Transcript In the Shadow of the Blast Furnace:

Layers of Reflective Learning
in Teacher Action Research
Dr. Joseph M. Shosh, Moravian College
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
Value and Virtue in Practice-Based Research International Conference
York St. John University
York, UK 2 June 2011
Moravian College
founded 1742
• 6th oldest institution of higher learning in USA
• First-tier nationally ranked liberal arts college
• 1,600 full-time residential students
• Comenius Center graduate programs in
business, education, and healthcare
Research Question:
How do teachers gathering classroom data
in an action research context reflect on their
action, identify what they’ve learned through
layers of reflection, and evaluate their
effectiveness as reflective practitioners?
Research Study Participants:
• 20 practicing K-12 teachers
• ranging in age from 26 to 64 (median 33)
• 80% female
• 70% secondary school teachers (7-12)
• Master of Education degree candidates
• White, middle class
Research Context:
MEDU 500 Series
MEDU 600 Series
MEDU 700 Series
Reflective Practice Seminar
 “The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise,
puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds
uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon
before him, and on the prior understandings which
have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an
experiment which serves to generate both a new
understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the
situation” (Schön 1983, p. 68).
Teacher Researcher Data Collection Plan
Reflective Assignments
1. Researcher Stance & Trustworthiness Statement Draft
2. Reflective Memo: John Dewey and My Study
3. Literature Review Draft
4. Reflective Memo: Paulo Freire and My Study
5. Methodological Memo: Mid-Study Data Assessment
• Observational Data
• Interview/ Survey Data
• Student Work
6. Reflective Memo: Lisa Delpit, et al. and My Study
7. Analytic Memo: Coding Index & Coding Graphic
Organizer
8. Reflective Memo: Lev Vygotsky and My Study
9. Analytic Memo: Figurative Language Analysis
10. Analytic Memo: Preliminary Theme Statements
Teacher Definition of Reflective Practice
Most Valuable Opportunities for
Reflection (N=20)

Writing (8): “I wrote up my observations of
classes for my study. Even more reflection
occurred when I re-read them and wrote memos
relating my practice to Dewey, Freire, Vygotsky,
and others!”

Discussing (7): “We had open and honest
conversations about our practice with our
colleagues. Discussing educational philosophy
helped me analyze my data.”

Quiet Time (4): “I would just sit and think about
my teaching and my students’ learning.”

Negative Case (1): “It seemed that opportunities
for reflection were forced. Concern over research
methods and assignments took time away from
reflection.”
Teacher Researcher Reflective Process
Table 2
Most Valuable Assignments
Coding
5
Mid-Study Memo
5
Literature Review
4
Reflective Memos
3
Research Stance
1
Figurative Language Analysis
1
All
1
At its BEST, conducting
teacher action research is
LIKE…
 going to a party
 winning a level of Tetris
 reading a new chapter in a novel
 opening your eyes
 taking a look in the mirror and seeing change
 discovering money in your pocket over and over
 listening to a symphony at Christmas
 riding out a storm in an open field
 making a significant contribution
 being a mother
 tuning an instrument
 seeing my class/teaching as an outsider
 starting a new chapter
 unwrapping a mystery
 climbing up flights of steps
 renewing one's self
 figuring out what happens in a riddle
 learning by doing
 putting lights on a Christmas tree
 a student coming back after graduating and saying
"thank you."
Metathemes (1)

To support student achievement, teachers provide clear, focused, and
developmentally appropriate direct instruction; help students to read required and
self-selected texts in a variety of genre both actively and critically; and utilize a
wide array of formative, summative, and authentic assessment devices.

To develop collaboration among learners, teachers provide multiple opportunities
for students to speak and listen to one another via small group and partnered
classroom discussions, literature and Socratic circles, and electronic media like
blogs and wikis, ensuring the development of a community of learners that may
extend beyond the classroom.

To differentiate instruction, teachers identify prior knowledge; consider cultural
and functional literacy; provide a multiplicity of ways for students to exhibit what
they know and are able to do; and employ the concept of scaffolding in a variety of
individual, small group, whole-class, and extra-curricular settings.

To encourage active student engagement, teachers promote student self-expression;
allow students to discuss and debate issues of personal and collective interest;
promote student inquiry and project-based learning; ensure that students
encounter meaningful success that builds confidence; and provide opportunities for
students to work collaboratively in technology-rich instructional environments.
Metathemes (2)

To promote student ownership, teachers provide self-directed learning
opportunities; help students make clear connections between in-school assignments
and their out-of-school lives; provide meaningful choices for students to make
within clearly established parameters; include opportunities for students to take on
leadership roles and hold one another accountable for their learning.

To facilitate student metacognition, teachers model how and why to self-monitor
reading comprehension; help students to set goals and monitor their progress in
achieving those goals; and encourage students to track their own growth in
learning over time.

Challenges teachers must face and address include ineffective district-sanctioned
programs and instructional materials, lack of student background knowledge to
meet course and grade-level objectives, insufficient time to complete the required
curricular sequence, increasingly low student self-efficacy and self-confidence as
students proceed through the intermediate-level and secondary school program of
study, and limited support for integrating the use of electronic learning
technologies.
Reflection on Student Empowerment
Final Self-Report of the Effectiveness
of the Teacher Action Research Process
Abstrac
Abstracts and Full Text PDF files of Action Research Reports at
http://home.moravian.edu/public/educ/eddept/mEd/thesis.htm