Research in your own classroom
How might I become interested in investigating my own classroom ?
Practical level : everyday matters e.g.( which is better ? sitting around in tables or the
whole class lead by the teacher ?)
Theoretical level : what SLA research say about whether increasing interaction in
small groups promotes learning .
+ Making links between practice and theory :
Level 1 : a Daily practical level : noticing that other teachers come across similar
patterns, patterns, problems in the way students are grouped for example ( sharing
ideas in staff room ).
Level 2: making generalizations from your own and colleagues experiences To the
broader context of SL teaching.
Learning from colleagues informal meetings.
Institutions has regular meeting devoted to curriculum and methodology .
Research in professional development shows that unless sessions are formalized
it is rare that teachers find themselves working with colleagues who will get
involved in talking over classroom issues .
Browsing through books shows you how other people have gone investigating
the same problem you interested in .
Collaborate or go it alone ?
Is it best to go ahead alone or with others ? If you decide you would prefer to work
collaboratively, however, this could be easier for you. You may simply work informally
with just one colleague or try to set up a small group where you teach If you are
currently following a formal course of study in TESOL, LOTE or language and literacy, or
in education generally, it will probably be quite feasible to undertake a small classroom
research project as an assignment for your course . Otherwise, If you are currently
following a formal course of study in TESOL, LOTE or language and literacy, or in
education generally, it will probably be quite feasible to undertake a small classroom
research project as an assignment for your course by discussing it with your lecturer .
WHAT HAVE OTHER RESEARCHERS FOUND OUT ABOUT MY AREA OF INTEREST ?
Most of classroom research is carried out by a researcher from outside.
The main difference between the major studies and the type of study we are
interested in here is that you may only look at one class, possibly only one lesson, and
are not looking for the large numbers to make your research statistically viable and thus
generalizable to other contexts.
Research reports :
Advantages Disadvantages
Formal reports Being models of how to write Describing larger and more
up research clearly ambitious projects
Informal reports Seeming closer to reality Less well explained because
of the teachers’ inexperience
of reporting back
HOW DO I GO ABOUT INVESTIGATING MY OWN CLASSROOM?
1) Focusing the investigation:
- Anne’s classroom where there was no learner-learner interaction but rather
a teacher directed instruction.
- She knew from her reading that increasing learner–learner interaction was
thought to be beneficial, but could not find much research done on
differences between learner roles in small groups as compared with teacher-
fronted groups.
- Anne decided to investigate these roles and found small groups encouraged
learners to take on new roles which they may not have done in a teacher-
fronted lesson. For instance, they may initiate more interaction instead of
simply responding to the teacher.
2) COLLECTING INFORMATION:
- Anne’s concern is to develop more independent reading strategies, she uses a
reading based task and set up two activities; one teacher fronted and one
small group for comparison.and she start to elicit data .
3) Analyzing the information :
- invent your own framework and categories for analysis or adapt what
someone else has done, and this is what many teachers investigating their
classrooms for their own purposes have done
- Anne analysed the roles her learners took in the two lessons by looking at
four broad categories of roles: leader, participator, nonparticipator, and
negative contributor.
4) Making sense of it
Anne, because of the small size of her class, was able to describe and discuss how
each student contributed in the small-group activity, supported by quotes from her
transcript.
HOW CAN RESEARCH IN MY OWN CLASSROOM HELP
MY TEACHING?
It seems that Anne was right to decide that her learners need to be more
independent in their reading strategies if they are ever to see themselves as
‘readers’ in English.
- She will be able to recycle activities which focus on conscious awareness of
reading strategies.
How do I report my findings ?
Simple charts or tables of findings are useful as overhead transparencies or handout and
a copy of the actual transcript will always create interest and promote discussion. This is
especially important if you are trying to involve staff members who are not particularly
enthusiastic about professional development if you are enrolled in a formal course,
approach your lecturer about arranging ways for students to present their work.
