Research in the Primary English Classroom

 

Hallo guys... How are you? Long time no see.

Today, I want to share with you a little bit about Classroom Based Research.

So, here we go ...

What is Classroom-based research?

Classroom-based research is a teacher-driven activity that aims to find out what works best in our classrooms, so that we might improve our practice, and – ultimately – make learning more effective for the benefit of our students. We can learn a lot about good teaching and learning by referring to the literature, and large-scale studies, such as the ones carried out by universities and educational authorities, which can also provide us with useful insights. However, every teaching situation is unique: what works well in one class may be completely ineffective, or even counterproductive, for a different group of learners. This places a burden on us, as teachers, to try to find out more about the teaching contexts in which we work.

Good teachers invest a lot of time in learning about themselves, their learners and the classes they teach. They do so by being attuned to what their learners say, or avoid saying, by being sensitive to their surroundings, by studying the curriculum and the literature and by reflecting on their practice. Classroom-based research is an extension of these processes, which is carried out in a more systematic way. Although it is more grounded on data than teacher reflection, it is still considerably less abstract than the kind of research that is carried out by professional educational researchers. This is its strength, because it means that the findings generated by classroom-based research are more personally relevant to teachers, and they can have a much more direct practical impact.

Altrichter, Posch & Somekh, 1993; Bassey, 1999; Cohen & Manion, 1996; Greig & Taylor, 1999- McKernan, 1996; McNiff, Lomax & Whitehead, 1996).

In essence, classroom research is research into what teachers do that affects their teaching of children, of what children bring to the learning environment and of how they are affected by teaching. It is about the school as the centre for enquiry (McKernan, 1996), and it underpins the professionalism of teaching (Millett, 1999). Thus, classroom research covers areas such as the following:

1. Teachers' knowledge, understanding, decisions, values, experience, confidence, etc

2. Children's learning, responses, understanding, values, development, etc

3. Teaching approaches and interactions

4. Curriculum organisation, content selection, scheme and lesson planning

5. Subject resources, their quality, appropriateness and use

Benefits of doing classroom-based research

Classroom-based research can involve an investment in time and effort, but it’s time and effort well- spent, for several reasons. 

Firstly, classroom-based research can have a direct impact on teaching, because we can use the findings of our research projects to inform our teaching decisions. For instance, we can find out more about our student’s needs and aspirations, about what motivates them and what they find challenging, and more; this information can help us plan our courses more effectively, and it can also be used to inform teaching interventions whenever necessary. 

In addition, classroom-based research can help us to become better teachers on the long run, by highlighting our strengths and opportunities for development. By trying out new teaching methods, and then collecting data on how effective these were, we can continue to develop professionally. 

Furthermore, classroom-based research can help to strengthen collaboration among teachers. While classroom-based research projects can be designed and implemented by a single teacher working on her own, they offer great opportunities to work together with colleagues who are interested in the same topic. Plus, sharing the findings from classroom- based studies can help to foster a culture of co-operation in the staffroom.

Last but not least, classroom based research provides data-based evidence on the effectiveness of different teaching methods. Such evidence can be very useful, when arguing for extending or expanding successful programmes; it can be equally helpful in deciding how effective educational policies are, for our classes.

 

 

References

Kostoulas, A , & Lämmerer, A. 2015. Classroom-based research Materials created for ELT Connect 2015. UNIVERSITY OF GRAZ. https://achilleaskostoulas.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/classroom-based-research.pdf

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002395.htm