Professional Development Journey Through Action Research: A Case of A Primary School Teacher In An EFL Context

Abstract

Although action research enables teachers to take responsibility of their own professional development, teachers ascribe the role of researcher only to experts outside the classroom. Drawing on qualitative analysis of a teacher of English’s reflection journal and interviews as well as quantitative analysis of examinations taken by students, this study examines how action research can affect the teacher in terms of content knowledge, teaching practices, and beliefs and attitudes. The results suggest the popularization of action research among teachers by teacher training and development units showing the positive changes in the teacher’s performance leading to improved student learning. 

Keywords

• Action research, professional development, teacher of English

Eylem Araştırması ile Bir İngilizce Öğretmeninin Mesleki Gelişimi: Durum Çalışması

Abstract

Eylem araştırması, öğretmenlerin mesleki gelişimlerinin sorumluluğunu üstlenmelerini sağlayan modellerden biri olmasına rağmen, öğretmenler araştırmacı rolünü yalnızca uzmanlara atfetmektedirler. Bu çalışma, bir İngilizce öğretmeninin günlüklerinin ve kendisi ile yapılmış röportajların niteliksel analizine ve aynı zamanda süreç boyunca öğrencilere yapılmış olan sınavların niceliksel analizine dayalı olarak, eylem araştırmasının bir öğretmenin alan bilgisini, öğretim uygulamalarını, inanç ve tutumlarını nasıl etkileyebileceğini göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır. Sonuçlar, öğretmenin performansında meydana gelen değişikliklerin öğrenmeyi olumlu yönde etkilediğini göstererek, öğretmen eğitimi ve gelişiminden sorumlu kurumlar tarafından eylem araştırmasının kullanımının öğretmenler arasında yaygınlaştırılması gerektiğini vurgulamaktadır.

Keywords

• Eylem araştırması, profesyonel gelişim, İngilizce öğretmeni

References

1. Benton, J., & Wasko, J. (2000). Anything worthwhile takes time: Eight schools discuss impacts and impressions of doing action research. Retrieved October 10, 2010 from http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/~ctd/networks/journal/Vol%203(1).2000april/Article3.html.
2. Bingimlas, K. & Hanrahan, M. (2010). The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and their practice: How the literature can inform science education reformers and researchers. In M. F. Taşar & G. Çakmakcı (Eds.). Contemporary Science Education Research: International Perspectives (pp.415-422). Ankara: Pegem Akademi.
3. Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative action research for English language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4. Burns, A. (2000). Action Research and Applied Research: What are the relationships. Retrieved December 23, 2010, from http://language.hyper.chubu.actionresearch.jp/jalt/pub/tlt/00/jul/burns.html
5. Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research for English language teachers. A guide for practitioners. New York: Routledge.
6. Burns, A., & Rochsantiningsih, D. (2006). Conducting Action Research in Indonesia: Illustrations and Implications. Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 2(1), 21-35.
7. Cohen, L. & Manion, L. (1990). Research Methods in Education (3rd ed.). Routledge.
8. Chou, C. (2010). Investigating the effects of incorporating collaborative action research into an in-service teacher training program. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 2728–2734. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810004441

9. Donaghue, H. (2003). An instrument to elicit teachers’ beliefs and assumptions. ELT Journal, 57(4), 344-351.
10. Elliott, J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Philadelphia: Open University Press.
11. Farrell, T. S. C. (2004). Reflective practice in action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
12. Ferrance, E. (2000). Themes in Education: Action Research. Retrieved September 23, 2009 from www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf. Accessed on 2009/09/23
13. Finocchiaro, M. (1988). A Teacher Development: "Continuing Process". English Teaching Forum , 26 (3), 2-5.
14. Freeman, D. (1998). Doing Teacher Research: From Inquiry to Understanding. Boston: Heinle and Heinle
15. Goodson, I. F. (1992). Studying teachers’ lives. London: Routledge.
16. Guskey, Thomas. R. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
17. Guskey, T. R (2002). Does It Make a Difference? Evaluating Professional Development. Educational Leadership, 59(6), 45-51.
18. Hancock, R. (1997). Why are class teachers reluctant to become researchers? British Journal of In-service Education, 23(1), 85–99.
19. Pinder, H. & Turnbull, M. (2003, September) Teacher professional development: a portfolio approach. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Heriot Watt Universtiy, Edinburgh.
20. Kemmis, S. & McTaggart, R. (1992). The action research planner (3rd ed.). Victoria:
21. Deakin University Press.
22. Kennedy, M. (1998). Form and substance in inservice teacher education (Research Monograph No. 13). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison, National Institute of Science Education. Retrieved November 18, 2011, from http://tinyurl.com/6qujdf
23. Lytle, S., & Cochran-Smith, Marilyn. (April 1989). Teacher researcher: Toward classifying the concept. Retrieved December 20, 2012 from
24. http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/11019/Teacher_Research.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d
25. Mansour, N. (2008). Science teachers’ beliefs and practices: Issues, implications and research agenda. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 4(1), 25-48.Retrieved from http://www.ijese.com/IJESE_v4n1_Mansour.pdf
26. Marcelo, C. (2009). Professional Development of Teachers: past and future. Sísifo. Educational Sciences Journal, 8, 5-20 Retrieved from http://sisifo.fpce.ul.pt/pdfs/S8_ENG_CarlosMarcelo%20(1).pdf
27. McNiff, J. (1997). Action research: Principles and practice. Chatham, Kent: MacKays of Chatham.
28. Miles, M. B. & Huberman, M. A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29. Mills, G. (2007). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
30. Nunan, D. (n.d.) Empowering Teachers Through Classroom Research. Retrieved January 3, 2013 from http://www.culi.chula.ac.th/e-Journal/bod/David%20Nunan.pdf
31. Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning. Cambridge University Press.
32. Nunan, D. (2006). Action Research and Professional Growth. Paper presented at the The 1st JALT Joint Tokyo Conference: Action Research – Influencing Classroom Practice. Tokyo, Japan. Retrieved From: http://moodle.stoa.usp.br/file.php/1292/NUNAN_actionResearchAndProfessionalGrowth_ShantouNov06.pdf
33. O’Connor, K. A., Greene, H. C. & Anderson, P. J. (2006, April). Action Research: A Tool for Improving Teacher Quality and Classroom Practice. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco.
34. Özer, B. (2004). In-service training of teachers in Turkey at the beginning of the 2000s. Journal of In-service Education, 30, 89-100.
35. Pajares, F. (1992). Teachers Beliefs and Educational Research: Cleaning Up a Messy Construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307-33.
36. Polemeni, A. J. (1976). Research and teacher power. Educational Leadership, 33(7), 493-497.
37. Ponte, P., Ax, J., Beijaard, D., & Wubbels, T. (2004). Teachers’ development of professional knowledge through action research and the facilitation of this by teachers educators. Teaching and Teacher Education. 20(6),571-588.
38. Qing, X. (2009) Reflective Teaching- An Effective Path for EFL Teacher’s Professional Development. Canadian Social Science, 5(2). 35-40
39. Richards, J. (1991). Towards reflective teaching. The teacher Trainer: A Practical Journal for those who Train, Mentor, and Educate TESOL teachers, 5 (3), 4-8. Retrieved from
40. http://www.tttjournal.co.uk/uploads/File/back_articles/Towards_Reflective_Teaching.pdf.
41. Richards, J. C. & Lockhart, C. (1994 ). Reflective teaching in Second Language Classrooms. New York: Cambridge University Press
42. Richards, J. C. (1998). Beyond training: Perspectives on language teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
43. Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers: strategies for teacher learning. New york: Cambridge University Press.
44. Rokeach, Milton. (1968). Beliefs, attitudes, and values: A theory of organization and change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
45. Rudduck, J. (1987) Teacher Research, Action Research, Teacher Inquiry: What’s in a Name. In J. Rudduck., D. Hopkins, J. Sanger, & P. Lincoln, Collaborative Inquiry and Information Skills. British Library Research Paper 16, Boston Spa, British Library.
46. Sax, C. & Fisher, D. (2001). Using qualitative action research to effect change: Implications for professional education. Teacher Education Quarterly, 28 (2), 71-80.
47. Snider, V. E. & Roehl, R. (2007). Teachers’ beliefs about pedagogy and related issues. Psychology in the Schools, 44(8), 873-885
48. Somekh, B. (1993). Quality in education research - the contribution of classroom teachers. In Edge, J. & Richards, K. (Eds.), Teachers Develop Teachers Research: Papers on Classroom Research and Teacher Development (pp.26-38). Oxford: Heinemann.
49. Somekh, B. (1995). The Contribution of Action Research to Development in Social Endeavours: a position paper on action research methodology. British Educational Research Journal, 21(3), 339-355.
50. Sparks, D. & LoucksHorsley, S. (1990). Models of Staff Development. In R. W. Houston, M. Haberman, J. P. Sikula & Association of Teacher Educators (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. (pp. 234-251). New York: McMillan Pub.
51. Standen, R. P. (2002). The interplay between teachers' beliefs and practices in a multi-age primary school. (Doctoral dissertation, Griffith University, Australia. Retrieved from http://www4.gu.edu.au:8080/adt-root/uploads/approved/adt-QGU20030730.102127/public/02Whole.pdf
52. Twamley-Cooper, S. M. (2009). Action Research and Its Effects on Teacher Efficacy: A Mixed Methods Case Study (Doctoral dissertation, Baylor University, Texas.
53. Underhill, A. (1995). Self and Peer Assessment. London: Heinemann.
54. Uysal, H. H. (2012). Evaluation of an In-service Training Program for Primary-school Language Teachers in Turkey, Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 37(7), 14-29.
55. Wallace, M. (1998). Action research for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
56. Wilson, S., Shulman M., Lee. S. & Richert, A. E. (1987). “150 different ways” of knowing: Representations of knowledge in teaching. In James Calderhead (Ed.), Exploring teachers’ thinking. (pp. 104–124) London: Cassell.
57. Woods, D. 1996. Teacher Cognition in Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
58. Yoon, K., Park, Y., & Hong, S. Y. (April, 1999). Elementary teachers’ perceptions of action research in Korea. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society, Toronto, Canada.
59. Young, M. R., Rapp, E., & Murphy, J. W. (2010). Action research: Enhancing classroom practice and fulfilling educational responsibilities. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 3(1), 1-10.
60. Zembylas, M. (2005). Beyond teacher cognition and teacher beliefs: The value of the ethnography of emotions in teaching. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in