[NIFL-AALPD:592] Is research for everyone?

From: jataylor (jataylor@utk.edu)
Date: Mon Aug 11 2003 - 13:16:04 EDT


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Good afternoon, everyone,
Wow - what a great influx of responses, resources, ideas, and materials direct 
from PD events!  Thanks Janet, for being so willing to openly share some of 
the work you have done with others in Rhode Island on bridging theory and 
practice, and thanks, Andrea for such wonderful, creative ideas.  And Andres, 
what a thought-provoking critique of the gulf between theory and practice.  
Impressive!

I have a second teacher vignette I would like to share with you, but this time 
it comes from a research study titled "Creating Contexts to Change Teachers' 
Beliefs About the Influence of Research" and can be found at 
http://ncrtl.msu.edu/http/rreports/html/pdf/rr931.pdf

"While I understand teachers' frustrations with research, my experiences with 
educational research have been positive, and these experiences have influenced 
my perspective.  Educational research can definitely be useful.  At any rate, 
it has been useful to me and should be useful in the following way.  Research 
should give teachers information that has a direct impact on what they are 
doing and needing in their classrooms...[It should] provide teachers with 
missing information and skills useful to solving their concrete classroom 
problems."

My question to you is, in connecting theory and practice, should research 
necessarily have a direct impact on teacher practice?  Should it "provide 
teachers with missing information and skills useful to solving their concrete 
classroom problems?"

Is the above vignette similar to your feelings and beliefs about the purpose 
of research?  If so, why, and if not, why not?

Finally, how might you respond to this teacher?

Jackie

(Excerpts from these vignettes were also utilized at the 2003 COABE 
presentation by Bingman, Joyner, and Smith. If you would like to learn more 
about the presentation content, visit
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/nifl-aalpd/coabe_aalpd.html)



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