nz/kaupapa-maori

Levin, B. (2004). Making Research Matter More. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(56), 1-20. Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/download/211/337

MacFarlane, A., Glynn, T., Grace, W., Penetito, W & Bateman, S. (2008). Indigenous epistemology in a national curriculum framework? Ethnicities, 8(1), 102-127.

Morrell, D. & Carroll J. B. (2010). Conducting Educational Research: A Primer for Teachers and Administrators. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Retrieved from: https://www.sensepublishers.com/media/187-conducting-educational-research.pdf

Pine, G. (2009). Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.