Action Research

Action Research

Action research is inquiry or research in the context of focused efforts to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. It typically is designed and conducted by practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice. Action research can be done by individuals or by teams of colleagues. The team approach is called collaborative inquiry.

Action research has the potential to generate genuine and sustained improvements in schools. It gives educators new opportunities to reflect on and assess their teaching; to explore and test new ideas, methods, and materials; to assess how effective the new approaches were; to share feedback with fellow team members; and to make decisions about which new approaches to include in the team's curriculum, instruction, and assessment plans.

SUGGESTED READING:

Bennett, C.K. (1994, Winter). Promoting teacher reflection through action research: What do teachers think? Journal of Staff Development 15(1), 34-38.

Calhoun, E.F. (1994). How to use action research in the self-renewing school. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Classroom action research: The teacher as researcher. Journal of Reading, 33(3), 216-218.

Kelsay, K.L. (1991, Spring). When experience is the best teacher: The teacher as researcher. Action in Teacher Education, 13(1), 14-21.

May, W.T. (1993, Winter). Teachers-as-researchers or action research: What is it and what good is it for art education? Studies in Art Education, 34(2), 114-126.

McKay, J.A. (1992, Winter). Professional development through action research. Journal of Staff Development, 13(1), 18-21.

Miller, D.M., & Pine, G.J. (1990, Summer). Advancing professional inquiry for educational improvement through action research. Journal of Staff Development, 11(3), 56-61.

Sagor, R. How to conduct collaborative action research. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Strickland, D.S. (1989, December). The teacher as researcher: Toward the extended professional. Language Arts, 65(8), 754-764.

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Dewey Study Questions for Weeks 4 & 5

Hi,
Here are your study questions for the remaining chapters of Democracy and Education. Please email your answers to dpreston.learning@gmail.com by 5:00 P.D.T., Saturday, September 15.

Chapter 14
1. How does Dewey describe the relationship between subject content and student learning? Is curricular rigor/structure necessary? Is it enough? What constitutes a successful outcome?

2. Argue for or against Dewey's notion that: "Democracy cannot flourish where the chief influences in selecting subject matter of instruction are utilitarian ends narrowly conceived for the masses, and, for the higher education of the few, the traditions of a specialized cultivated class." Do you think any of these things are happening in education? If so, to what extent are they influencing the course of our democracy?

Chapter 15
3. How can play be considered beneficial to learning? Under what circumstances? What is the relationship between play and work?

4.What is the difference between education and occupational training?

5. What would Dewey say about agriculture classes in high school?


Chapter 16
6. Explain the significance of meaning.

7. If Dewey were appearing at a board meeting near you, what would he have to say about interdisciplinary education?

8. How can studying the facts of a given discipline help us understand the world around us?


Chapter 17
9. Why does logical thinking pose a challenge in the classroom where the teacher is not a content expert?

10. How does Dewey define and describe the relationship between science and social progress? Naturalism and humanism?


Chapter 18
11. Often terms like values and imagination spark debate in public education. Why are they so important in Dewey's view?

12. How/why would Dewey argue for funding a fine arts program?


Chapter 19
13. Why does Dewey suggest that out of all the "segregations of educational values" the schism between culture and utility is the most critical?

14. According to Dewey what is the main problem in a democratic society?


Chapter 20
15. Can we learn by doing?


Chapter 21
16. What are the four reasons Dewey gives for the separation of nature/man and literature/physical sciences?

17. How can educators design experiences for students that reintegrate these curricula?


Chapter 22
18. Is the United States in 2007 a custom-based society or a progressive society? Substantiate your answer with specific examples of how individualism is treated in a learning community (a school, district, or day care, e.g.).


Chapter 23 (no questions)


Chapter 24
19. What is philosophy?


Chapter 25
20. How are our ideas of what constitutes knowledge influenced by social divisions?


Chapter 26
21. How can public education provide a moral education that is equally informed by and beneficial to everyone in the community, regardless of class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, or religion?

Dewey Study Questions for Week 3

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! Here are some questions for us to discuss next week. Please write out your answers so that you can refer to your notes during class.

chapter 8
1. In light of Dewey's discussion of aims, how would he respond to the current demand for "outcomes-based" education? If we take away the notion of preparing for a "real life" after graduating school, what aims/ends/results are worth our consideration, and how should we provide for students' achievement in these areas?

chapter 9
2. On p.112 Dewey quotes Rousseau in suggesting that we receive education from three sources: Nature, Men and Things. Explain these elements of education, with particular attention to the governing importance of Nature. Provide an example to support your interpretation.

chapter 10
3. Why do you think Dewey focuses so much attention on the words we use to discuss education in the beginning of Chapter 10? How do we discuss education in 2007, and how do the terms we use influence how we perceive education?

4. The word discipline connotes external enforcement of desirable behavior; how does Dewey define discipline and its relationship to interest and an educational aim?

chapter 11
5. It has often been said that we learn from experience. Would Dewey agree? Why/why not? What is the role of reflection in the relationship between experience and learning?

chapter 12
6. What are the essential elements of stimulating thinking through instruction?

chapter 13
7. What difference does it make whether subject matter and method are unified? Why shouldn't I teach social studies the same way I teach biology?

8. Think of a case-study example through which you could teach students a lesson in your field. How does this experience compare with using a textbook, or using assessment to drive instruction?

9. According to Dewey, what are the attitudes that "are central in effective ways of dealing with subject matter" (p.173)? To what extent do you agree and/or use these values in your teaching?

chapter 14
10. Create a performance evaluation form that incorporates Dewey's description of the educator's task.

Week 2 Resources

Students presented the following resources in class on August 30:

Glaeser, E.L., Giacomo, A.M., Shleifer, A. (2007). Why Does Democracy Need Education? (Published online-- ask Alyson for URL)
This article suggests a correlation between education and democracy. An educated population is more likely to establish and support a democracy, which in turn relies on a system of education.

Parker, W.C. (2006). Public Schools are Hotbeds of Democracy. The Forum for Education and Democracy. Retrieved from: http://www.forumforeducation.org/resources/index.php?item=296&page=27.
This online article expresses the idea that public schools "possess the essential assets for cultivating democratic citizens" and offers three key strategies to help students transition from "idiocy to puberty."

Isaacson, L. (1998). Student dress codes. (Report No. ERIC Digest 117). Retrieved from: http://eric.uoregon.edu/publications/digest117.html
Article focuses on the arguments for and against school uniforms as an expression of democracy.

http://www.greendot.org/news/article/green_dot_to_open_10_new_college_prep_schools_in_watts
Article about Green Dot Charter Schools and an example of teachers, students and parents forming a community to challenge a traditional school district in the interest of providing a superior educational experience.

"Easing of No Child Left Behind." San Luis Obispo Tribune. August 30, 2007.
Discusses how the existing law does not provide for a realistic assessment of English language learners.

"College Entrance Exam-- Average Scores Drop to Lowest Level in 8 Years." Lompoc Record.
Discussion of the role cognitive science is taking in the high-stakes-testing era of education.

sanluisobispo.com (this is the Tribune website-- for details see Chad)
True democracy is equality among everyone. Are we moving toward oligarchy? Widening the gap of oppression?

Takaki, R. A Different Mirror. (for publication information see Laura)
This book focuses on economics as the central factor of inequality in the United States: "The Civil Rights revolution, however, was unable to correct the structural economic foundations of racial inequality." (p.409)