F)+Case+Examples


 * Case Examples **

1. Emancipatory Action Research
Dr. Marc Spooner's research can model emancipatory action research, in that it: "is collaborative, critical and self-critical inquiry by practitioners...into a major problem or issue or concern in their own practice. They own the problem and feel responsible and accountable for solving it through teamwork and through following a cyclical process of : 1) strategic planning 2) action 3) observation, evaluation and self-evaluation; 4) critical and self-critical reflection on the results of points 1-3 and making decisions for the next cycle of action research. Zuber-Skerritt (1996)

[|Marc Spooner's Research]

The project started by talking to the experts and the people that work with the experts. Marc, as well as two other female research assistants, went into shelters with audio recorders and a sign that said, "Tell the Government What you Think". The stories were gathered and grounded theory was used to come up with 5 themes: Youth, Lifeskills, Food & Food Bank, Transportation, Awareness. After this project, Marc joined the boards of the Carmichael Outreach Centre and the John Howard Society.
 * Video:** Community Voices:Talking with the experts the homeless and at-risk of becoming homeless 2006

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A direct recommendation from one of the participants was "they should make a map, with the hours" After the study was done in 2006, the Federal Government didn't have people working towards these "solutions" which were reported in the first video. They then hired Marc Spooner to do an assessment of the community plan from 2006. With this funding, as part of the assessment, he created a map. He also became the chair of the board of the Carmichael Outreach Centre in 2009.



After developing relationships with the organizations, people working for the organizations and with the homeless themselves, he got video footage of the stories directly He hired 4 different people, with different backgrounds to produce videos to tell the stories of the people considered homeless in Regina. This video is represented as answering a phenomenological question, "What is it like to be Aboriginal and trying to access emergency housing services?"

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This video represents some quantitative data relating to homelessness in Regina as well as telling the stories

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__** Methodological Approach **__: ** Emancipatory ** orientation; ** Collaborative ** purpose; ** Autobiographical ** reflective process.not only looking at change within the existing boundaries and conditions but also changing the system itself or those conditions which impede desired improvement in the system/organization. (Cohen, 2003) __** Methods implemented **__: observation, interviews, informal conversation, video __** Critique **__ : Kemmis and McTaggart believe that action research is NOT individualistic. It must be a group activity. Others, such as Stenhouse and Whitehead, believe that the view of action research soley as a group activity might be too //restricting//. They view "Teacher-as-Researcher" as a approach to action research.

2. Technical & Practical Action Research
Richards, Monica. (1987). A Teacher's Action Research Study: The "Bums" of 8H (A Humanistic of Motivational Strategies with Low Achievers). //Peabody Journal// //of Education//, 64(2), The Potential and Practice of Action Research: Part 1, pp. 65-79.
 * Citation:**

An eighth-grade language-arts teacher, Monica Richards, describes participatory action research (PAR) she conducted with her class of "bums." As a ‘teacher-as-researcher’, she engaged in the PAR process of action-reflection-action and analyzed her practice, both for herself and for others, which resulted in changes, developments, and improvements. ** 1. ****__ Diagnose a situation/Research and Evaluate __** After reviewing personal journal entries, conversations with colleagues ( 'critical friend' ), and observing ineffectiveness in the 8H classroom, Monica sought to determine a motivational technique and reward system that would be effective for improving students’ language arts performance. “How am I going to motivate a group of students who do not want to learn?” (p. 65) ** 2. ****__ Act to improve it __** She conversed with other colleagues and acquired their feedback as to 8H’s motivation levels. She shadowed 8H (p. 67). Devised and implemented a motivational tool for the classroom, a horserace bulletin board (p. 74). ** 3. ****__ Measure and evaluate the effectiveness __** Assessed the implemented motivational tool for the classroom by using observation and student performance data. ** 4. ****__ Reflect on learning and plan next steps __** Determined her motivational tool for the classroom was not effective and decided to actively involve the 8H Bums in the process ** 1. ****__ Diagnose a situation/Research and Evaluate __** She sought to determine what environmental factors in the classroom might influence motivation and what types of rewards are effective. Monica researched and read Bragstad and Stumpf’s (1982) //A Guidebook For Teaching Study Skills and Motivation.// ** 2. ****__ Act to improve it __** She read her concerns and proposal to her 8H students. She asked them to be involved in ‘participant problem solving’ and list their ‘top ten’ motivational factors that they believed would improve their level of performance. Teacher used students’ feedback and implemented 8H’s recommendations for effective motivational tools. ** 3. ****__ Measure and evaluate the effectiveness __** Assessed the implemented motivational tools by using observation, student performance data, questionnaires, interviews, informal conversation with colleagues, and students’ journal entries. 4. **__ Reflect on learning and plan next steps __** Determined motivational tools for the classroom were effective when students ideas were implemented. Recorded in her journal that students’ top three sources of motivation strategies were: 1. resources, 2. positive notes, and 3. verbal praise.
 * Bums of 8H case study **:
 * PAR CYCLE **
 * Next phase in the cycle…. **

__** Methodological Approach **__: Teacher-as-Researcher: ** Technical & Practical ** orientation; ** Personal to Collaborative ** purpose; ** Autobiographical ** reflective process. __** Methods implemented **__: Diary, observation, passive observer (shadowing), student performance data, questionnaires, checklists, interviews, informal conversation with colleagues, and students’ journal entries. __** Critique **__: • Technical action research is limiting because it is too individualistic and neglects wider curriculum structures, regarding teachers in isolation from wider factors.(p. 55)
 * Elliott, John (1991) Action Research for Educational Change. Buckingham: Open University Press.**

[|Action Research video with case examples]

The Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) Research Project is an Integrated Action Research project where the problem (low rate of girls taking physical science and technological subjects when they became optional) was identified by sources outside of the teachers involved.