In educational research, in Whitty's terms, this means that practices contribute to social well-being, within a research frame that demonstrates methodological rigour and dialectical critique Winter, This involves the articulation of standards of practice and standards of judgement; and this point brings me to the work of Furlong and Oancea Furlong and Oancea explain that action research is internationally legitimated as an impressive form of professional education; it is included in Research Assessment Exercises, with potential to contribute to debates about quality in practice.
However, they say, this recognition still does not qualify action research as a form of knowledge creation because the means for making judgements about its quality are not fully theorised or agreed by the action research community, as a prerequisite for legitimacy. Until such agreement is achieved, they say, practitioner researchers must accept that their research accounts will be judged by default in terms of the established criteria and standards of judgement of traditional forms of research.
These challenges have generated responses. The validity of a claim that practice has improved may be judged evidentially by how well the values that underpin the practice have been realised; and the validity of the claim to methodological rigour can be judged by how far the values informing the enquiry emerge in practice in the creation of new knowledge.
If the processes of establishing quality in educational research can be explicated, those understandings may enter into debates about what counts as quality in social living. This would mean that teachers may claim validity for their contributions to social wellbeing, as set out by the Department of Education To nurture this potential, I support practitioners in producing accounts that foreground their standards of practice and judgement in testing their evidence-based knowledge claims that they have improved their practices.
They make judgements about how well they have realised their ontological, epistemological and pedagogical values in seeking to influence cultural and political transformation; and they also make judgements about how well they have realised their methodological and epistemological values in seeking to influence judgements about the validity of their research.
These two processes are intertwined, and are both integral to making judgements about the overall quality of the research account. These accounts are significant because each shows the contribution of teachers to social and cultural transformation through quality research. Of special relevance for this paper, however, is the database of a group of 13 teachers in Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, whose masters' studies I support.
Each teacher offers their living theory of research-based practice across a range of issues: raising student achievement Barnes, ; Nokwanele Gungqisa, ; Malgas, ; Majake, ; Mgqweto, ; Mpondwana, ; improving attendance Njikelana, ; involving parents Nongwane, ; developing co-operative learning Adams, ; Nqabisa Gungqisa, ; improving discipline Blayi, ; Ngumbe, and improving language performance Pantshwa, Concurrently I support the masters' studies of seven academic staff at St Mary's, on the same programme and one module ahead.
Once published, the work of both groups will contribute to the existing global knowledge base see www. At the same time as supporting classroom teachers' studies, I work with the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, where some 10 academic staff study their practices as professional educators Olivier, ; Wood, NMMU staff visit the Khayelitsha teachers, and an innovative culture of educational enquiry has developed.
The database shows the processes involved when practitioners make evidence-based judgements about establishing quality in practice and research through testing the validity of knowledge claims.
Making value judgements about quality transforms into a form of moral accountability, and establishes the link between the good quality in research and contributions to the social good. How do I show that any conclusions I come to are reasonably fair and accurate? The question arises whether I demonstrate the same kind of accountability in this account, through testing its validity. To test my claims to improved workplace practice, I produce evidence from collaborative work, especially with Jack Whitehead of the University of Bath.
Its influence is well documented for example, Moustakim, , and is demonstrated through PhD living theory completions in a range of universities for example, Hymer, ; Krige, ; Steenekamp, , and its uptake in national contexts.
I have explained how my ontological values have emerged through the research as living standards of practice. I have also explained how I demonstrate accountability by showing the transformation of values-based criteria into living epistemological and methodological standards of judgement.
I test the validity of my claim by drawing on Habermas's criteria of social and communicative validity. These criteria state that the account itself should be comprehensible, authentic, truthful and appropriate. By drawing together the separate strands of establishing standards to judge the quality of 1 the practice, 2 the research, and 3 the account, I make a case for the validity and legitimacy of my research account. I exercise epistemic responsibility through dialectical critique, by standing outside my practitioner researcher self and making judgements about the quality of my practice, while acknowledging my intellectual biases within normative cultural contexts.
Time will tell whether or not these ideas are taken up more widely, beginning, perhaps, within the creative spaces of educational research in South Africa. How do I explain the potential significance of my research? Gaylard explains that post-apartheid South Africa is in a postmodern moment, uncertain about how to achieve social sustainability. Yet these moments of destabilisation can offer creative spaces for developing and testing new ideas, which may be an opportunity for the development of the ideas expressed here.
I have explained how practitioners can improve their work and create knowledge by producing explanatory accounts of practice, and by adopting inclusional epistemologies, logics and values Rayner, ; Whitehead, They explain the significance of their work, and define themselves as morally committed practitioner researchers. They equip themselves to contribute to policy debates regarding research-based professionalism for a good social order.
South Africa is well positioned to demonstrate these links, in light of policy recommendations about teachers as lifelong researchers who can contribute to the well-being of society Department of Education, , and in light of policy frameworks for continuing professional teacher development CPTD Department of Education, The recommendations state that the South African Council for Educators SACE should have 'overall responsibility for the implementation, management and quality assurance of the CPTD system' and that 'SACE will be provided with the necessary resources and support to undertake that role' ibid.
Perhaps SACE and other quality assurance agencies might consider action research-based approaches, which take as axiomatic the need to demonstrate quality in practice and research. Yet speaking about the continuing professional education of teachers has to be located within debates about the continuing professional education of providers and supervisors, including practitioners in higher education.
If academic practitioners are to become providers, they also need to engage in the same processes they are expecting the teachers to engage in. Not to do so, and to remain within the kind of asymmetrical power relationships generated by traditional epistemologies, would involve regressing into divisive forms of social living where power replaces rational debate as the arbiter for making judgements about forms of living. Higher education practitioners therefore also need to demonstrate their methodological and epistemological accountability, by producing their living theories of practice that show how they are encouraging the same kind of accountability within the teaching profession.
This is a feature of my own work, while working with teachers in Khayelitsha McNiff, This extraordinary group of teachers is setting precedents for what counts as professionalism in teaching, and communicating this through their accounts. Consider if they and I can show the processes involved in demonstrating improved quality in practice and research through working as a small group of teachers in a township, who are already influencing the quality of educational experience for their learners, the parents of those learners, and their colleagues, then how much more would be the degree of influence if such initiatives were developed at national level, with adequate resources, and appropriate support and institutional infrastructures.
How do I modify my ideas and practices in light of my evaluation? Let me say how I hope to continue this work. I will continue to engage with the politics of educational knowledge, as I support practitioners from all education sectors in producing their living theories of practice for public legitimation.
I intend to find ways of publishing and disseminating those accounts. I will continue to make the case for a free academic press, which, in my view, is vital for democratic forms of research within a democratic political order.
I believe that, like Biko , people should write what they like, but also subject it to the critical scrutiny of educated peers, so that its quality may be judged in terms of social validity Habermas, , see above , within a context of enlightened scholarly debate.
The development of the kind of knowledge that can contribute actively to human well-being has to be nurtured within a context of material 'I's, each willing to listen to the other, and test the validity of their ideas, with humility and respect.
I will continue to speak for myself, in the company of others who also speak on their own behalf, as a person claiming intellectual originality and exercising her personal judgement responsibly with social intent Polanyi, We all have choices, and, as intellectuals, the freedom to exercise them. I know what mine are, and what the implications are for demonstrating the quality of my practice. Adams G The Human Condition.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. The Treason of the Intellectuals. R Aldington. London: Norton. I Write What I Like. Oxford: Heinemann. So, in order to get good output, the student needs to do maximum research. The research helps in clarifying the complicated facts and figures. If the student has any doubt on the subject, the student must research and study it in detail so as to remove all sorts of confusion and get a proper understanding of the content. To understand the subject, one needs to go in depth of the lines.
The scanning of the content will never do any good for the students. In order to learn the subject and to know the unknown facts, research, detail study, and full analysis are the must. Proper reading , the finding is the only way by which you can learn about the methods and the current issues. Not just the current issues, rather the previous past issues can also learn in detail through the research.
The research includes various methods by which it can be done. Research is done through the work already published. The experts and the researchers had already done some of the research and the students are asked to go through that published material to understand the idea and the vision of those researchers.
When the students do research, they get to know how to create a balance between the collaborative and the individual work. Individual work in which the student has to do, while the collaborative work means that work which has already been done by the previous researchers.
So, in this manner, the students get to know which points to take into consideration and which points are to be ignored. The students also get to know their area of interest. Sometimes, the students aspire to become researchers only in their near future which is quite helpful. So, through this, we come to know that the research not only helps with the accomplishment of the work but also helps in understanding what needs to be done in their future. Research is performed to understand the concept from scratch.
Like, if you wish to know from where has the concept originated, then this could be done only through the research work. It can also define as an investigation because the student eventually ends up with expanded research.
By engaging in the process of research, the students understand the concept in an easier manner as the rationale of the topic know in a better manner. For example, by preparing the hypothesis, one truly understands the nuances of the research topic. Not just this, the research also helps in being a source of one on one mentorship which also plays a vital role in the brain development of the individual.
So, above are the reasons by which we come to know the benefits of the research for the students. Humankind involves everything from a pin to an elephant. Every bit of information, the things to live and survive are needed for mankind, should be known. As if the essentials will not be known then we will remain illiterate, unaware of what is happening in the society or around the world. Research is important for humankind because of the various factors:. When one does some research related to society, the human becomes aware and also alert of the good and bad things.
In order to understand the culture of a particular society, research about that society needed. So, if you are curious to know and learn something new , then the research work will help.
To make yourself aware, reading is the key. Read the published books and the research already done by an expert. Once you have gone through the research work of great alumni, you feel like being on the top of the world as the information flows into your head. Not just this, if you wish to plan any holiday, you become aware of the weather and the requirements of that particular place. Action research is tailored to solve immediate problems that are specific to a context such as educational challenges in a local primary school.
The goal of action research is to proffer solutions that work in this context and to solve general or universal challenges in the educational sector. A survey is a research method that is used to collect data from a predetermined audience about a specific research context. It usually consists of a set of standardized questions that help you to gain insights into the experiences, thoughts, and behaviors of the audience.
Surveys can be administered physically using paper forms, face-to-face conversations, telephone conversations, or online forms. Online forms are easier to administer because they help you to collect accurate data and to also reach a larger sample size. Creating your online survey on data-gathering platforms like Formplus allows you to. In order to gather accurate data via your survey, you must first identify the research context and the research subjects that would make up your data sample size.
Next, you need to choose an online survey tool like Formplus to help you create and administer your survey with little or no hassles.
An interview is a qualitative data collection method that helps you to gather information from respondents by asking questions in a conversation. It is typically a face-to-face conversation with the research subjects in order to gather insights that will prove useful to the specific research context. Interviews can be structured, semi-structured , or unstructured. A structured interview is a type of interview that follows a premeditated sequence; that is, it makes use of a set of standardized questions to gather information from the research subjects.
An unstructured interview is a type of interview that is fluid; that is, it is non-directive. During a structured interview, the researcher does not make use of a set of predetermined questions rather, he or she spontaneously asks questions to gather relevant data from the respondents.
A semi-structured interview is the mid-point between structured and unstructured interviews. Here, the researcher makes use of a set of standardized questions yet, he or she still makes inquiries outside these premeditated questions as dedicated by the flow of the conversations in the research context. Data from Interviews can be collected using audio recorders, digital cameras, surveys, and questionnaires. Observation is a method of data collection that entails systematically selecting, watching, listening, reading, touching, and recording behaviors and characteristics of living beings, objects, or phenomena.
In the classroom, teachers can adopt this method to understand students' behaviors in different contexts. Observation can be qualitative or quantitative in approach. In quantitative observation, the researcher aims at collecting statistical information from respondents and in qualitative information, the researcher aims at collecting qualitative data from respondents. Qualitative observation can further be classified into participant or non-participant observation.
In participant observation, the researcher becomes a part of the research environment and interacts with the research subjects to gather info about their behaviors. In non-participant observation, the researcher does not actively take part in the research environment; that is, he or she is a passive observer. Like other types of research, educational research involves several steps.
Following these steps allows the researcher to gather objective information and arrive at valid findings that are useful to the research context. Educational research is crucial to the overall advancement of different fields of study and learning, as a whole.
Data in educational research can be gathered via surveys and questionnaires, observation methods, or interviews — structured, unstructured, and semi-structured. As a top-tier data tool, Formplus makes it easy for you to create your educational research survey in the drag-and-drop form builder, and share this with survey respondents using one or more of the form sharing options.
What is a Margin of Error? A margin of error is a statistical measurement that accounts for the difference between actual and projected In many ways, an abstract is like a trailer of a movie or the synopsis of your favorite book. Its job is to whet the reader's appetite by As a researcher, when you want to study the relationship between two variables to determine if there's a cause and effect factor what do System theory System theory is an inter-disciplinary theory which consist a set of concept, construct, facts and terms which describe and explain the characteristics and phenomena affecting with any system.
Both enterprises require knowledge of schools as interpreted contexts for action and inquiry, both require knowledge of alternatives to existing school practice; and both require knowledge of the full range of interaction effects between educational research and practice. They can also play a special role in initiating and examining alternative forms of social organization for researchers and practitioners.
With this in mind, extending inquiry beyond the ethnography of education to include the ethnogra phy of ethnogra phy and education represents an important next step for school ethnographers, educational administrators, and their many and varied colleagues.
The evaluation was divided into two broad categories Scholastic that looked at the areas which were subject specific and Co-Scholastic that included activities that were co-curricular like life skills, attitudes and values.
The Scholastic evaluations was divided into Summative assessment to help analyse how much the students have learned after teaching through various medium like multiple choice questions, long and short answers , match the following , fill in the blanks and understanding diagrams in science. The summative assessment are to assess skills like teamwork ,leadership skills , memory and understanding along with.
As we dive into the realm of higher education, one may assume that the primary educational focus is placed on the teacher-student relationship. Teachers-students alike form relationships, as they embark down the educational pathway. It is this relationship that allows teachers alike to influence their pupils learning. The motivational psychology researchers discovered several useful approaches and practices that can be implemented in the classroom for effective learning to take place Miller, Teachers are using differentiation to support teaching and learning.
Differentiation can vary in pace, activities, resources, teaching and learning styles in an attempt to best meet the needs of individual student.
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