Teachers’ action research and the generation of knowledge

The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08

Tim CainUCET Annual Conference, Nov 10, 2009

Not ‘proper research’• Teachers’ action research tends to exist in the margins (Zeichner,

1995)

• This description rings true in the field of music education.

• ‘I know it’s not proper research but …’ (Clayton & O’Brien et al., 2008).

First Generation researchPositivist and post-positivist

The world can be known objectively

Knowledge is obtained empirically and logically (i.e. by answering questions like

“what are the causes of . . .?”)

Disciplinary roots in psychology

Methods include Randomised, controlled trials; experiments and quasi

experiments, surveys, tests, mostly quantitative

Second Generation researchInterpretativist, constuctivist, phenomenological, hermeneutic

No objective standpoint

Research into lived experience; subjective meanings uncovered by ethnographical means – disciplinary roots in anthropology

Phenomena studied in contexts Ethnographies, case studies, “thick description”; mostly qualitative

Third Generation researchCritical theory, action research/practitioner research

Insider research

Aims to change the world by understanding it and vice-versa

Primacy of practical knowledge, supported by experiential, presentational &

propositional knowledge

“the word ‘prove’ does not exist in Action Research” (McNiff, 2002)

Types of action research• Experimental action research (broadly positivist)

• inductive action research (interpretivist),

• participatory action research (a limited form of participation)

• participatory research practices (underpinned by critical theory)

• deconstructive action research practice (a postmodernist, anti-essentialist stance)

• A previous study produced ‘27 different “flavours” of action research’ (Cassell & Johnson, 2006)

Action researchPlan > act > evaluate (“observe”) > reflect > plan . . . (etc.) spiral

Starts with questions like, “How can I improve what I am doing?” (Whitehead)

A natural extension of a teacher’s work (with emphasis on data & reflection)

Generates experiential, presentational, propositional and practical knowledge

(Heron & Reason, 1997)

Foster (1999): 25 teachers’ studies • Most studies related to important educational concerns

• reports contained ‘significant omissions and ambiguities’

• ‘researchers appeared unable to distance themselves from their preconceived views about effective practice’

• insufficient evidence presented to support claims

• significant doubts about the validity of evidence

• ‘a minority … could not be characterized as research’

Furlong & Sainsbury (2005): 100 studies • taking part in action research was a valuable form of continuing

professional development

• teachers becoming more confident, more knowledgeable, collecting and using evidence, and learning about their own learning

• For many, the research led to ‘informed reflection’

• impacts on practice: schools, teaching, children and occasionally, parents

• significant impact on the morale

• ‘the outcomes are often hard to disentangle from the development of the people … not always based on rigorous evidence’

Bartlett & Burton (2006): a research group• an under-developed use of research conventions, including

systematic data collection and ‘the issue of validity’

• more awareness of the complex nature of what is often treated superficially during in-service training

• began to seek out the relevant associated literature

• able to evaluate suggested innovations

• Validity ‘strengthened through peer examination and discussion’

Knowledge• Foster (1999): the production of knowledge is the ‘primary goal’ of

research, which teachers’ action research fails to achieve

• Furlong and Sainsbury (2005): research outcomes are ‘hard to disentangle’ from the teacher-researchers’ professional development.

• Lytle & Cochran-Smith (1998) the knowledge question is, ‘the question that persists’

Knowledge• Garvey & Williamson (2002) ‘Big K’ and ‘Little K’ knowledge:

• Big K knowledge develops ‘cumulatively … is consolidated and made explicit in books, journals and encyclopedias … is passed from one generation to the next through the institutions of formal education … is no longer the property of individual minds’, ‘is driven forward by research and development on a global scale’

• Little K knowledge, ‘is the knowledge that individuals possess for themselves … [it] reflects their experience of work and understanding … is firmly anchored in the realm of individual education and experience’

ResearchAIMto investigate how music teachers use educational action research as

a means of improving class music teaching in Secondary schools

QUESTIONSHow do Secondary school music teachers undertake action research?What knowledge is created in the process?

Action

Nov 1, 2007Project teachers learnt what action research is, how it is carried out and how it differs from other sorts of research

Nov – Dec, 2007Project teachers carried out project in schoolsEntered plans into wiki

Jan – Jun, 2008Projects continued in schoolVisit by LA adviser (in some LAs)Project teachers visits to each other*

Jun 18, 2008 Teachers presented research projects to each other

July 4, 2008I presented preliminary findings2 other presentations Teachers evaluated the project as a whole

*This planned event did not happen

Projects Involving TAs by Liz O'Connell: what happened when

Teaching Assistants became involved in planning and teaching music.

KS3 Composing by Jason Edgell: what happened when Y8 pupils were given several chances to record their compositions.

KS3 Feedback by Sarah Moore: how pupils understood the feedback, given them in music lessons, and how this was improved.

GCSE Listening by Nikki Budd: how Y11 pupils used non-musical stimuli to develop their understanding of music from different eras.

Projects Vocational Relevance by Sally Wilcocks: how music

lessons became more relevant through  bringing the music industry into the classroom.

Open all hours? by Philip Dowd: how pupils moved from skills-based learning to ideas-based learning.

Creative Skills by Rheann Long: how three Y8 pupils became more creative through imaginative approaches to performing tasks.

Projects are at www.practitionerresearchinmusiceducation.org

Finding a research problem

• teachers started by identifying a problem

• National programmes influenced Philip, Sarah and Rheann and Nikki

• Whole-school matters influenced Sally, Liz and Jason

The topics chosen by the teachers were about meeting professional expectations, rather

than questioning or opposing such expectations

Structuring the research

• 2 undertook a ‘reconnaissance’ phase, the others did not

• 3 created a plan and implemented it, evaluating the implementation

• 1 had three separate parts, with a single, overarching aim

• Collaboration: pupil voice, guest speakers, involvement of other adults

• 3 employed a cyclical structure, altering their plans as their projects developed, in response to their emerging findings.

Data

• In planning, 2 identified the evidence that might demonstrate improvement

• Collected data included: questionnaires; interviews; recordings of work; pupils’ written work; assessments of pupils’ work; photographs & video; observation & diary

• Awareness of validity issues

Consequences

• improvements in the quality of pupils’ work

• improved enjoyment, attendance and engagement in extra-curricular music

• improved confidence and concentration

• projects increased teachers’ self-awareness

Reporting

• Initial plans & reasons written on wiki

• 1 wrote & edited directly to the website

• 1 co-written with me

• Most gave a verbal presentation which I recorded, transcribed and uploaded

• All structured as ‘narratives of personal experience’ (Strand, 2009)

• Considerable interest in each others’ projects (but tended to think of their own projects as ‘obvious’)

Knowledge

• Experiential (‘I certainly have a much clearer idea about the strengths and weaknesses of those students’) and self-awareness

• Presentational (Liz’s planning document, Rheann’s scaffolding worksheet and Sarah’s feedback diaries and prompt cards)

• Propositional (see handout)

• Practical (demonstrated in teachers’ stories about their teaching, such as Sally presenting a real-life task as, ‘you are a music producer and you have been sent this track; you have to mix it and send it back to the band so it gets released’

• ‘Little K’: generated by reflective processes, drew on data, lacked scientific rigour, stored in narratives of individual experience, not generalisable

Issues to explore

• Teachers claimed to have learned from each other, (‘listening to others was the best bit’ and ‘[my project] made a difference, not just to me but to others’)

• Big K knowledge not always propositional (Kodaly, Orff, Suzuki)

• How might knowledge, generated by teachers’ action research, become ‘Big K’?

How do Secondary school music teachers undertake action research?The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08

Tim Cain: t.cain@soton.ac.uk Nov 9, 2009

Teachers’ action research and the generation of knowledge

The Southampton Music Action Research Project, 2007-08

Tim CainUCET Annual Conference, Nov 10, 2009