行动研究的重要性和注意事项

Professor Anne Burns

Some ideas or quotes from people who have been writing about action research.

"I see the TESOL field as committed to a mode of operation for which the umbrella title, action research, is appropriate". (Edge,2001: 6)

a way of doing our work which is the idea towards the action research

"The most powerful form of research for the beginning researcher in TESOL is action research." （Richards, 2003: 236）

"Action research has come of age in second language scholarship"(Denos et al.,2009: ix)

The growth of teacher professionalism

"The vitality of the teaching profession, if teachers are to be more than mechanical operators of pedagogic procedures, requires practitioners to reflect critically on their practice with reference to wider educational and social issues".

(Leung, 2009,p.55)

Some burning questions

How much Chinese should be used by an English teacher in the classroom? Can this be a topic for AR?

Can I reduce the amount of Chinese that I use in the classroom? 

-the starting point for action research

-to observe yourself, your teaching and to see when you are using Chinese, are you using it for something that you could actually use English instead? Do you need to use Chinese? Is it sometimes better to use Chinese？

some theory supportive of a teacher teaching a particular language using mother language, it is sometimes easier, simpler, and more economical to explain something quickly like a vocabulary item in the language the students use rather than try to make it really complicated, explaining in English, taking up classroom time. and it could be a very good reason to use Chinese in the classroom.  but you could be aware of how you use Chinese.

why you use it?

when you use it

how you use it

what the students think about your using Chinese in class? would students like to use it for English?

all these questions could be investigated to see whether it is a good idea to use Chinese at a particular time or a good idea to not to use Chinese at another time. 

Problematising in action research

-AR is frequently portrayed as “problem-solving”(i.e. this was my problem, here's the solution)- this is to misunderstand the notion of problem in AR

-Problematising in AR is concerned with developing critical reflexivity, deepening awareness, increasing understanding and enhance praxis. 

deeper way of thinking about AR, 

problematising 

-Problematising in AR aligns with Freire's notion of problematization:

-"The process is basically someone's reflection on a content which results from an act, or reflection on the act itself in order to act better together with others within the framework of reality."

(1973,p.154)

acting better with others

considering ethical issues

-These relate to the quality, value and democratic worth of the inquiry

-Three key questions:

  --Whose permission/consent is needed?

  --Who will be affected by the research?

  --Who should be told about the research when it is completed?

Considering ethical issues

TASK

-What ethical requirements are there in your institution?

-How will you explain your research to those involved？

-How will you gain their consent to be involved?

-How will you share outcomes of the research with participants?

uncertain and confused in the beginning

a little clearer when the research is carried on.

Refining your focus and developing questions

-Developing questions and relating them to your investigations doesn't necessarily happen straight away- it can be messy!

-"My experience of action research is that it is  difficult to grasp or explain the concept until one is in the process of doing it. It's in the doing that it starts to make sense and become clear". (Jane Hamilton) (Burns, 1999)