As I examine Action Research, it seems to align with my own thinking quite well, especially if I can focus this research on my own students, in an effort to improve the lives and learning experiences of students, one of the many joys of being an educator. Some investigation into this area exposes seven key aspects to the process of Action Research and I think examining the process is a good place for me to start. They are:
- Selecting a focus - What elements or aspects of students' learning do I want to examine?
- Clarifying theories - What do I believe really works or is at work in this area?
- Identifying research questions - The all-important meaningful inquiry - what do I really want to ask and why?
- Collecting data - How do I go about collecting valid and reliable data? Does it align with my classroom environment? Am I using a variety of independent sources to ensure validity? Will my classroom itself provide a rich environment for data? What particular method(s) will I use?
- Analysing data - What is the data saying to me and why is it saying it? why am I interpreting it in this particular way and am I unbiased?
- Reporting results - How will I share the findings beyond the institution of my study? Informally with colleagues? Publish? Simply use it for my own purposes and not share it at all?
- Taking informed action - How will I put my findings and interpretation of the data to use?
The second area that intrigues me does so mostly because I am an artist, I think. Phenomenology focuses on the study of “phenomena”: appearances of things, or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience things, thus the meanings things have in our experience. As a musician, the experience of live musical performance, in front of an audience, is a remarkable occurrence, in that there are a myriad of distinct experiences occurring at once.
- The private and personal experience of the performer - no-one but the performer exists in that world of perception and it is full of fleeting moments of passion and emotion.
- The performer's experience of being the "performer", under scrutiny by the live listening audience, existing in the same space and sharing a collective experience with the audience.
- The audience's experience of being the "audience", evaluating the performance and the performer, existing in the same space and sharing a collective experience with the performer.
- The audience's collective experience as listener's to the actual music - the art.
- The individual audience member's experience as a listener to the actual music - the art.
Each of these two cultures of inquiry are alluring to me and I am eager to delve even more into how I might position my research as I go forward in this program. As I have said in other blogs, time will tell. That and a lot of serious thinking...
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