Revitalise
yourclassroom
with action
research:
A powerfulform ofprofessional
development

ANNE BURNSPROFESSOR, CURTIN
UNIVERSITY, PERTHHONORARY PROFESSOR, UNSW,SYDNEY
JACET SUMMER SEMINAR, 2023

1Overview
1. Action research: an emerging and learning
process
2. Identifying topics/issues
3. Developing research questions
4. Considering ethical issues
5. Ways of collecting data
6. Reflections and questions to keep the action
going
7. Some examples for doing AR in ELT, Mathematicsand IT.

Why has practitioner
research emerged?
Since the late 1980s, there has
been a strong trend towards theidea of practitioners conducting
research in their own contexts.
Why has this phenomenon
occurred?

Increased recognition of situated,qualitative, interpretive research
Growth in naturalistic enquiry influenced
by humanistic and social psychology

Influenced byemerging
theoreticaltrendsAdvances in theories of social
phenomenology and social constructivism
Increase in research on teacher cognition,
identity and agency
Advances in theories of effective teacher
education based on concept of teacher as
life-long learner (bottom-up vs top-down)

The voice ofa Turkishteacher[Teacher] educational
programs should beconducted in our own
context. Sometimes we join
one day seminars for aplenary speaker or raffle
only. I took a lot of notes
until now. However, only
very little is relevant to me.

The voice ofa Turkish
teacher

A teacher development
program should be longterm, interactive andsuitable for our needs.

Content-embedded (“thing-based”)
professional development
Teacher Education(formal body ofknowledge)
Teacher Training

TeacherContext-embedded (”being-based” )professional development

Teacher
exploration
Teacher learningTeacher

Content-embedded
and contextembedded

Context-embedded PD
Learning circles/problem-solving
Action research/Exploratory practice/Lesson study
Case studies
Peer observation
Personal/group reading
Mentoring and collaborative learning
Personalised online learning◦ Long term
◦ School-based◦ Internal accountability

Reflect: So, what is action
research?
What is your current understandingof action research?

a self-reflective, systematic, participatory andcritical approach to classroom enquiry
participants are actors in the classroom(teachers - and learners) but also researchers

Features ofclassroom
actionresearch

aim is to identify ‘problematic’ situations orissues
bring about critically informed understanding
and change
underpinned by democratic principles(Burns, 2010)

Action as themotivator for research
Research that produces nothing but books will
not suffice. (Kurt Lewin, 1948: 202-3)
There is nothing so practical as a good theory(Lewin, 1951: 169)

Doing action research
Identifying area of concern
or interest in work context
Focusing onquestions issues forinvestigation

Deciding how toreport findings fromproject

Planning further action,
documenting action,
analysing data etc.
(cyclical process that
may be repeated severaltimes)

Planning ‘action’ toaddressquestion/problem (ieintervention)
Deciding how todocument
intervention andthen analyse
dataSome ways to find a focus
Consult colleagues on ”hot teaching issues”
Set up a blog/web discussion for a short time
Brainstorm things that havepuzzled/challenged you and your colleagues
Make mind maps and connect your ideas
Read articles and develop some questions
Use finishing statements (I/we don’t know
enough about..)
Identify issues in your school and share ideasLook through recent journals for key topics

It is research with people not on people

Somedifferences
between AR
and othertypes ofresearch

The researcher is simultaneously adirect participant in the research (twohats!)
It deliberately intervenes in the researchsetting (insight, change, development)

It is “subjective” rather than “objective”
The goal is local ‘theories for practice’(Burns, 1996) rather than generalisablefindings

Reflect: Your research focus?
Think about someteaching/learning issues(community, school, learners,curriculum) in your context:

What key issues/areas ofstudent learning are ofinterest?

What key issues/areas ofteaching practice are ofinterest?

What key issues/areas
require deeper professional
understanding or change?

Refine your focus anddevelop questions
Questions should be:
Clear: unambiguous and understandable
Specific: can see how to answer themAnswerable: can see what data areneededRelevant: worthwhile for the context
Interconnected: form a coherent wholeBut…not all AR has to start with fully
developed questions!

1. Avoid questions you can do little
about (e.g. changing the whole
school curriculum!)

Some hintsfordevelopingquestions

2. Tailor questions to the time you
have available (be realistic!).
3. Keep things relatively simple – not
too many questions at once.
4. Choose questions of relevance/interest to you/yourcolleagues/school plan.
5. Aim for open-ended whquestions.

Reflect: Your initial questions?
Develop a question that might
begin your AR.
If possible, discuss your question
with other colleagues working inyour subject area.

What student/teacher groups
are the focus?

What resources will you have?
(time, materials, resources,funding?)
Who do you need to include(managers, colleagues, students,parents,administators,counsellors)?

What ethical issues must youconsider?

Rememberto clarify
the scopeof thestudy

These relate to the quality, value
and worth of the research.
Three key questions:

Considerethical issues

Whose permission/consent isneeded?
Who will be affected by theresearch?
Who should be told about theresearch when it is completed?

Two main sources ofdata collection:

Observational (whatpeople do)

Non-observational (whatpeople think)

Developyour planof action
andcollectdata

observation (watching in a socialsituation)observation notes (factual accounts ofevents)
recordings (audio/video)

Collecting
observational
datatranscripts (documentinginteractions)photographs (shots/images ofcontext)
maps/diagrams (layout/interactions)documents (teacher/student texts
produced in context)

journal/diary (recordingideas/thoughts)“jottings” (memory aids)

Collecting
nonobservationaldata

surveys/questionnaires (closed, rank
option, open questions)interviews (structured,semi/unstructured)narratives (autobiography/life
history/professional accounts ofpractice)
discussions (conversations/focusgroups)

Reflect: Deciding on your data sources
Consider your AR focus and questions:
What are the main actions/interventions you intend
putting in place?
What data do you require to document the actions andanswer your main question(s)?
What method(s) will you use for collecting the data?

Analysing your data
The critical task...is not to accumulate all the data you can,but to "can" (get rid of) most of the data you accumulate.
This requires constant "winnowing". (Wolcott, 1990:35)

In other words, datacrunchingsquashingsqueezingData analysis within thereflective process
Data analysis in AR is dynamic and recursive
and occurs throughout the AR process.
It includes and relates to:practical action in the research setting
unbiased reflection/dialogue/collaboration(re)experimentation and (re)application ofpractical strategies
what the data are telling you (key messages)
open-mindedness towards the emerging
outcomes (challenging our assumptions)Analysing the data in AR – key steps
1. Assemble the data - collect and reflect
2. Code the data - categorise and quantify
3. Compare your data – describe, compare, andcontrast
4. Build meanings and interpretations – look, think andrefine
5. Report the outcomes – organise and present theresearch “story”

After the action
OutcomeWhat worked? What didn’t work?
Situation
Therefore, which of ourassumptions about action seemcorrect? What do we now
understand?
Action
How will we act next? How will wesustain the action to reach theenvisaged future?

English Australia-Cambridge English Action
Research in ELICOS Program, 2010-2023

Diana and Alla’s
research(Cossar-Burgess & Eberstein(2013)
University of Tasmania (EnglishLanguage Centre), HobartDirect Entry Academic
Program (DEAP) 15 week
Program – students aiming foruniversity
16 students and 2 teachersMixed nationality backgrounds
Little emphasis on structured
speaking in current DEAP courseDiana and Alla’s research“Most students were worried about speaking
In their future university classes. Our main
“focus was on increasing their confidence
and enhancing learner autonomy throughself-assessment.”

How can we include self-assessment inexisting speaking tasks to increase learnerautonomy?

Diana and Alla’s research
1. The students completed formative assessment tasks(tutorial discussions) in Weeks 3, 8 and 12.
2. They did an initial self-analysis of speaking skills andset goals. They did this after each assessment task.
3. From Weeks 5-15 they completed speaking tasks
and logs. The tasks were designed from student
input (e.g., short conversations with non-classroom
interlocutors; self-recordings; English-only).
4. Diana and Alla analysed student recordings, logs
and questionnaire responses.
5. Students said they found conversation tasks,
followed by self-recording the most valuable for
their speaking development.
 ))))

Sevda and Ahmet’sresearch(Dolapcioglu & Doğanay (2022)
Students at a mid-level school
in Hatay, Turkey
 34 students and 1 teacher
Students were in 5th grade
Mixed socioeconomic
backgrounds
Little ability to use criticalthinking in mathematics

Sevda and Ahmet’s research“The students’ skills of interpreting, of ways offinding solutions, and of explaining was [that]most of the students were barely uttering a few
sentences.”

How to promote critical thinking in mymathematics teaching?

Sevda and Ahmet’s research
1. The teacher used a rubric to measure CT skills(understanding, comparison or solutions, reachingand proving right solutions, suggesting new solution,reflection.)
2. He introduced learning practices involving
authentic tasks outside class (e.g buying shoes).
3. He video-recorded student group activities, used
CTR before and after, and interviewed students.
4. He watched the videos with another researcher toevaluate his teachin g of CT skills and makechanges in practice.
5. The findings showed that students improved in all
five CT skills.
 ))))

Peter’s research(Brereton, 2016)

2 IELTS writing classes at BritishCouncil, Tokyo
Class 1 had 13 Japanese andone Saudi student
Class 2 had 14 Japanese andone Korean student
All taking IELTS to study in UK orAustralia

Peter’s research““As a regular teacher of exam preparation
courses, I am often frustrated by the limited
feedback that I can give
students on their“writing and the inefficient use of my timecorrecting..”

How can I encourage students to become
more involved in reviewing and learning fromtheirown writing.?

Peter’s research
1. Students published their weekly writing on a closed
wiki (with option to use pseudonyms)
2. Peter posted weekly video screencasts of about 5
mins, reading their work aloud and suggesting
improvements, explaining corrections and giving
overall feedback
3. Students watched their own feedback as well as
feedback for two other students, and madecomments explaining what they had learned
4. Students’ writing improved considerably (e.g. by 1.0
on IELTS writing for one student) and several
students continued to use the wiki after the class ))))

Action researchis powerful!
Where a teacher isable to stay in theirteaching context,
enriched by reading,reflective teaching
and action research,
the experience
usually leads tosustaineddevelopment.
(Mann, 2005: 108)

Thank you for listening – andfurther reading!

Any questions about AR?

Brereton, P. Using a collaborative online wiki and voice recordings to improve IELTS
writing (pp. 56-58). In Burns, A. &Kurtoglu-Hooton, N. (Eds.), Using action research
to explore technology in teaching: International Perspectives. The British Council.
Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative action research for English language teachers.
Cambridge University Press.
Burns, A. (2006). Action research: An evolving paradigm? State-of-the-art article.
Language Teaching, 38, 57-74.
Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in language teaching. Routledge.

Somereferences
and further
reading

Burns, A., Edwards, E., & Ellis, N.J. (2022). Sustaining action research: A practicalguide for institutional engagement. Routledge.
Cossar-Burgess, D., & Eberstein, A. (2013). Encouraging students to become
independent learners though self-assessment and reflection. Research Notes, 53,
18-26. https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/research-and-validation/publishedresearch/research-notes/
Dolapcioglu, S. & Doğanay, A. (2022) Development of critical thinking inmathematics classes via authentic learning: an action research, International
Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 53:6, 1363-1386,Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (1988). The action research planner. 3rd edition.
Geelong: Deakin University Press.
Lewin, K. (1943). Psychology and the process of group living. Journal of Social
Psychology, 17, 113– 131.
Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues,2(4), 34–46.
Mann, S. (2005). The language teacher’s development. Language Teaching, 38(3),103-118.
Shilkus, W. (2001). Racing to research: Inquiry in middle school industrial arts. In G.
Burnaford, J. Fischer, & D.Hobson (Eds.), Teachers doing research: The power ofaction through inquiry (2nd ed., pp. 143-149).Mahwah, NJ.

For numerous teacher accounts see www.cambridgeesol.org/rs_notes/ The latest
one from the Action Research in ELICOS Program is number 81.