Introductory Assignment - EMBARKING ON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (approx.

1,000 words)

Name: Jason Beale, Monash University Date: 14 August 2002

Aims 1. To engage with at an initial level: - a research topic - a way of exploring this - an understanding of the research tradition which surrounds this way of exploring - ethical issues involved 2. To do so with reference to: - your own location in the research process - some of the ideas presented through the readings provided 3. To introduce lecturers to your research agenda

Jason Beale

The teacher-as-thinker metaphor captures the focus on how teachers conceptualize their work and the kinds of thinking and decision-making that underlie their practice. Rather than viewing the development of teaching skill as the mastery of general principles and theories that have been determined by others, the acquisition of teaching expertise is seen to be a process that involves the teacher in actively constructing a personal and workable theory of teaching. (Richards 1998: 65)

I have been teaching English as a Foreign Language for just over four years; first in Japan with the language school Nova and then in Melbourne with Hawthorn English Language Centre. My motivation for studying the Master of Education (TESOL) was my own bafflement about how to teach English successfully. The kind of teacher training offered by language schools in Japan seemed to lack any coherent theoretical grounding or support; instead it relied on formulaic techniques aimed at making the teachers job as simple as possible. Despite this, my own feelings of inadequacy meant I remained interested in knowing how teachers make decisions and justify their decision-making processes.

In thinking about a research topic I have been guided by my own experiences and feelings as a developing teacher. I also believe it is important that I work within the educational field that I know best, which is ELICOS education. I am quite interested in examining teachers underlying thoughts about education, and how this impacts on their decision-making. Do teachers of overseas students share a similar set of beliefs concerning their own role and the needs of their students? How do different teachers interpret the curriculum they are provided with? What are the choices that these teachers make and how do they assess the different factors involved? How do teachers assess the success of their own teaching?

Without at this stage specifying a more specific focus for the research, I anticipate that the most useful methodology would be qualitative in nature, involving teacher surveys, interviews and classroom observation. My own position in the research cannot be

Jason Beale

objective in a scientific sense, since I would be required to interact with other teachers regarding value-laden issues close to their professional roles as educators.

As documented in Richards (1998), increasing interest over the last ten years or so into teacher cognition offers many approaches for analyzing teachers beliefs and decisionmaking. There is also the opportunity to apply more general models from psychology such as personal construct theory. Yet as Usher points out, how the researcher looks, influences what is seen (Usher 1996: 17). One the one hand it is important that the researcher does not have a hidden agenda or set of beliefs that biases the research. On the other hand it is important that the purpose of the research is clearly set out in both theoretical and practical terms. Investigating teachers beliefs and decision-making is a hermeneutic endeavour in that it sees that human action is given meaning by interpretative schemes or frameworks (Usher 1996: 18). It may also be a critical activity to the extent that both the researcher and participants perceive education to be a culturally embedded practice.

The key ethical issues involved in such research are those of informed consent, confidentiality, and basing all exchanges on the principle that researcher and research subject are in a position of equality (Singer 1989: 22). To meet these ethical conditions it is important that the research goals, parameters and instruments be clearly defined and presented to the research participants. In a relationship of equality the researcher is not in a position of authority, and needs to avoid influencing or biasing the responses of the research participant. (For the same reasons the term research participant is preferable to research subject). One possible research focus I considered was a comparison of teacher and students perceptions. As stated in Richards, teachers beliefs may differ significantly from those of their learners, leading to misperceptions about various dimensions of teaching (Richards 1998: 68). Comparing the general opinions of teachers and their students is one way to approach this topic. Comparing teacher and student perceptions of a particular lesson is another. This second approach would present a number of ethical problems.

Jason Beale

Firstly, the researcher would obviously intervene in the teacher-student relationship, disturbing the researcher-teacher relationship. Secondly, responses from teacher and students would be influenced by the knowledge that such a comparison was going to be made. Also, confidentiality would be difficult to maintain in any detailed report.

Another research focus I am considering is the pre-teaching, lesson-planning stage; how and why teachers select and organize the elements that make up a lesson, and what are the principles teachers use to guide their choices. In exploring this it may be possible to use an ethnographic approach, studying teachers lesson planning in real settings, as well as an experimental approach in which teachers respond to a range of hypothetical lesson planning tasks. If possible, a small focus group of teachers could be set up to discuss the various approaches to lesson planning available, and to provide feedback on sample materials and lesson plans.

At my workplace teachers often complain of lack of time for planning lessons. In studying teacher beliefs it is also important to consider the institutional context. How do teachers define the ethos and the workplace conditions of the institution within which they work? How do teachers place themselves in the institutional context, especially regarding issues of power?

Insight into the thinking and practice of teachers has implications for teacher education and professional development. It also can also throw light on how institutional forces and ideology influence teachers in the workplace.

Richards, J. C. 1998. Beyond Training: Perspectives on Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Usher, R. 1996. A critique of the neglected epistemological assumptions of educational research. In D. Scott and R. Usher (eds.), Understanding Educational Research. London: Routledge. 9-32.

Jason Beale