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Title: |
A teacher-educator's self study of her personalised learning agenda and educational influence: contributing to the creation and testing of living educational theories. |
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Authors & affiliations: |
Erica Holley Oxford Brookes University |
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Abstract: |
Relevance of enquiry My work is grounded in my past work as a classroom teacher and my present work as a teacher educator in the university. As a classroom teacher I transformed my educational knowledge through action and reflection. As a teacher educator I support teachers to understand and change their practice through action and reflection while continuing to understand and improve my own developing practice. My educational research is grounded in these explanations of the educational influences in my learning and the learning of others. The account of my practice is a contribution to living educational theories which I believe can be judged by living standards of judgement. It is relevant to the present discussion in BERA on the nature of the standards that can be used to assess the quality of applied and practice-based research (Furlong and Oancea,2005). Clarity of the focus of enquiry My focus is on the work I do as I ask, research and answer the question 'How do I improve the quality of education here?' I am developing a living educational theory (McNiff &Whitehead,2006) as I account for the educational influences in my learning and in the learning of others. Appropriateness of the methods or literature The action research methods I use have been well tested as appropriate for questions of the kind, 'How do I improve what I am doing?' (Whitehead 2006). In addition to the action research literature and the work of living theory doctoral and other research degrees published on the web at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/living.shtml I also use literature on reflection and reflexivity (Bolton,2005, Moon 2004). Robustness of analytical or theoretical framework The robustness of the theoretical frameworks of living theories can be seen in the nineteen living theory doctoral research programmes legitimated in the Academy accessible from http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/living.shtml Significance for educational policy and/or practice The account of my practice can be judged by living standards of judgement (Holley, 1997). In explaining these living standards of judgment I show the process of transforming oneself by one's own knowledge and the knowledge of others, and of transforming educational knowledge through action and reflection is a living process that generates communicable and living epistemological standards of judgement from the embodied ontological values of the practitioner-researcher. The research will demonstrate how educational theory generation and processes of improving educational practice are connected through inclusional relationships (Rayner, 2006). References Bolton,G. (2005) Reflective Practice, London: Sage Publications. Furlong,J & Ocancea, A. (2005) Assessing Quality in Applied and Practice-based Educational Research.Oxford; University of Oxford, Department of Educational Studies. Holley, E. (1997) How do I as a
teacher-researcher contribute to the development of a living educational
theory through an exploration of my values in my professional practice? M.Phil. diss, University of Bath,
Retrieved 19 January 2006 fromhttp://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/erica.shtml McNiff,J. and Whitehead,J. (2006) All You Need To Know
About Action Research.London: Sage
Publications. Moon,J.A. (2004) A Handbook of Reflective and Experiential Learning:Theory and Practice. London: Routledge Falmer. Rayner, A. (2006) Essays and Talks on Inclusionality. Retrieved 19 January 2006 from http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bssadmr/inclusionality/ Whitehead,J. ( 2006) What is living educational theory
approach to action research? Retrieved 22/01/06 from
http:www.actionresearch.net |