In the voice of teachers: The promise and challenge of participating in classroom-based research for teachers’ professional learning
Section snippets
The context of Graham's work
Graham Nuthall has presented a number of accounts of the methods that he and his research associates used to collect their data for the classroom research projects. The most detailed account of the specific methodology used can be found in an unpublished booklet by Graham called Project on Learning: Classroom Recording and Data Analysis. (The URL for this is included in the references.) Another conceptual account with less detail on method but more narrative is also very useful (Nuthall, 2005).
Involving teachers in research
A significant feature of Graham's research was the way he built up a relationship with the classroom teacher. This involved face-to-face meetings between the teachers and the researchers for explanations of how the project would be physically set up in the classrooms. The project required a lot of recording equipment, both video and audio to be shifted inside the classrooms. All of the participants commented on the impact of the equipment on their experiences in the classroom. For example:
Teachers voice their experiences
Early in 2005, I interviewed the five teachers, who had worked with Graham and his team of researchers. At the time of their involvement with the research (1985–2001), they were quite varied in their ages, professional experience and status. In this section of the paper, I will introduce each of them and then present the findings that emerged from their interviews. In the conclusion of the paper, I will attempt to draw out the extent to which their experiences of being involved in a classroom
What the research says about effective teacher learning
Overcoming teachers’ (our) lack of awareness of how schools and the dominant cultures in teaching determine our practice has been identified as one of the main obstacles to transforming classroom teaching (Cuban,1998; Nuthall, 2005; Timperley & Parr, 2004). Achieving increased awareness implies a learning process in which teachers are sufficiently “deeply” involved that they can not only perceive the effects of their current practice on students and their learning, but also feel convinced that
The one limitation: not enough feedback
As I have mentioned above, a significant requirement in providing effective teacher learning is that it reflect the attributes of successful classroom teaching and learning. A prominent feature of quality teaching for students and teachers alike is the use of feedback. (Alton-Lee, 2003) Feedback facilitates learning when it is respectful and takes on the quality of a “learning conversation” (Timperley & Parr, 2004). Guskey (1995) identifies five guidelines for effective professional development
Future promise
Graham Nuthall's approach to classroom-based research has not only given educationalists new information on how children learn, on the realities of student experiences in the classroom, and the impact of what teachers do on students’ learning. Although that in itself would have been enough for a life time's research work, Graham Nuthall's meticulous research methods and his way of working with teachers in their own classrooms has provided a successful model of how to bring about long term,
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