Teachers and Learners as Researchers and better still Teachers as Learners and Researchers

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Teachers and Learners as Researchers- and
better still - Teachers as Learners and
Researchers

• Sarah FletcherJohn Hewitt

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Building Websites for Teacher Research

• In our presentation we focus on 5 core
  questions
• How are we creating TeacherResearch.net?
• What are the pedagogical challenges?
• What are the technological challenges?
• How are we assisting teachers to build websites?
• What are we learning as we assist the teachers?
• In our post-presentation discussion we focus on
• How can we support access to teachers websites?
• How might we create an interactive TR database?

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A need for websites

• Teacher Research has an increasingly high profile
  nationally and internationally, but it remains
  largely invisible and the knowledge created by
  teachers is often unseen, unshared and
  uncelebrated websites are one solution.
• There are many websites relating to teacher
  research but, as yet, we have not solved the
  problem of how to harvest and disseminate more
  than a small fraction of this research. Neither
  is this problem unique to the UK.

4
A Croatian Viewpoint The teacher as mediator or
technician.

• In our country, teachers are most frequently
  perceived as mediators or technicians whose task
  is to prepare and implement the tuition based on
  devised out-of-school expert instructions. Their
  role is more artisan-like, less professional and
  creative. Branko Bognar

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School websites can promote research by their
teachers

• In-House MA Programme
• Since September 2000, we have run an in-house MA
  programme with Bath University. The tutoring for
  this has taken place on site after School on
  Wednesdays 4.00-6.30pm. The group has consisted
  of ten or so staff from Westwood and three or
  four from other local schools. The MA is action
  research based and as such has been very flexible
  in meeting the needs of all participants.
  Colleagues are encouraged to reflect on their
  current practice and investigate how it can be
  improved.
• Westwood St. Thomas School, Salisbury

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Creating TeacherResearch.net

• This website is popular and attracts readers from
  all over the world.
• It arose from a need to have a resourced
  knowledge exchange to support Sarahs MA tutoring
  and DfES BPRS funded mentoring.
• The current site, launched in March 2005,
  reflects our learning about pedagogical and
  technological needs of teacher researchers and
  others who support teacher research
• In future, this site needs to incorporate video
  to provide access to v-mentoring pedagogy.

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Pedagogical Challenges

• Providing a useful, accessible resource to assist
  teachers researchers to collaborate in research
  projects.
• Creating an extensible teacher knowledge
  repository on-line.
• Enabling access to teachers accounts in an
  attractive stimulating way and reviews of other
  useful resources.
• Offering support to teachers who work alone as
  well as collaboratively with colleagues in LEAs
  and HEIs.
• Promoting and retaining the practitioner element
  of Teacher Research where research is done
  by/with teachers in their schools.

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Technological Challenges

• Creating and sustaining a core identity across
  its files.
• Ensuring it interacts effectively with search
  engines.
• Making it visually attractive and maximising
  click through, while encouraging visitors to
  check back in.
• Ensuring the website is easy to maintain
  regularly.
• Uploading large numbers of files with different
  formats.
• Enabling an key word search facility across the
  site.

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Useful websites

• http//www.TeacherResearch.net
• http//www.cfkeep.org
• http//www.evaluation.icttestbed.org.uk/
• http//www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/ntrp/
• http//www.bathspa.ac.uk/schools/education/cpd/

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Supporting Teachers as ResearchersMasters
Degrees in Teaching
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MTeachTT500MAR

• This MA level module at Bath Spa enables teachers
  to be research mentors for one another.
• Teachers are encouraged to investigate a small
  aspect of their practice in classrooms through
  action research and create a web-based Snapshot
  to represent their own research project.
• This MA module is being piloted at Bitterne Park
  Secondary School in Southampton by 20 teachers.

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What are we learning as we assist teachers in
TT500MAR?

• Though some teachers may be initially reticent,
  with appropriate support most are eager to
  represent and share their research projects
  through their websites.
• They enjoy freedom to create a web-based Snapshot
  since they have creative ownership of the
  process.
• The Carnegie Foundation KEEP toolkit provides a
  flexible, accessible, content-free scaffold for
  teachers.
• It is essential for research mentors to assist
  teacher researchers by modelling how to create a
  Snapshot.
• Teachers Snapshots could be linked to school
  websites.

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Creating Web-based Snapshots

• What are we learning in assisting teachers to
  create KEEP Snapshots?
• Teachers need a simple accessible format which
  allows them to share and discuss their ideas with
  one another.
• Teachers enjoy creating Snapshots to communicate
  learning and can assist students to create them
  too.
• Teachers do not yet have access to a Template
  that will assist them in creating an MA level
  portfolio submission.
• Teachers need a customised Template to
  scaffold MA level submissions and allow linking
  of their Snapshots.
• We need web-based templates to support teachers
  as a matter of urgency so we can upload their
  work in an interactive database.

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Why do we need a database for teacher research?

• To create an extensible collection of teacher
  research documents that will -
• encourage teachers to make their ideas and work
  more accessible,
• enable users to find relevant materials more
  easily and
• allow consideration of user-based evaluation.

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Post-presentation Discussion

• How can we improve access to teachers research
  through their own websites -locally, nationally
  and internationally?
• How might we create an easily extensible
  interactive Teacher Research database?