Action Research - Participatory teacher development at schools: Processes and issues.
Introduction
Several researches have been done into the effect that reflective processes have on a teacher’s learning process. Many are based on the assumption that teaching is associated with tr previous experiences in schooling and their cultural values. In a bid to assist teachers in recognizing the extent of their knowledge and to overcome any misconceptions that they may harbor, as well as to help them to gain a conventional understanding of what they teach and learn, they have to be given a way to explore their culture and knowledge.
They have to be exposed to a reflective process that promotes self-evaluation, as well as their understanding and their development. In the article, “Participatory teacher development at schools: Processes and issues,” Mary Koutselini and colleagues developed a qualitative study which revealed that a conceptual change could be promoted among teachers, by placing emphasis on a context-bound learning process for action research in a school-based curriculum.
The methodology involved sixteen teachers who were chosen from three pre-primary public schools in Cyprus, two principals and one inspector who voluntarily participated in the study. The study was proposed as a project that was supposed to enhance the teachers’ method of anticipating problems that existed in the school with action research. A phenomenographic paradigm was chosen as the most appropriate way of learning in a real environment.
This is a method that recognized that a conceptual change in an individual would also instigate a change in that individual’s relationship that exists with the world. Teachers are taught to believe that whatever they had learned in their profession was able to transcend through each generation of scholars, so no upgrade was necessary and the research was aimed at disproving that theory.
They were taught how different instructional material and content were not accountable for students’ differences. Teachers were also made aware of the ways in which a student’s learning history and external factors could affect their readiness to gain from a professional curriculum. On this basis, teachers rethought the methods that they used to deliver lessons and their roles as teachers and as assessors.
It was anticipated that teachers would learn otherwise by being actively involved in the process that would promote the change in their way of thinking. This method sought to conceptualize change with a process of introducing new structure into their acquired knowledge or experiences. This structure can be promoted mainly by the sharing of knowledge, experiences and actions, or by self-reflection by way of keeping a diary.
The participants were expected to share knowledge of their experiences and responsibilities in order to facilitate a cyclical, nonlinear process. The project was supposed to be a collaborative effort among school personnel, who were encouraged to keep diaries about their interaction and knowledge. The participants were exposed to different types of reflection and collaboratively identified problems that they anticipated in their school system.
Interaction, meetings and audiovisual recordings were used in the process. Teachers were able to record their feelings and introspection with journals or diaries and in doing so, realize what they were dealing with in their classrooms. There were three cycles that involved eleven meetings that were broken down in cycles to enable the accurate assessment of each outcome, as was evidenced by the results.
The methodology was appropriate to some extent, as some of the methodological issues that arose were the inability to structure each workshop so that a higher rate of participation that would lead to genuine reflections was involved. Some of the teachers hid their weaknesses and lack of knowledge from the supervisors, facilitators and other participants. Members of smaller groups participated more and resulted in the participants acknowledging one common school issue, which is the children’s learning of language skills.
The data collection method was by diaries, journals and audio-visual recordings. The use of diaries and journals proved to be appropriate as it enabled the teachers to record their feelings and thoughts as well as whatever happened during the process for further analysis. Participants were able to express their ideas on paper, as they were not able to do so in person for fear of being judged. The recording of their feelings and ideas showed the ways in which their implicit knowledge was preventing their active participation.
It revealed that they thought of knowledge as being ready-made in the minds of the experts and it should be shared and implemented in the same way. The most important result of their reflection was how much they appreciated the process of participation in the meetings. There was a shift in their beliefs, based on participatory sharing and it was evidenced by the written and oral statements. The teachers also recognized the need for the revision of the pre-existing structures and changes in attitudes that were necessary.
The method of data collection was a trustworthy method, as it showed the ways in which the teachers were transformed in their way of thinking. The data was reliable as it was from the teachers’ own mouths and minds and based on the results, were effective at getting the results that were needed. By participating in the meetings and documenting their experiences, researchers were able to get a true picture of the processes and the results.
The conceptual changes that they experienced in relation to their students’ weaknesses, language problems and other problems that students experienced , as well as their abilities to teach mixed students was facilitated by how they understood the procedures involved in action research. Their appreciation of a participative approach was also evident, as it diminished the external control that they had and helped them to enhance their collaborative efforts to participate.
Action research was proven to be an effective method, which produced a change in the attitudes and practices in both teachers and researchers and allowed teachers to realize that their methods were susceptible to change. It allowed them to see the different ways in which problems with students or themselves could be solved.
