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2. 'Why Don't They Just Move Closer?': Adolescent Critical Consciousness Development in YPAR about Food Security
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Amy J. Anderson, Hannah Carson Baggett, Carey E. Andrzejewski, and Sean A. Forbes
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The aim of this paper is to explore high school students' critical consciousness development in the context of youth participatory action research (YPAR) focused on food security at an alternative school in Alabama. The YPAR project took place in an elective agriscience class with 10 students (Seven Black, two white, one Latino) who were in the 10th to 12th grades. Utilizing data from researcher notes, classroom observations, and archival classroom documents, we present students' YPAR project outcomes to share their research-driven solutions to food insecurity in their community. Vignettes of classroom dialogue are also constructed to illustrate moments of reflection in the YPAR context about food security. We present three "critical moments," or instances of social analysis, to illustrate how students' individual-level attributions occurred alongside teacher dialogue and student-led investigation of structural inequities in the community. Findings illustrate how students' nonlinear critical consciousness development consisted of reliance on individual-level attributions in classroom dialogue co-occurring with systems-thinking activities and other YPAR project outcomes. This paper has implications for research on the imperfect and wavering nature of adolescent critical consciousness development in YPAR.
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- 2024
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3. The Experiences of Three Teachers Using Body Biographies for Multimodal Literature Study
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Cynthia Morawski and Jessica Sokolowski
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The body biography, a visual and written life-size composition to study characterization, makes use of a variety of materials such as markers, crayons, and found material from wrapping paper to remnants of string and yarn. In this study, three teachers were invited to implement the body biography practice as part of their delivery of the English curriculum to answer the question, "What are the experiences of three teachers who applied the body biography practice to teach literature in their English classrooms in a secondary school?" The teachers and students appreciated the opportunity for multiple means of expression, inviting the rich literacy experience. As a result of the study, the three participating teachers came to reconsider their instructional agendas to include more multimodal options.
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- 2024
4. Why Teachers Integrate YPAR in Their Teaching: Cultivating Youth Wellbeing, Student Voice, and Social Justice
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Mary Frances Buckley-Marudas, Rosalinda Godínez, Karmel Abutaleb, Gray Cooper, Margaret Rahill, Drew Retherford, Sarah Schwab, Taylor Zepp, and Adam Voight
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In this article, the authors share what they learned from considering a collection of narrative reflections written by six high school educators, all co-authors, who have integrated youth participatory action research (YPAR) into their instructional practice. Taken together, the written reflections shed light on teachers' reasons not only for pursuing YPAR but also for persisting with YPAR in their particular school context. The authors found that all teachers shared a commitment to social justice, yet their individual purposes for engaging with YPAR varied. Drawing on the teachers' written reflections, the authors delve into teachers' motivations for integrating YPAR into their teaching practice in order to conceptualize teachers' reasons for facilitating YPAR in school.
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- 2024
5. Pedagogies of Well-Being: A Narrative Perspective to Explore Two English Student-Teachers' Experiences
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Diego Ubaque-Casallas
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This article reports on a series of narrative events extracted from an action research methodology that explores teaching practices and pedagogical experiences to foster well-being in English language student-teachers. Although the study adopted an action research methodology, it does not account for the implementation of the pedagogical process per se. Instead, it resorts to its stages (i.e., planning, reflecting, and acting) to situate the narrative events regarding well-being. The study was conducted in a public university in Bogotá, Colombia, exploring the experiences of two student-teachers at the practicum stage. The purpose was to document narrative events concerning teaching practices and pedagogical experiences implemented to foster well-being. These experiences reveal that student pteachers engage in thought-affective pedagogies or pedagogies of well-being that coexist with traditional language pedagogy, although they are not cognitive-oriented pedagogies. Interestingly, student-teachers could engage in more human pedagogical practice to see the other not as a learning object but as someone who feels and requires attention and care.
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- 2024
6. Teacher and Learner Well-Being in Collaborative Classroom Research
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Annamaria Pinter
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This paper focuses on Seligman's (2011) PERMA components (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment) of well-being. Teachers' reflection data have been analysed deductively to identify components of PERMA as relevant to themselves as well their perceptions of their learners' well-being during and after a longitudinal classroom action research project in India. The original British Council study was not focused on well-being but instead on exploring the feasibility of working with children in partnership in classroom research. Teachers reported positive emotions, high levels of engagement, closer relationships with learners in their classes, and they also felt that their work became more meaningful and purposeful. Researching classrooms in partnership with children has the potential to promote many benefits for both learners and teachers, including increased levels of well-being. The paper argues therefore that working in partnership with learners may be an excellent starting point to promote well-being in any classroom.
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- 2024
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7. Supporting WFN Collective Social Entrepreneurship through Social Movement Learning and Critical Participatory Action Research
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Sarah M. Ray, Jessica Hinshaw, Chitvan Trivedi, and Gayatri Malhotra
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The purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the complexities and connections between women, femme, and nonbinary (WFN) collective social entrepreneurs, social movement learning (SML), and critical participatory action research (CPAR) within the fields of adult education (AE) and human resource development (HRD). WFN collective social entrepreneurship serves as a reaction and solution to system failures, by creating supportive learning environments. We discuss the potential of social movement learning (SML) in these collectives, offering marginalized learners opportunities for skill development, knowledge sharing, and social impact efforts. This paper proposes using CPAR as a research approach to support social movements and amplify marginalized voices. CPAR can illuminate the development and learning networks of WFN social entrepreneur collectives and emphasize the importance of inclusive and intersectional approaches in entrepreneurial education and research within AE/HRD.
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- 2024
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8. Creating Sustainable Assessment through Collaboration: A National Program Reveals Effective Practices. Occasional Paper #31
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National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, Malenfant, Kara J., and Brown, Karen
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Meaningful and sustained assessment is best achieved when a campus unit takes a collaborative leadership role to work with other departments, offices, and groups. Simply developing and implementing assessment in isolation and for the unit itself is not enough. While the value of collaboration among diverse campus constituents is widely recognized, it is not easily achieved. This occasional paper synthesizes the results of the program Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success (AiA) by the Association of College and Research Libraries, which involved over 200 campus teams led by librarians. Five particularly compelling AiA findings are the positive connections documented between various functions of the library and aspects of student learning and success: (1) Students benefit from library instruction in their initial coursework; (2) Library use increases student success; (3) Collaborative academic programs and services involving the library enhance student learning; (4) Information literacy instruction strengthens general education outcomes; and (5) Library research consultations boost student learning. These findings emerged from an assessment process grounded in collaborative planning, decision-making, and implementation. In this paper, we describe the collaborative practices advanced by the AiA program and explain how these practices promote assessment aligned with institutional priorities, encourage common understanding among stakeholder groups about attributes of academic success, produce meaningful measures of student learning, create a unified campus message about student learning and success, and focus on transformative and sustainable change. This paper asserts that the AiA experience serves as a framework for designing assessment approaches that build partnerships and generate results for improving student learning and success through action research, and that the program results demonstrate how libraries contribute to fostering broad student outcomes essential to contemporary postsecondary education. The assessment practices that emerged from the AiA projects can be implemented in a variety of institutional settings and with varying campus priorities. [Foreword by Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe.]
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- 2017
9. New Mexico's Academic Achievement Gaps: A Synthesis of Status, Causes, and Solutions. A White Paper
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Martinez, Joseph P.
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The Center for Positive Practices (CPP) conducted an analysis and synthesis of K-12 educational achievement gaps in New Mexico. The white paper was requested by the New Mexico based Coalition for the Majority, which includes various institutions, organizations and individuals supporting the New Mexico English Learner Teacher Preparation Act. The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize some current research preferably conducted in New Mexico regarding the achievement gap faced by two academically lower-achieving ethnic sub-groups: Hispanic/Latino and Native American students. These ethnic populations account for about 60 percent and 10 percent respectively of the state public education system. Based on NAEP results, New Mexico school children have for more than 20 years performed lower than the national average in what are often considered the fundamental subjects of mathematics, reading, writing, and science. With just a few exceptions, New Mexico frequently ranks near the bottom across grades and academic subjects when compared to all 50 U.S. states. When disaggregated both nationally and within-state, results show that the studied ethnic groups consistently perform at lower levels. Because of the multivariate nature of achievement gaps in education, the author finds that there is no one-size-fits-all approach that would solve the equity issues across the state's many districts and schools. Current national and statewide strategies are not producing adequate solutions for reducing the gaps. CPP suggests that schools need to combine in-school action research with external guidance to find solutions at the school level. The state system should also increase relevant training and supports in action research strategies for the stream of future leaders and emerging experts we place into education. Doing so will improve their performance capabilities for their respective roles as active researchers, analysts, strategists and evaluators (i,e. experts) in their specific contexts, which includes the classroom level. Also included is Appendix A: Legislative History.
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- 2017
10. Modularization for Mastery Learning in CS1: A 4-Year Action Research Study
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Claudio Alvarez, Maira Marques Samary, and Alyssa Friend Wise
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Computer programming is a skill of increasing importance in scientific and technological fields. However, in introductory computer science (CS1) courses in higher education, approximately one in every three students fails. A common reason is that students are overwhelmed by an accelerated and inflexible pace of learning that jeopardizes success. Accordingly, in the computer science education literature it has been suggested that the pedagogical philosophy of 'mastery learning,' which supports students progressing at their own pace, can improve academic outcomes of CS1 courses. Nevertheless, few extended mastery learning implementations in CS1 have been documented in the literature, and there is a lack of guidance and best practices to foster its adoption. In this paper, we present a four-year action research study in which a modular mastery-based CS1 course was designed, evaluated and improved in successive iterations with cohorts of engineering freshmen in a Latin American research university (N = 959). In the first year of the intervention, only 19.3% of students passed the course in their first semester attempting it. In successive iterations, the instructional design, teaching and learning activities, course content, and course management were iteratively improved such that by the fourth year of offering 77.1% of students passed the course in their first semester. Over this period, course attrition was reduced from 25.0% to 3.8% of the cohort, and students' mean time spent in the course decreased from 23.2 weeks (SD = 7.38) to 14.9 (SD = 3.64). Results indicate that modularization for mastery learning is a viable approach for improving academic results in a CS1 course. Practical considerations towards successful implementation of this approach are presented and discussed.
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- 2024
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11. Teacher-Composed Cases of Practice as and for Dissemination, Reflection and Data
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Bronwen Cowie, Suzanne Trask, and Frances Edwards
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The need to make evidence and implications of educational research widely available has prompted a burgeoning interest in knowledge mobilisation, which is a set of strategies supporting the active and intentional dissemination of research knowledge. For this, it is important to consider who might be the intended audience and end-users of this knowledge, as this impacts decisions throughout the research process. Researcher-teacher collaborations are effective contexts for knowledge-building and sharing, where both partners have different but equally valuable roles and contributions to make to the conduct, analysis and dissemination of research. This paper illustrates the value and uses of teacher-composed written and video cases of colleague coaching. The cases were generated as part of the Zooming project, a seven-school, 3-year research-practice partnership focused on developing teachers' data literacy and capacity to coach colleagues in this. To craft the cases, the teachers reflected on their coaching practices and relationships and identified what would be most useful for new coaches to know. The cases proved to be engaging tools for research dissemination, especially to a professional audience. In addition, the case writing challenged teachers to reflect on and analyse their coaching actions and the assumptions they brought to collegial coaching. The cases as data also provided researchers with a deeper level of insights into what teachers viewed as salient when coaching colleagues in data use. Teacher case composition offers a useful approach to knowledge co-production and a pathway to research dissemination by and for teachers and researchers.
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- 2024
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12. Critical Feminist Pedagogy in English Language Education: An Action Research Project on the Implementation of Feminist Views in a German Secondary School
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Kimberly Granger and David Gerlach
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Based on an action research project, this paper provides innovative teaching approaches for ELT to ensure gender equality through critical pedagogy. The qualitative study focuses on the reconstruction of students' perceptions through the analysis of group/peer talk allowing for the display of changing viewpoints after having dealt with feminist issues in class. Given the still limited representation of multiple individuals not only in society but also in secondary ELT coursebooks, critical educational practices have been concerned with the transformation of exclusionary schooling practices for the purpose of ensuring a just and equal future. Critical language education has been known to promote students' autonomy and sense of responsibility when it comes to the abolition of oppression and marginalization. Likewise, feminist approaches have the goal of fostering feminist principles and ethics of gender equality. The study, conducted in a German secondary school, reveals that the majority of learners welcome an exploration of feminist matters in the ELT classroom, because they recognize the significant connection between language learning and the exploration of societal issues. The implementation of critical and feminist ethics helped students become aware of prevailing gender inequalities; and their willingness for societal transformation highlights a visible increase in learner autonomy.
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- 2024
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13. Why Am I Supposed to Love Math?: Digital Mathematics Storytelling in Asian American Communities
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Theodore Chao, Angga Hidayat, and Ruth Nneoma Oliwe
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In this research study, we detail how Digital Mathematics Storytelling, in which youth create video stories detailing the mathematics knowledge existing within their families and communities, can actively create counter-stories to the model minority myth. Through intergenerational video storytelling in historic Asian American communities, the research team and participants used a community participatory action research and narrative inquiry framework to engage elementary and middle-school aged youth in mathematics-based storytelling that not only detailed the painful effects of the model minority myth but also showcased that mathematics identities within Asian American communities can be rich and joyful. [For the complete proceedings, see ED658295.]
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- 2023
14. How a Teaching Practice That Builds on Student Thinking Helps Teachers Draw out Conceptual Connections
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Joshua M. Ruk and Laura R. Van Zoest
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Past research has identified factors that help maintain the cognitive demand of tasks, including "drawing conceptual connections." We investigated whether teachers who were engaging in the teaching practice of "building"--and thus focusing the class on collaboratively making sense of their peers' high-leverage mathematical contributions--drew conceptual connections at a higher rate than has been found in previous work. The rate was notably higher (54% compared to 14%). By comparing multiple enactments of the same task, we found that this higher rate of drawing conceptual connections seemed to be supported by (1) eliciting student utterances that delve more deeply into the underlying mathematics, (2) giving students more time to explore the underlying math, and (3) using previously learned abstractions to help move the class toward understanding the new abstract concepts underlying a task. [For the complete proceedings, see ED657822.]
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- 2023
15. Action Research in Under-Graduation Teacher Program: Case of Lebanese University
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Samar Tfaili
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Action research, one of the requirements in undergraduate program in education, is a systematic approach that enables teachers to solve problems they face in their classes on a daily basis. Participants in this study are students in their final semester of a three-year teacher preparation program and graduates in their first-year teaching. The study discusses mathematics and science preservice teachers and novice teachers' beliefs and thoughts about their benefits of action research as a means of professional growth and teaching skills. It reports feedback from the two groups about the impact of doing action research on: (a) their learning about action research, (b) their thinking and problem-solving skills, (c) their professional growth, (d) their self-efficacy, (e) their outcome efficacy, (f) their beliefs about whether or not action research is applicable to their future as teachers. Participants views are studied and compared by the mean of a questionnaire that measures the previously mentioned categories. Scores for the six categories were computed by using descriptive statistics for each one of them. [For the full proceedings, see ED652261.]
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- 2023
16. Let's Talk: Critical Participatory Action Research and Improvement Science-Guided Research Comparing Our Approaches to Improve Education
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Howard, Joy, Colson, Tori, and Derk, Kim
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The purpose of this paper is to identify key characteristics and forms that both research approaches use within the applied field of education. In this paper, we ask--how are CPAR and IS-GR similar and different? And, can tools or propositions from each be used in tandem within a research project? We invite readers to consider useful frameworks created to address problems of practice. Drawing strength from our diverse backgrounds (fields of study and professional roles), we aim to identify clear overlaps and divergent perspectives between the two approaches to aid scholarly practitioners in making informed decisions about the research frameworks they choose to take up to address pressing problems of practice in education.
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- 2023
17. OFLEBO, an Online Teacher-Training Programme for Teachers of French in Botswana as an Example of Professionalisation
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Kaome, Boingotlo Winnie and Foucher, Anne-Laure
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Technology has influenced not only our everyday lives, but our education systems and the opportunities for teacher development. The introduction of information and communications technology has presented new training platforms to respond to the needs of the workforce. While traditional institutions have greatly impacted teachers, there are now other viable outlets through which many of the required 21st century skills, such as professionalism, can be satisfied. Our project "OFLEBO" is one such example, an online training tool targeting the teaching of oral skills for in-service teachers of the French language in Botswana. This area was chosen because of the teachers' admission on finding teaching oral skills a challenging task. This paper therefore aims to study the professionalisation of teachers through the "OFLEBO" project. Professionalisation as a process is continuous, and practice is its focus, therefore the aim is to inspire the evolution of classroom practices concerning the teaching of oral skills. [For the complete volume, "CALL and Professionalisation: Short Papers from EUROCALL 2021 (29th, Online, August 26-27, 2021)," see ED616972.]
- Published
- 2021
18. Developing Pre-Service Teachers' Assessment Literacy in the Practicum: An Action Research Study
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Mustafa Akin Güngör and Müzeyyen Nazli Güngör
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This paper reports on an action research (AR) study that pre-service teachers conducted to assess their students in practicum. Based on Xu and Brown's (2016) assessment literacy (TALIP) framework, we aim to empower them in a real classroom atmosphere. Data were collected systematically and came from interviews, pre-service teachers' own exams, observations, evaluations of students, and reflections. The qualitative analysis was used to identify the realities and constraints of the classroom, to plan alternative ways of assessment, to reveal the observation results, and to make sense of the reflections. Results showed that pre-service teachers gained an awareness of the gap between the EFL curriculum and the assessment practices in real classrooms, built self-confidence over their engagement with AR for preparing to assess, and developed a tacit understanding of assessment literacy through experience in real context. Suggestions are provided for assessment courses in pre-service teacher education, practicum practices, and future research.
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- 2023
19. Doing Critical Participatory Action Research with 3rd-5th Grade Children in the United States
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Hania Korte Mariën
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Critical Participatory Action Research is a form of research where community members and researchers collaborate to plan and carry out a research project on an issue they identify together (Cammarota & Fine, 2008; Mirra, Garcia & Morrell, 2016). While most CPAR projects engage adolescents, an emerging body of research focuses on CPAR with children. Notable gaps exist in our understanding of 1) how to scaffold the CPAR process for children 2) parts of CPAR that may be particularly difficult for children; and 3) how to address those challenges. This dissertation begins to address this gap through three papers guided by the overarching question of how to do CPAR with children. Paper 1 dives into this question through practice and arts-based self study. In this paper, I focus on my, and my co-researchers' reflections as educators striving to achieve and uphold the commitments of CPAR in a virtual context. I narrow in on one skill that is especially important in CPAR, but that proved to be challenging to scaffold: power analysis, or the ability to engage with power and how it shapes our lives and societies (Brion-Meisels & Alter, 2018). Paper 2 co-authored with my collaborator, Anna Lucia Kirby, builds from here to share a methodological and pedagogical tool we developed to introduce children to power analysis in the context of CPAR: The Power Rainbow. This paper discusses the creation of The Power Rainbow, how it was used, and the self-study that helped us understand both its strengths and limitations. The Power Rainbow was a useful tool, but we were still left with questions about how other out-of-school-time educators explore power with 3rd-5th graders, and how they link power and identity. Paper 3 explores these questions through an interview study with out-of-school time educators across the United States, and offers insights into how adults can support upper elementary aged children in power analysis. The findings of my research identify power analysis as a foundational skill to doing CPAR with children, and provide methodological and practical examples of how out-of-school time educators can engage in power analysis with this age group in CPAR and beyond. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
20. Students Transitioning from Primary to Secondary Mathematics Learning: A Study Combining Critical Pedagogy, Living Theory and Participatory Action Research
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Jo Matiti
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The connections between critical pedagogy, living theory and participatory action research (PAR) are discussed to explore their combined strength for empowering students, positively impacting on their attitudes towards their mathematics learning and creating social change in their primary-secondary mathematics transitions. This transition is recognised as creating social inequalities which existing transition research has failed to resolve. The interpretation of critical pedagogy, living theory and PAR are described before a summary of their application in a small scale, two-year study in a British curriculum school in Muscat, Oman. Critical pedagogy combined with living theory and PAR provides the theoretical and methodological framework to empower the students epistemologically. This paper gives an example of how PAR with students was conducted within the framework of critical pedagogy theory and living theory methodology. This account provides a valuable reference for participatory action researchers. The paper concludes that the combination of critical pedagogy, living theory and PAR can empower students to create social change.
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- 2024
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21. Wickedity in Onboarding to High-Stress Social Work: An Action Research Study
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Anne Stouby Persson and Line Revsbaek
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Purpose: This paper aims to answer report how mentors who onboard newcomers to a high-stress social work organization can learn about their onboarding practice by treating onboarding as a wicked problem that escapes definitive formulation and final solutions. Design/methodology/approach: The authors follow an action research approach with three iterations of learning about onboarding with mentors in a Danish social work organization struggling with an employee turnover exceeding 30%. Findings: The authors unfold the authors' emerging sensitivity to wickedity over the iterations of learning about onboarding with the mentors. As the authors foreground the wickedity of the authors onboarding in the last iteration, three lessons learned could be derived: it warrants the mentors' continuous inquiry; opens inquiry into the ambivalence of mentoring; and convenes responsibility for inquiry to a community of mentors. Research limitations/implications: This study of problematic onboarding to high-stress social work shows the value of fore-grounding wickedity instead of hiding it with a positive framing. This wickedity rests on situated grounding and is only transferrable to other organizations with the utmost caution. Practical implications: High-stress social work organizations without the capacity to systematically sustain best practices for onboarding may, instead, increase attention to the wickedity of onboarding as a motivation for continuous inquiry by a broader community of mentors. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to present an action research study of problem wickedity to motivate mentors' inquiry into onboarding newcomers to high-stress social work.
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- 2024
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22. 'It Gives Meaning and Purpose to What You Do': Mentors' Interpretations of Practitioner Action Research in Education
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Robert Henthorn, Kevin Lowden, and Karen McArdle
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This paper explores the experience of three mentors working with a group of 12 practitioner action researchers; practitioners who were recipients of an Action Research Grant (ARG) in a programme initiated and managed by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS). The EIS is a trade union, which represents over 80% of Scotland's teaching professionals. The paper draws on these experiences, the views of participants and the research literature, to illustrate how action research, particularly that which is mentored by experienced colleagues, can empower teachers and enhance their practice to make positive difference to their learners and beyond and so becomes participatory action research (PAR).
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- 2024
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23. Translating Buddhist Mindfulness into Action: Engaging Older Thai Adults in Participatory Action Research
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Nuntiya Doungphummes, Sirintorn Bhibulbhanuvat, and Theeraphong Boonrugsa
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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate and discuss the application of mindfulness practices rooted in Buddhism as the methodological praxis in implementing participatory action research (PAR) projects with older Thai adults. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws on the researchers' reflexive accounts of participatory action conducted with older Thai participants in a series of four PAR projects in the five senior schools located in the northern, southern, northeastern and central regions of Thailand. Findings: The paper demonstrates the translation of Buddhist mindfulness into a PAR methodological approach and shares actual practices of mindfulness in each stage of the research process. Originality/value: This paper provides practical implications for researchers to incorporate the mindfulness methodology to unlock presuppositions and attachments to pre-existing PAR frameworks and open new ways of knowing that emerge out of the lived experience at the present contextual moment.
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- 2024
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24. Teaching Sprints: Action Research Led by School Mathematics Teacher Leaders. Supporting the Leadership of Mathematics in Schools. [Symposium]
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Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA), Vale, Colleen, and Delahunty, Carmel
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Action research is a means for teachers and researchers to develop evidence-based practices. This paper reports the process and outcomes of "teaching sprints," an approach to action research, conducted by secondary school mathematics leaders as part of a professional learning program. Mathematics leaders consistently reported the value of developing collaborative practices throughout the planning, enacting and reflection of the teaching sprint.
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- 2022
25. Studies in Teaching: 2022 Research Digest. Action Research Projects Presented at Annual Research Forum (Winston-Salem, North Carolina, June 30, 2022)
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Wake Forest University, Department of Education and McCoy, Leah P.
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This document presents the proceedings of the 26th Annual Research Forum held June 30, 2022, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included are the following ten action research papers: (1) Historical Empathy, Primary Sources, and Subjectivity in History (Camron Alten-Dunkle); (2) Cultivating Classroom Science Outdoors (Sophia Dorsey); (3) "A Good Debate Is One Where I Win": Utilizing Debate as an Instructional Strategy in Secondary Social Studies (Jennifer Griffin); (4) Can Current Events Influence Student Interest in a High School Social Studies Classroom? (Sam Hudson); (5) Art History used in Standard History Courses (Alexis King); (6) Hip-hop Meets Mathematics: The Effects of Teaching Upper Elementary Mathematics Concepts Through the Lens of Hip-hop on Student Engagement, Attitude, and Achievement (Jessica Logan); (7) Impact of Specials on Elementary School Student Engagement (Yuval Solomon); (8) Educational Digital Games (Molly Sugarman); (9) The Influence of Sentence-Combining on Students' Attitude toward Writing (Jenna Whitener); and (10) The Effect of Reflective Practice on Student Mathematics Learning Attitude (Yiming Zhang). Individual papers contain references, tables, and figures. [For the 2021 Research Digest, see ED615309.]
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- 2022
26. The Benefits of Involving Undergraduate University Students in Creative Practice-Led Research Projects
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Dahdal, Sohail
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This paper examines the involvement of sixteen undergraduate students across four disciplines in a practice-led research project to create the "Once Upon a Time in Palestine" XR documentary by exploring how they performed when given complex challenges, to create this novel and complex practice-led research project. The students were trained and mentored but also were trusted to work under minimal supervision. This created a high level of engagement with the expectation of high-quality output and presented the students with opportunities not afforded to them within the rigid structure of their academic programs. This paper examines the engagement of the students, and their willingness to learn new technologies and apply this learning to produce high quality output under tight deadlines with minimal supervision and the value of interdisciplinary collaboration across multiple fields of study. The paper concludes that while there was a steep learning curve, the students were able to achieve high-level engagement and produce professional results within the specified deadlines, using the latest technological advances in the field, while learning new skills outside their academic program and also enhancing the outcome of the successful project.
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- 2023
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27. Mind-Mapping Technique and 'Writeabout' Application Integration in an Online Writing Class: An Indonesian Vocational University Context
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Pratiwi, Damar Isti, Puspitasari, Armyta, and Fikria, Ainun
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While writing has evolved away from the conventional method of using pens and paper in favor of digital tools (Li et al., 2019), English teachers continue to face difficulties in teaching writing. This study shows how mind-mapping and the program, Writeabout, can be merged for online writing classes in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classrooms. It reports on a classroom-based research with a qualitative research design which includes class observations and essay analysis of first-year undergraduate students enrolled in the Railway Mechanical Technology program in Indonesia during the academic year 2020/2021. The analysis of students' essays via TOEIC-adopted writing criteria showed that the students lacked competence in vocabulary (range: 2-5), grammar (range: 2-5), and sentence quality (range: 2-5). However, their text organization skills were a bit higher (range: 3-7), which was likely due to the course instructions incorporation of mind-mapping techniques. The findings revealed that incorporating the mind-mapping technique and the Writeabout application into online writing lessons can have a positive effect on students' writing.
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- 2023
28. The 'Sweet Spot' for Reflection in Problem-Oriented Education: Insights from Phenomenographic Action-Research
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Duchi, Lorenzo, Servant-Miklos, Virginie, Kooij, Loïs, and Noordegraaf-Eelens, Liesbeth
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This paper examines the impact of a structured, multi-dimensional reflection track of a 16-week pilot programme in experimental pedagogics (XP) in The Netherlands. XP is an elective undergraduate programme in which students investigate socially relevant educational problems in local communities and design educational interventions to address these issues through problem-oriented project work (PPL). To accompany the learning journey, students follow a reflection track structured with workshops, learning diaries, and articulated learning essays, that cover cognitive, phenomenological, relational, social, and global dimensions of reflection. The design of the track was informed by an interdisciplinary reflection framework combining inputs from cognitive and critical paradigms. To evaluate and improve the impact of this novel approach to reflection in problem-oriented education, the authors undertook an Education Action Research (EAR) process with the 17 participating students. The evaluation phase of the EAR was conducted using a phenomenographic design to draw out qualitative variations in conceptions of reflection among students who participated in the pilot. Focusing on variations of conceptions allowed the teachers-as-action-researchers to gain a fine-grained understanding of reflection within the XP problem-oriented setting. The findings reveal an outcome space comprising seven increasingly complex reflection categories. A phenomenographic analysis of the categories led us to conclude that there exists a reflection "sweet spot" inside which there is growth in reflection breadth and depth. Outside the sweet spot, students either do not reflect at all, or become so entangled in reflection that an infinite reflection regress appears to derail learning. We conclude by discussing the contributions of these findings to strengthening critical, socially relevant reflection in problem-oriented project work in the context of current global crises, focusing on the role of supervisors in fostering productive reflection.
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- 2023
29. Facilitating the Transitioning of an EFL Teacher from Teaching Older Learners to Teaching Younger Children through Mentoring
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Kirkgöz, Yasemin
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This paper reports the professional journey of an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher from teaching older learners to teaching younger children at a primary school, and the impact of mentoring on the teacher in facilitating the transitioning process. The participant is a Turkish native-speaker male English teacher with 23 years of teaching experience. He participated in the mentoring programme, which was organized as a collaborative action research teacher development project, and implemented by the author of the present study. During this process, the participant completed three cycles of action research. For each cycle, he identified a problem and/or any aspect of teaching he wished to improve, designed an action plan, applied it in his Grade 2 English classes, reflected upon his action, and documented his action research. He was also interviewed to gain additional insight into his experiences. Qualitative inductive analysis was used to analyse the interviews and reflective writings. The findings suggest that the mentoring process led to an increase in the teacher's self-efficacy in young learner pedagogy and teaching performance, helped him socialize into the community of young learner teachers, and gain teacher-researcher identity, which is perceived to smooth his transition into teaching a younger age.
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- 2023
30. Development of a Learning Model to Enhance the Buddhist Way of Temples and Urban Community as a Cremation Model
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Bhuripañño, Phrakhrusangharak Chakkit, Wirunsutakhunand, Phrakhru, Somsri, Toungpetch, Phaensomboon, Phutthachat, Yai-in, Anek, and Rattanachan, Kittiphat
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The objectives of this paper were to 1) study the learning model of the smart crematorium system, 2) create a learning manual on smart cremation management, and 3) promote the development of learning for undertakers to use the smart crematorium. This was mixed method research with qualitative research and action research as parts of the conduct of quantitative research. The samples were from informants that consisted of 10 monks, 5 community leaders, 5 academicians, 17 seminars, 30 participants, a total of 67 people, and content analysis according to the study issues. The research instruments consisted of 1) an interview form, 2) a focus group meeting, 3) an activity participation form, and 4) an activity assessment form. The data collection was as follows: 1) secondary sources, documents, books, journals, and research reports related to concepts, and theories, 2) workshops, 3) in-depth interviews, 4) specific group discussions, and 5) collecting data from measurement reports and analysis of dioxin/furans compounds to categorize the data and analyzed according to the study issues. The findings revealed that 1. A learning model for using a smart crematorium system for the undertakers: 1) filling the fielder with the reaper into the storage tank 2) turning on the air compressor to fill the tank 3) opening the valve to let air into the system 4) checking the wind pressure and 5) checking the air flowing through the system along the main pipes which would pass the Vimutti substances into the crematorium and smoke furnace room continued to for about 30 minutes continuously. 2. Operations of creating a learning manual on smart cremation management that contained details in the book: 1) the problem of pollution from cremation 2) the smart crematorium with new options 3) the benefits of using the smart crematorium. This would introduce the features of a new smart crematorium, how to use and the benefits of using a smart crematorium. 3. To promote and develop knowledge for undertakers to use smart crematoriums and Vimutti substance sprayers by organizing training to educate about dioxins and furans, organized training and demonstrating how to use the smart crematorium and the Vimutti substance sprayers. This was the development of a learning model to enhance the Buddhist way of temples and urban communities as a cremation model.
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- 2023
31. Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: The Research Productivity and Utilization of Research Outcomes among Secondary Mathematics Teachers
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Roldan S. Cardona
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Mathematics teaching is viewed as an inquiry process and a powerful context and practice for professional development with the goal of providing greater access, challenge, and support for every learner. This paper stems from a larger research project that investigates the research productivity and processes of integrating research in the curriculum delivery of high school mathematics. This descriptive work through survey, interview and documentary analysis involved 211 high school mathematics teachers in the quantitative component and four purposively selected in the qualitative section. Findings show that mathematics teachers demonstrate suboptimal level of research productivity but have shown promising potential for growth. Research is employed in various layers but typically as a mean to revisit teaching practices, as a basis of a teaching strategy, as a source of another research, and as a motivation for a research-oriented mindset. Research is strongly linked to the mathematics teaching and learning process and thus, have policy implications on nurturing and sustaining mathematics teacher-researchers. It is recommended to develop professional development plans that enhances the productivity and incorporation of research in the teaching-learning process.
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- 2023
32. Diversity of Intuitive Moments in L+ Practitioner Research: An Exploratory Autoethnographic Case Study
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Richard J. Sampson
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The intuitions of teachers have been found to take a variety of forms in general education (John, 2003). However, in the field of additional language (L+) teaching, the lion's share of past work has focused on the improvisational form of intuition (e.g., Borg, 2015; Richards, 1998; Smith, 1996). Moreover, the ways in which intuition plays a role in the thinking and actions of those not only teaching but concurrently conducting classroom practitioner research remains understudied. The current paper presents an exploratory autoethnographic case study of my own cognitions across three different action research projects. An interpretive analysis retrospectively examined data from my practitioner journals written during these projects. That is, while these journals were not produced with the intention of becoming data for an investigation of practitioner researcher cognition, I anticipated that they may provide informative examples of 'intuitive moments.' By basing analysis on the different forms of intuition previously uncovered by John (2003), I was able to reconceptualize and expand the range to be pertinent to those not only teaching but also engaged in researching their own practice. In order of prevalence, six forms of intuitive moments were forthcoming: mood assessment, improvisation, problem avoidance, envisaging direction, learning opportunity creation, and student-personalized actions. In addition, my presentation of results aims to illuminate the emergence of intuitive moments as localized perceptions and adaptations situated within longer-timescale tacit understandings and experiences.
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- 2023
33. Invited Paper: Bridging the Gap between IS Education and IS Research--What Can Be Done to Help?
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Lee, Allen S.
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This article is a written version of the remarks delivered in a keynote address given at the 2018 joint conference of EDSIGCON and CONISAR. The article examines the problem of the gap between information systems education and information systems research. I cover what the problem looks like, three causes of the gap, three ways to bridge the gap, and three long-term strategies.
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- 2019
34. Coding in Preschool Science and Mathematics Teaching: Analysis of Scratch Projects of Undergraduate Students
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Karakaya Cirit, Didem
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This paper analyzed Scratch projects developed by undergraduate students. The sample consisted of 22 child development students (18 women and four men) in the 2018-2019 academic year. The study adopted an action research design within the scope of a course titled "Teaching Science and Mathematics in Preschool Education." The research was conducted within 14 weeks. In the first four weeks, we provided participants with training on why and how to use Scratch in science and mathematics teaching. In the following ten weeks, participants designed Scratch projects every week based on age groups, topics, and learning outcomes of their choice. Participants evaluated their projects themselves and also received feedback from peers and academics. Each participant designed ten Scratch projects (five for math and five for science). The data consisted of 220 Scratch projects and design logs. The study included a thematic content analysis. In the first weeks, participants knew little about the content of Scratch and used one or two characters and mostly control and look blocks. In the following weeks, they learned more about Scratch and used different blocks.
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- 2022
35. How Can Practitioner Action Research Support the Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of On-Campus Mental Health and Addiction Services?
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Sarah Pennisi, Anna Lathrop, and Kelly A. Pilato
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In every sector, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health resources for wellbeing. Although scholars have long recognized the interdependent relationship between academic success and positive mental health, research that can be used to guide mental health service design and delivery in post-secondary institutions is relatively unexplored. Further, the experiences of practitioners, in their day-to-day operations toward understanding and responding to student mental health problems, are an under-recognized source of data that can contribute to more effective planning and implementation. The objective of this project is to use practitioner action research principles to design, implement, and evaluate a mental health and addiction services plan at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. This paper details what occurred in the "plan-act-observe-reflect" cycles as practitioners gathered qualitative data using interviews and the World Café methodology. Results show improvement in student satisfaction ratings with on-campus mental health services. Our experience reveals that practitioner action research is a useful framework for practitioners seeking a systematic process to contribute to both fields of knowledge and fields of practice.
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- 2024
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36. Bridging the Gap between Community Schools and Rural Communities in Nepal Using Participatory Action Research
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Salpa Shrestha and Megh Raj Dangal
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This paper explores the engagement of parents with out-of-school children through communitybased participatory action research in a rural community in Nepal. This study addresses the connection gap between local communities and community schools, which has resulted in consequences such as inconsistent attendance among students and low educational expectations among parents. By investigating the processes of formulating an action plan by a parent-led action group and analysing its execution, the research aimed to understand how participatory action research can foster a stronger bond between community schools and parents, thereby enhancing parental involvement in children's education. The study draws on Mezirow's transformative learning theory, incorporating concepts from Habermas's public sphere and Freire's notion of conscientization. It specifically focuses on the action group's monthly meetings held over nine months and the collaborative outcomes that resulted. By emphasising targeted interventions, collaboration and a departure from deficit-focused approaches, the findings propose effective strategies for bridging the gap between community schools and rural communities in Nepal.
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- 2024
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37. Using Collaborative Action Research to Enhance Differentiated Instruction
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Nicky Dulfer, Jeana Kriewaldt, and Amy McKernan
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Differentiated instruction has been shown to meet the needs of diverse learners, and can meaningfully improve individual student learning, however many teachers find it challenging to implement. This paper reports on a targeted professional development programme which was undertaken as a collaborative action research project. Results show many participants adapted their classroom pedagogy to provide further supports for students through differentiated instruction. We argue that this study's use of a collaborative action research approach to provide teacher professional development, along with a focus on evidence using a differentiation observation instrument, were important stimuli for reflection and pedagogical experimentation. This targeted approach to professional reflection and exposure to research-based and other colleagues' teaching practices led to enhanced differentiated instruction among participants. These findings contribute to understanding the processes that lead to teacher development.
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- 2024
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38. Developing a School-Based Nutrition Education Programme to Transform the Nutritional Behaviours of Basic-Level Schoolchildren: A Case from Participatory Action Research in Nepal
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Yadu R. Upreti, Bhimsen Devkota, Sheri Bastien, and Bal Chandra Luitel
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Nutrition education at school can contribute to developing healthy nutritional behaviours in schoolchildren. This paper critically reflects on how participatory action research (PAR) empowered university researchers and a school community to co-develop a school-based nutrition education programme (SBNEP) that promotes healthy nutritional behaviours in basic-level schoolchildren (Grades 1-8). This study followed PAR as the methodological approach, where university researchers collaborated with the school stakeholders, also called 'co-researchers', to co-develop a SBNEP. This study was conducted in a public school located in the Chitwan district of Nepal from June 2018 to August 2022. The study involved basic-level schoolteachers, fourth to eighth-grade students and their parents/guardians, school leaders, and the PAR committee members as the co-researchers. The study used in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, informal talks, and bridging-the-gap workshop methods. The interpretive phenomenological method was used to explain the meaning of the data. The findings of the study reflect that exploring the needs for good nutritional behaviours, prioritising them, and co-designing the SBNEP utilising the PAR methodology is a time-consuming project since it demands prolonged fieldwork, self-motivation, commitment, action with critical reflection (praxis), dialogic relation, and negotiation skills from both researchers and co-researchers. The study recommends that basic-level schoolteachers and researchers consider applying SBNEP using a participatory framework for transformational change in students' nutritional behaviours.
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- 2024
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39. Improving a Swedish Health Practice for Refugees through Participatory Action Research: Potentials and Constraints
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Anna Fabri and Anna Jobér
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This paper reports on a two-year project focusing on health communicators working with refugees in Sweden. By employing participatory action research and the theory of practice architectures, the study examines a health information practice for newly arrived refugees and highlights its potentials and constraints. The joint meetings that occurred between the participating researcher and the health communicators during the project were the primary source for collaboration, development, and data collection. The findings show that perceptions of limitations due to existing power structures initially hindered the group from experimenting with new activities for the groups of refugees. However, as the communicators gained experience, the conversations in the joint meeting practice changed, which facilitated the action research process. By challenging common working methods, which were initially perceived as causes for concern, the communicators recognised that the concretisation of the health information they wanted to convey could also function as a useful pedagogical tool. The analysis shows that, despite constraints during the working process, the participatory action research practice created a democratic work process which empowered all participants. Collective talks in the communicative space nurtured an architecture that generated new ideas and made it possible to leave the classroom-based teaching situation for new ways of learning about health and physical activity. The findings also show that participatory action research made the communicators aware of their capacity to implement change by offering various movement-based activities that benefited the participating refugees and increased their agency and empowerment.
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- 2024
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40. Defining the Contours of a Participatory Action Research Counterspace Developed by, for, and about Black Women in Higher Education
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Nicole M. West
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Although critical participatory action research (CPAR) has been cited as a means to cultivate more equitable systems in education, its promise has not been fully realized as a mechanism to enhance the experiences of minoritized cultural groups in U.S. higher education. As outsiders within academia who are multiplicatively marginalized, Black women's engagement in CPAR demonstrates unique potential to address this gap. In this paper, I introduce an agentic diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging strategy embedded in a critical action research methodology known as a participatory action research counterspace (PARC). After situating the proposed methodology in existing literature, I describe a PARC study involving a group of Black women students, faculty, staff, and administrators at a predominantly white institution (PWI), as well as the defining contours of the methodology. A discussion outlining the benefits of the PARC methodology for Black women enrolled and employed in higher education is also included.
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- 2024
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41. The 7 C's Framework for Participatory Action Research: Inducting Novice Participant-Researchers
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Angela Feekery
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A key aspect of engaging in a large participatory action research (PAR) project is ensuring that novice participant-researchers have a general understanding of the PAR methodology. Lead researchers experienced in action research cannot expect novice participant-researchers to engage fully with the literature on PAR, but rather need a simple way to ensure their collaborative partners understand the research process they have committed to. This paper presents 'The 7Cs of Participatory Action Research' framework, a clear model that both novice action researchers and participant-researchers could use as a starting point for identifying key action research experts and identifying their own unique PAR approach relevant to their context. The framework provides a brief overview of the literature related to each concept and poses a series of questions that can inform the planning phase of the research so that participant-researchers can visualise putting PAR methodology into practice.
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- 2024
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42. Heavy on the Solidarity, Light on the Adultism: Adult Supports for Youth Activism
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Stephanie C. Serriere and Tennisha Riley
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This data-based theoretical paper explores the contrasting tensions of adults being in "solidarity" with youths while not reproducing systems of oppression through adultism. Written by adults who have been engaged side-by-side with youth activism, the purpose of this article is to better understand what adult solidarity and support look like according to youth activists themselves as we grapple with the unintentional mechanisms of reinforcing oppressive power dynamics between young people and adults in activist communities. Extending on the Gaztambide-Fernández's (2012) notion of "relational solidarity," the findings offer four types of actions (modeling, connecting, supporting, and protecting) adults can do to authentically support youths and thereby adds conceptual clarification and nuance for adults seeking to work in solidarity in more authentic youth adult partnerships (YAPs).
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- 2024
43. Let's Talk about It: Supporting Novice Teachers through Virtual Conversation Spaces
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Cara Jane Zimon
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The purpose of this Action Research study was to examine, understand, strengthen, and improve how virtual platforms can be used to support the challenges novice teachers face. This document will outline the study's objective for collecting data within the initial stages of this action research study. By fostering deeper relationships between mentors and mentees, we can create a culture of care and concern that supports well-being, promotes learning, and serves as a model for future educators (Lasater et al., 2021). Cycle 1 of the study explores the capabilities of digital platforms to enhance the supervision and mentorship of student teachers beyond conventional in-person methods. This phase engaged ten alumni student teachers and their supervisors in assessing the effectiveness and enrichment potential of virtual support. Cycle 2 expands on this by creating a virtual space for novice educators to share experiences and challenges, facilitated by veteran teachers, thereby removing geographical barriers and fostering a community of mutual support and professional growth. The study employs a comprehensive methodology across both cycles, involving surveys, Zoom session analyses, semi-structured interviews, and a research journal to capture a broad spectrum of experiences and insights. This approach aims to evaluate the impact of virtual conversation spaces on educators' professional well-being and to inspire future research in digital mentorship. Key findings suggest a pivotal role for virtual platforms in revolutionizing mentorship and professional development, highlighting the need for further training in technological tools and the potential of virtual spaces to globalize support for novice teachers. This paper underscores the evolving digital landscape's capacity to facilitate meaningful mentorship and support, contributing to a nurturing and inclusive educational environment. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
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- 2024
44. Essential Elements of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Inside the Black Box of Preschool Expulsion Prevention
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Davis Schoch, Annie, Tidus, Kaela M., Catherine, Evandra, Perry, Deborah F., Duran, Frances, and Rabinovitz, Lauren
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Exclusionary discipline practices differentially harm young children of color. As early childhood education systems seek to close these gaps to ensure all young children have access to high quality early learning experiences, the field requires more evidence-based approaches that can be scaled and replicated. Infant and early childhood mental health consultation (IECMHC) has been associated with lower rates of preschool expulsion; but the field lacks clear guidance on the essential elements of high quality IECMHC. Without such guidance, researchers cannot build a credible evidence base for the causal link between IECMHC and exclusionary discipline. An interdisciplinary research team, with support from the national Center for Excellence in IECMHC, led a consensus-building process to identify the essential activities of IECMHC as implemented across settings. The three-stage Delphi Process resulted in a list of five essential elements and 26 activities that define IECMHC and make concrete its emphasis on relationships and equity. This greater clarity around the activities of IECMHC can help inform future research and evaluation, as well as workforce and professional development. [This paper was published in "Early Childhood Research Quarterly" v66 p24-33 2024.]
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- 2024
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45. Emotion Labor as Professional Development Work: Insights from Teachers Doing Action Research
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Mostafa Nazari, Sedigheh Karimpour, and Mohammadali Ranjbar
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Over the past decades, research on language teachers' engagement in action research (AR) and more recently on their emotion labor has exponentially grown. However, little research is available on how AR and emotion labor intersect to shape language teacher professional development. This study addressed this gap by reporting on how four Iranian English language teachers used emotion labor as professional development work during participation in an AR project. Data were collected from reflective journals and classroom observations as well as the associated postclass discussions during the enactment of AR, and from interviews at two junctures in time, once during the course and once longitudinally after six and 12 months. Data analyses revealed that the teachers used AR as a mechanism for minimizing the gap between their internal feelings and external expectations, and gradually developed the identity of a teacher-researcher by using the affordances emotion labor provided. Moreover, the teachers retrospectively developed emotional learning, which facilitated their response to institutional expectations in the short term and to the professional discourses of teaching in the long term. We conclude the paper with implications for teacher education to better understand how emotions feature in AR and how emotion labor could be employed for AR-induced professional development.
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- 2024
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46. Action Research through Lesson Study: A Space for Learning in Initial Teacher Training
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Laura Pérez Granados, Noelia Alcaraz-Salarirche, Manuel Fernández Navas, and Ana Yara Postigo Fuentes
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of Lesson Study on reconstructing students' practical knowledge during initial training as prospecting teachers. This case study sets out the voice and opinions of a student taking part in a lesson study process. The aim was to further understand how the student's opinions around teaching change both during and after her involvement in the different phases of Lesson Study. Information was obtained through semi-structured interviews, observations, photo and video records, document analysis and field diaries. We were also interested in understanding the student's perception of the influence of mentoring and tutoring on her professional development while accompanying her in her reflection about teaching. The results show that Lesson Study, as a cooperative curriculum creation process, provides prospecting teachers with opportunities to build their identity as professionals within a network of peers in which they interact in order to learn together. Focused on the context of initial teacher training, this article could lead to a new approach to Lesson Study as a strategy that can bring about more relevant transformations while teachers' beliefs, values and dispositions are still at an early stage of construction.
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- 2024
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47. Designing a Framework to Improve Critical Reflection Writing in Teacher Education Using Action Research
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Mark Fraser, Anthony Wotring, Corinne A. Green, and Michelle J. Eady
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Critical reflection writing in teacher education programmes is often undertaken without appropriate learning support despite the contribution it makes to informing meaningful changes in the early stages of their teaching careers. Students' attempts at writing critical reflections often lack discursive depth when connecting theory to practice. However, teaching academics may also need to develop conceptual knowledge of critical reflection as a genre of writing to better inform teaching practices. This paper reports on a small-scale action research project which draws on a cohort of student voices to guide the creation of learning resources focused on critical reflection writing. Narrative frame style surveys and focus group discussions were used to explore students' understanding of reflection, critical reflection, and ways learning resources assist development of critical reflection writing abilities The students' responses informed the development of targeted learning resources to support critical reflection writing, and to raise their conceptual knowledge of critical reflection that may inform effective teaching practices. An implication from this study is the need to explore further ways to embed critical reflection discourse throughout teacher education so both teaching academics and students develop a common understanding of this important concept and its role in teacher education.
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- 2024
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48. Teachers' Research Diaries -- Reflection and Reconnection in Times of Social Isolation
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Martin Johnson and Victoria Coleman
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In response to the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020, schools across the UK moved to virtual teaching arrangements for the majority of their learners. Some localized school closures occurred in England in February 2020, with a national lockdown following in March 2020. Although relaxed in June 2020, concerns about rising cases of the virus led to a second period of enforced school closure across the UK in January 2021. With no sign of the pandemic abating, we wanted to gain insights into teachers' experiences at this unique time. We used a solicited diary method with teachers over a 4-month period to reflect on workload and wellbeing issues related to their changing teaching practices. The diaries were supplemented by a series of teacher interviews. In this paper, we carry out a critical reflection of diary use. We observe how diaries provide a structure for eliciting ideas in an ordered way, and which then become a resource for a teacher's professional reflection. This process also appears to strengthen some of the social connections that were compromised during the social distancing periods of the pandemic, and which has benefits for teachers' wellbeing.
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- 2024
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49. Fostering Youth-Enabling Environments: A Participatory Affordance-Capability Framework for the Development and Use of Youth-Engaged Environmental Assessments
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Jaffe, Julia and Loebach, Janet
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This paper proposes a new conceptual approach to the development and utilization of youth-led environmental assessments to inform the planning of youth-enabling environments. Interdisciplinary research has established the influential effects of the physical environment on children and adolescents' well-being and development, yet there is a gap in our understanding of how to create everyday environments for youth that speak to their needs and interests and provide opportunities for them to flourish. Engaging youth through participatory action research to both develop and conduct environmental assessments can have positive implications for youth empowerment and well-being while also altering research and planning practices to effectively integrate youth voice. The proposed approach integrates elements from affordance theory, the Capability Approach, and positive youth development within a youth participatory action research framework to create a process that encourages capability formation, fosters positive development, and improves our understanding of what constitutes a youth-enabling environment.
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- 2024
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50. Exploring Alternative Discourses about Datafication in a Speculative Youth Participatory Action Research Curriculum
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Ezequiel Aleman
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Purpose: This paper aims to address the limitations in designing educational approaches that apply critical approaches to data literacy, given the obscure nature of digital platforms, which leave youth unable to develop discourses that challenge dominant narratives about the role of data in their lives. The purpose of this study is to propose and evaluate a critical data literacy approach that empowers youth to engage with data from a sociocultural perspective using a speculative participatory research approach that affords opportunities to develop alternative discourses. Design/methodology/approach: This is a multiple-case study that involves five alternative schools in Uruguay which implemented the Nayah-Irú curriculum over ten weeks leading to the development of six distinct research projects about the materialization of data in youth lives. The curriculum incorporates an alternate reality game (ARG) to engage youth in critical data literacy, based on the principles of Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) epistemology and Speculative Civic Literacies. Findings: The findings of this study highlight the integration of speculative storytelling and real-life experiences in developing alternative discourses about datafication. The analysis revealed instances of discursive closure among the youth, but through the curriculum's speculative fiction elements, such as the narrative of Nayah-Irú, emotional connections were formed, leading to increased engagement, critical inquiry, and problem framing. Research limitations/implications: The study conducted on the Nayah-Irú curriculum shows its effectiveness in engaging youth and educators in critical data literacy by affording opportunities for youth to engage in the analysis of their personal data literacies in an alternative world. Bringing speculative approaches to data literacy can open new avenues for exploring data literacy with youth in ways that center their voices and help them overcome different forms of discursive closure. Originality/value: This study offers new insights into critical data literacy education blending youth participatory action research epistemologies with a speculative literacies framework to support youth in developing alternative discourses regarding the role of data in their lives.
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- 2024
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