Collaborative Action Research and Its Impact on English Curriculum Development in

Japanese High Schools

Kazuyoshi Sato, PhDYoshi@nufs.ac.jp

Nagoya University of Foreign StudiesJapan

AILA 2011

Introduction Although action research for teacher development has gained prominence in the current literature, there has been little documentation as to how action research influences teacher learning. Moreover, little is known about how teachers have actually incorporated action research into their practice and worked with other teachers for curriculum development and school improvement in their workplaces (Bransfor, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Zeichner & Noffke, 2001).

Definition of AR

“Action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out.” (Carr & Kemmis, 1986, p. 162)

A Spiral Process

(1)Plan(2) Act(3) Observe(4) Reflect (Kemmis & McTaggart,

1988)

Advantages of Collaborative AR

Burns (1999) identifies two advantages.

(1) “Collaborative action research processes strengthen the opportunities for the results of research on practice to be fed back into educational systems in a more substantial and critical way” (p. 13).

Advantages of Collaborative AR

(2) “They have the advantage of encouraging teachers to share common problems and to work cooperatively as a research community to examine their existing assumptions, values and beliefs” (p. 13).

Research Issue

“Published studies of AR in ELT are still relatively small in number” and few were reported “by teachers of AR conducted for their own professional development within a larger collaborative grouping” (Burns, 2005, p. 248).

Literature Review

Mutoh, Sato, Hakamada, Tsuji, & Shintani (2009) reported on the results of a year-long collaborative AR project between university teachers and high school teachers in a central area of Japan.

The paper is available from www3.nufs.ac.jp/~yoshi/index.html

Participants

・ 15 teachers (1 elementary, 7 junior HS, 7 senior HS teachers) including two native English speaking teachers participated in the AR project in 2007.

・ 10 teachers were enrolled in an MA TESOL program, while 5 were not.

Participants

AR Program at NUFS

(1)Orientation (May) ・ Introduction about AR ・ Identify issues and setting up

goals ・ Make an AR plan and a lesson

plan ・ Revise a lesson plan based on

an adviser’s comment ・ Try it out

AR Program at NUFS

(2) Monthly report (from June to Feb.)

・ After a monthly workshop about a different topic, participants shared their reports and received comments from advisers and other teachers.

AR Program at NUFS

(3) Mid-term report (August) ・ Conduct a survey (interview, etc.) at the end of the 1st term

・ Report the results ・ Revise a lesson plan ・ Try it out

AR Program at NUFS

(4) Final presentation (March) ・ Conduct a survey (interview, etc.) at the end of the third term

・ Report the results ・ Make a booklet (available from www.nufs.ac.jp/local_interchange/workshop/index.html

Data Collection

Multiple data sources were collected including

・ interviews (12 questions) with 15 teachers (in March)

・ monthly reports, mid-term and final reports

・ classroom observation (4 JHS and 4 SHS teachers)

Findings(1)All 15 teachers reported that AR was

useful to reflect on how they taught.

(2) 9 teachers reported that they received ideas from other teachers.

(3) 6 teachers said advisors’ comments were useful.

(4) 12 teachers reported that they could improve their practices and build their confidence through continuous reflection through AR.

Findings(5) 9 teachers indicated some difficulties implementing AR, including adapting new ideas to their classroom context, finding appropriate materials, developing collaboration with fellow teachers at the same school, and learning how to make an appropriate survey.

(6) 11 teachers out of 15 reported that they had almost no chances or talked with only one or two colleagues about new ideas.

(7) Only 4 teachers shared new ideas with other teachers in their schools.

(8) Only one teacher could utilize AR for the curriculum development in his school.

Participants and Data Collection

(a follow-up study over four years)Year 2007 2008 2009 2010

Total 15 20 18 17

Age/Years of teaching

AR / Ob / Int

AR / Ob / Int

AR / Ob / Int

AR / Ob / Int

Midori (SHS)52 / 29

○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ / ○ / ○

Hiroko (JHS)56 / 32

○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ / / ○

Tomoko (JHS)38 / 15

○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○

Momoko (SHS)50 / 3

○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ / / ○

Toru (SHS)42 / 7 ○ / ○ / ○ ○ / ○ / ○ / ○ / ○

Research Questions(1)How did these five EFL teachers

change their initial beliefs through the continuous collaborative AR?

(2)How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through collaborative AR?

(3) What did they learn from the continuous collaborative AR?

(4) Why did these EFL teachers have difficulty sharing their new ideas and working with other teachers for curriculum development in their workplaces?

Results (Final interview Data)

1. How did these EFL teachers change their initial beliefs

through the continuous collaborative AR?(1)Initial beliefs about language learning

and teaching (Two teachers were not sure) ・ I did not have any clear beliefs. I

just taught as I was taught as a student (Momoko).

・ I did not have any beliefs as I started my carrier as a music teacher (Toru).

1. How did these EFL teachers change their initial beliefs

through the continuous collaborative AR?

(1)Initial beliefs (traditional teaching) ・ I taught grammar explicitly because

I did not know any other ways. I just had my students prepare for exams by using many mechanical drills (Midori).

・ I relied on pattern practice, drills, and memorization (Hiroko).

・ I introduced new words, had my students translate each sentence, and practiced chorus reading (Tomoko).

1. How did these EFL teachers change their initial beliefs

through the continuous collaborative AR?

(2) All five teachers changed or developed their initial beliefs.

・ Integrating language skills is good (Momoko, Toru)

・ It is essential for students to actually use the language and recycle it. I also think having student notice is important. (Midori)

1. How did these EFL teachers change their initial beliefs

through the continuous collaborative AR?(2) All five teachers changed or

developed their initial beliefs.・ It is important to reduce teacher talk and increase student talk. I also think student-student interaction is essential. I want my students to enjoy using English. (Hiroko)

・ Students need many chances to interact with each other, not like teacher-centered class that I used to rely on. (Tomoko)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?All five teachers went through similar stages which included:

(1)Challenge their beliefs through TESOL classes

(2) Model teachers who have done similar AR(3) Engage in trial and error teaching through collaborative AR (at least one to two years)

(4) Build confidence in teaching by actually seeing students’ change

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 1) They learned theories about SLA

and SLT through TESOL classes and challenged their beliefs

・ I was shocked to learn that imitation is not effective in SLA. (Tomoko)

・ My preconception about language learning was destroyed. (Momoko)

・ I was astonished by SLA. I learned that my teaching style was out of date. (Hiroko)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 1) They learned theories about SLA and SLT through TESOL classes and challenged their beliefs

・ I was shocked to learn about how to teach grammar in SLT. Now I can follow steps based on the theory. (Midori)

・ I think theories are useful. For example, I can explain to my students why my activities are important. (Toru)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 1) However, they could not

apply theories into practices soon. ・ I could not make use of the

theories in my classes immediately. I put them into practices little by little. (Momoko)

・ Although I learned theories, it took me about one year to be able to incorporate them in my class. (Tomoko)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 2) All modeled teachers who had done similar AR.

・ I was not sure, but I modeled the handouts by Ms. Tsuji, who had tried AR about language integration. (Toru)

・ I learned how to integrate speaking and writing from Ms. Takahashi. I modeled her. (Midori)

・ I modeled Midori’s handouts about how to teach grammar. (Tomoko, Hiroko)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 2) All five teachers learned from other teachers and advisors.

・ I learned many things from teachers who had taught the same grade level. I adapted their ideas in my class. (Tomoko)

・ Advisors’ comments were very helpful. They pointed out what I did not notice through my AR. (Midori)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 3) All engaged in trial and error teaching through collaborative AR (at least one to two years)

・ I just modeled other teachers in my first-year AR. I began to adapt and modify their handouts in the second and third year according to my teaching context. (Momoko)

・ I just tried AR without fully understanding it in my first year. Then, in my second and third year, I could increase communicative activities little by little in my class. (Hiroko)

2. How did these EFL teachers learn to teach through

collaborative AR?(Stage 4) All built confidence in teaching by actually seeing students’ change.

・ I was surprised to see that my students started to focus on communicative activities and none of them were sleeping in my class. They even got a better score compared with other teachers’ classes. (Midori)

・ My students started to talk longer by using conversation strategies and write more in the second semester. That impressed me. (Toru)

3. What did they learn from the continuous collaborative

AR?Reflection, experimentation, learning from students

・I used to quit using a new activity once it did not work well. Then, through AR, I came to reflect on my teaching. I started to think why it did not work well and how I could modify my handout. (Midori)

・I started to reflect on my teaching, trying a minor change to improve my class. (Toru)

・I learned the importance of learning from my students to improve my class. Now I always think how my students are learning. (Tomoko)

4. Why did these EFL teachers have difficulty sharing their new ideas and working with

other teachers for curriculum development in their

workplaces?(1)Weak teaching cultures (lack of communication and collaboration; see Sato, 2002; Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004)

・ Teachers are busy with students’ behavioral problems and school events, so they are not concerned about teaching. (Tomoko)

・ Most teachers mind their own way of teaching. (Momoko)

4. Why did these EFL teachers have difficulty sharing their new ideas and working with

other teachers for curriculum development in their

workplaces?(1)Weak teaching cultures ・ Last year I could share my handouts with

my colleague. However, she used them as she liked. She skipped some activities. (Hiroko)

・ We had a lesson study, and an inspector came from the prefectural board of education. However, the teacher taught in a different way, having a rehearsal a couple of times, only for that occasion. (Momoko)

4. Why did these EFL teachers have difficulty sharing their new ideas and working with

other teachers for curriculum development in their

workplaces?(2)Need both top-down and bottom-up processes ・ This is a top-down curriculum reform project. So, there are teachers who are forced to do. They still think the project cannot prepare students for exams at the bottom of their heart. (Midori)

・ I could collaborate with the same grade level teachers but not with other teachers. In addition to a weekly department meeting, we can talk about teaching whenever necessary. (Toru)

Summary/Implications

1. Continuous collaborative AR together with theories is effective to change individual teachers’ beliefs and practices.

2. Teachers have learned from other teachers and advisors, following models other teachers have proven successful.

3. It takes at least one to two-year trail and error teaching before adapting new ideas and theories into their classes.

Summary/Implications4. It takes two to three years before teachers develop confidence by actually seeing their students’ successful learning and change in their classrooms and from AR results.

5. Continuous collaborative AR helps teachers form a habit of reflection, experimentation, and learning from students.

6. It is very difficult to involve other teachers in curriculum development in their workplaces due to weak teaching cultures.

Conclusion Collaborative AR empowers teachers to be reflective teachers and AR “has a potential to be a powerful agent of educational change” (Milles, 2003, p. v). However, to make it happen, both top-down and bottom-up initiatives are necessary to change weak teaching cultures. Without changing school cultures, individual change is possible but curriculum and school improvement may not be possible (see Murphey & Sato, 2005, Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004; Sato & Takahashi, 2008).