scholarly journals The affordances and limitations of collaborative research in the TESOL classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-61
Author(s):  
Yvette Slaughter ◽  
Julie Choi ◽  
David Nunan ◽  
Hayley Black ◽  
Rebecca Grimaud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adult Education ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Individual Experience ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Education Centre ◽  
The Individual

The diversity of learning needs within the TESOL field creates inherent tensions between the need for targeted professional learning for TESOL teachers, the more generalist nature of tertiary TESOL courses, and the varied research interests of teacher educators. This article describes a collaborative research project between university-based teacher educators and TESOL teachers working in an adult education centre. With a range of aims amongst the research participants, this article reports on the ‘fluid’ and ‘messy’ process of collaborative research (Burns & Edwards, 2014, p. 67) as we investigate the use of identity texts (Cummins & Early, 2011) as a mediating tool for professional learning. In acknowledging the practice of teaching as highly situated, the data presented focuses on the individual experience of each teacher, voiced through an action research frame, before we discuss the achievements and challenges which emerged through this collaborative research process. In the findings, we argue for the importance of championing the case for the messy processes of collaborative research within the broader research academy.

scholarly journals THE PECULIARITIES OF ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LECTURERS IN THE USA

2021 ◽  
pp. 12-20
Author(s):  
Жанна Баб’як ◽  
Наталія Щур
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Smart Goals ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Individual

The article deals with studying the American experience of educator professional development. To carry out this research the following methods have been applied: content analysis, systematization and theoretical generalization of scientific literature, standards, technical assistance documents and samples of the individual professional development plan (IPDP) for educators. Having conducted the research, the following results and conclusions have been drawn. The primary goal for professional learning is to help educators develop and apply the knowledge and skills necessary to help students to learn foreign languages more effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the planning and designing of professional learning include defining the SMART goals of professional learning drawn from analysis of student and educator learning needs, which are determined by examining data on student learning outcomes. To achieve these goals those who are responsible for professional learning should select the appropriate job-embedded and external forms of professional learning, which allow the educators to satisfy student learning needs, bridge the knowing-doing gap and integrating new ideas and skills into practice. An IPDP is a tool serving as a guide for the professional learning. IPDP enables educators to chart their goals and to plan learning activities that improve their competencies in order to enhance their students’ performance. Completing the IPDP includes setting the goals based on student learning needs, deciding on the professional methods/strategies, tapping possible resources, setting the time-frame, identifying success indicators. After having been accomplished, the IPDP is evaluated by the person in charge. Evaluation of professional learning provides the opportunity to monitor the process of embedding the new learning into practices by observing and assessing changes in educator practice and increases in student learning.

Instructional Change Through Collaboration and Peer Coaching

2020 ◽  
pp. 118-145
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Adult Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Theory ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Peer Coaching ◽  
Adult Learning Theory ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Instructional Change ◽  
Learning In Context

This chapter explains the connection made between Japanese Lesson Study (JLS) and adult learning theory. For the purpose of further understanding the action research process and how it connects to teacher learning, Phase 3, learning in context with a peer coaching emphasis, will be discussed. This chapter will inform leaders as they develop their own system of professional learning for teachers.

scholarly journals De-romanticising dialogue in collaborative health care research: a critical, reflexive approach to tensions in an action research project's initial phase

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Phillips ◽  
Birgitte Ravn Olesen ◽  
Michael Scheffmann-Petersen ◽  
Helle Merete Nordentoft
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Initial Phase ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Health Care Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Ideal Types

In the current socio-political conjuncture, collaborative, dialogic forms of knowledge production abound and are idealised as democratic and inclusive. The aim of the article is to contribute to the body of critical, reflexive analyses of collaborative research by analysing how complex dynamics of exclusion as well as inclusion create tensions in researchers’ attempts to establish collaborative relations in the initial phase of an action research project. The analysis applies a framework combining Bakhtinian dialogic communication theory and Foucauldian theory to explore inclusion and exclusion in the tensional interplay of multiple voices whereby certain voices dominate. Finally, the article offers a typology of ideal types of collaborative research relations that can be used in the initial research phase as a platform for reflexive discussion between researchers and potential collaborative partners about their respective understandings of collaboration and dialogue and corresponding expectations about the research process and results.

A Collaborative Approach to Meeting the Requirements of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data: An Action Research Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Linda Birzenieks ◽  
Lisa Hivers ◽  
Naomi Cole ◽  
Eleisha Smyth ◽  
Lena Hoffman Raap ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Independent Schools ◽  
School Staff ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Collaborative Approach ◽  
Australian Capital Territory ◽  
School Students ◽  
Action Research Approach

AbstractThis paper describes a collaborative approach to professional learning that has provided an opportunity for refreshed practices and growth in capacity in schools supporting students with various learning needs in several schools that are part of the Association of Independent Schools in the Australian Capital Territory. An action research approach to professional learning for school staff was facilitated with the participating schools in 2018/2019, centred on the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability.

The co-conspiring methodology: An invitational approach to action research

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-403
Author(s):  
Sarah De Los Santos Upton
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Communication Theory ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
East Central ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Research Relationship ◽  
Invitational Rhetoric

Co-conspiring is an approach to action research aimed at decolonizing the research process. This research method is inspired by an ongoing, collaborative research relationship with East Central Ministries, a faith-based non-profit organization based in Albuquerque, New Mexico’s international district. Guided by East Central Ministries’s practices of intention setting/leaving space for what emerges, focusing on feelings, being community minded, and building the conspiring community, the co-conspiring approach to research is emergent and will manifest differently in any given research context. Grounded in the communication theory of invitational rhetoric, co-conspiring emphasizes relationships based in equality and offers possibilities for transformation through a willingness to be changed by the research experience.

scholarly journals The Beautiful Risk of Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Research. A Challenging Collaborative and Critical Approach toward Sustainable Learning Processes in Academic Profession

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4723
Author(s):  
Jonas Christensen ◽  
Nils Ekelund ◽  
Margareta Melin ◽  
Pär Widén
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Robust Learning ◽  
Challenge Based Learning ◽  
Academic System

In this article, we aim to identify and explore possibilities and challenges of academic interdisciplinary capacities and ethos. The objective is that this knowledge could be used both in future interdisciplinary research projects and in educational settings. We achieve this through self-reflective learning processes among a group of interdisciplinary scholars from four distinctly different subjects. The method used is an autoethnographic and empirical self-reflective approach to data collection, analysis and deconstruction of professional learning processes. This also serves to establish research methodological trustworthiness and authenticity. The results show that interdisciplinarity is undervalued by grant-giving institutions and the academic system, in general. It also entails time-consuming and risky research practices. However, interdisciplinary and collaborative research creates a more innovative and stimulating learning environment and enforces new ways of thinking and doing, in ascertaining each individual’s knowledge and competences. We argue that a long-term interdisciplinary and collaborative research process could enhance and raise a critical thinking and creative consciousness among scholars, contributing to a more holistic, sustainable and socially robust learning in research and higher education. Finally, we conclude that this academic interdisciplinary capacity and ethos could be framed and enhanced by the notion of Challenge-Based Learning.

scholarly journals Examining Teacher Agency Among Teacher Educators: An Action Research In Vietnam

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 94-113
Author(s):  
Tung Ngoc Vu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Positive Attitudes

Teacher agency is an important topic in educational research, but its theoretical observations have not filtered down into practical Vietnamese teaching contexts. The action research project described here showcases a training-based intervention for teacher educators in various disciplines at eight universities in Vietnam. The intervention aimed to develop teaching skills and increase knowledge for teacher educators by helping them explore their students’ learning needs and facilitate their professional development. This study occurred within the context of changing Vietnamese political, cultural, economic, and social ways of being. Eight Vietnamese teacher educators of different cultural backgrounds, and working across a variety of subjects were invited to participate in the project. Two stages of research sought to help educators in higher education reflect on their exploration and perception of their teacher agency. The first stage involved training sessions that offered educators necessary knowledge and skills to exercise agency effectively. In the second stage, educators’ promotion of their agency in classrooms was analytically observed. Data collected included observation notes, reflective journals, and recordings from semi-structured interviews. Analysis of this data suggested that educators became more knowledgeable, intercultural, and inspirational agents in their classrooms after the educational intervention. Educators exhibited that the more positive attitudes, the more active participation. Conclusions discussed the benefits of fostering teacher agency and how this can be facilitated through professional development.

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