英語教研,離你我並不遙遠:進行行動研究的若干問題與解決方案(下) - 英語教學法原著選讀103

2021-02-19 武太白英語教學

英語教學法原著選讀總目錄(截至2016年)

英語教研,離你我並不遙遠:進行行動研究的若干問題與解決方案(上) - 英語教學法原著選讀102

公益翻譯,請隨手轉發支持。感謝!

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上周我發了本文的上篇(連結上方有),不少朋友後臺留言說,你這不是坑人嗎,——只說若干問題,不給解決方案,一星期,豈不是要等死人!

朋友們,我也不想呀!奈何文章太長,我能怎麼辦。好在,一星期時間過得很快,今天就向大家奉上本文的「解決之道」部分,希望對朋友們有所幫助。

特別說一下:如果您幫我轉發到朋友圈、微信群,最好能兩篇都轉一下,這樣顯得比較完整。感謝!

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翻譯:Jennifer Wang

審校:武太白

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Solutions

We have experimented with a number of solutions to the problems. Chances of success for any given project will be maximized if:

• There is someone "on the ground" to "own" the project.

• One or more advisors with training in research methods and experience in doing research are available as needed to provide assistance and support to teachers.

• Teachers are given some release time from face-to-face teaching during the course of their action research.

• Create collaborative teams, desirably across schools or teaching sites, so that teachers involved in similar areas of inquiry can support one another.

• Teachers are given adequate training in methods and techniques for identifying issues, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting data, and presenting the outcomes of their research.

解決方案

我們已經對不少解決方案進行了試驗。如果能做到以下幾點,能最大化提高教學行動研究的成功率:

1、有一個「在一線」組織推動研究課題的「負責」人

2、有一位或多位接受過研究方法培訓、有研究經驗的顧問,可以在需要時給教師們提供協助與支持

3、在行動研究的過程中減少教師的授課時間

4、建立最好是全校或者教育網站範圍內的合作小組,以便研究相似命題的教師可以互相支持。

5、對教師進行充分培訓,尤其是在確認議題的方法和技巧、數據收集、分析、解讀以及呈現研究結果這幾方面。

 

1.Have someone on the ground to "own" the project. Completing an action research project is a little like completing a marathon at the same time as you carry out a wide range of other tasks. In order to succeed, teachers have to be in it for the long haul. After an initial burst of enthusiasm, most teachers "hit the wall" (as marathon runners say). Energy and enthusiasm begin to wane, and many teachers are tempted to put off essential tasks, or even abandon the project, completely. Having an enthusiastic team member to act as a cheerleader can go a long way towards maintaining the enthusiasm of the group.

1、有一個在前線組織推動研究課題的「負責」人。完成一項教學行動研究有點像在完成多種其他任務的同時跑完一場馬拉松。為了取得成功,教師們不得不參與到這場拉鋸戰中。當開始的一陣熱情迸發過後,大多數老師就會遇到「體能極點」現象(這是馬拉松運動員常說的)。精力和熱情都開始減弱,很多教師開始暫緩一些重要任務, 甚至完全放棄項目。有一個充滿激情的團隊成員承擔拉拉隊長,在保持團隊熱情方面會大有幫助。

 

In both of the action research networks I advised, a local facilitator filled this role. Both were senior teachers who had considerable experience as educational administrators. Importantly, they had also successfully completed action research projects of their own. This gave them credibility among teachers, and enabled them to act as a bridge between teachers and educational bureaucrats and administrators. These local facilitators were proactive as well as reactive. They maintained frequent contact with the teachers involved in the network through telephone, e-mail, and occasionally face-to -face meetings, and were able to identify those teachers who were "at risk" of dropping out. When teachers contacted them with practical problems and blockages , they were able to offer advice from their own perspectives.

在我擔任顧問的兩個行動研究網絡中,都有內部協調員來擔當這一角色。兩個人都是高級教師,作為教育管理者有著可觀的豐富經驗。重要的是,他們都成功地獨立完成了各自的教學行動研究。這樣他們在教師中就有了可信度,並且可以起到教師和教育管理部門人員之間的橋梁作用。這些推動者往往對問題預見早、反應快。他們和參與研究的教師保持緊密的電話和郵件聯繫,偶爾也面對面商討。他們能夠及時發現那些處於放棄研究邊緣的教師們。當教師們帶著實際問題和困難聯繫推動者時,他們能從自己的角度給予建議。

 

2.One or more advisors with training in research methods and experience in doing research are available as needed to provide assistance and support to teachers. Even with the support of a collaborative network of fellow teachers, doing action research can be lonely and isolating. The chances of long term success will be enhanced if someone is available at reasonably short notice to provide technical advice. This is important at all stages of the action research cycle.

2. 有一位或多位接受過研究方法培訓、有研究經驗的顧問,可以在需要時給教師們提供協助與支持。即使有相互合作的同事可以相互支持,開展教學行動研究可能還是一件孤獨的、與世隔絕的事情。如果有人能夠經常及時地提供建議,這個馬拉松式的研究項目取得成功的機率就增大了。這一點在整個研究的每一個階段都是重要的。

 

In the case of the action research networks I have drawn on to illustrate this paper, one of the local facilitators was in the middle of doing a doctorate, and was able to answer many teachers' queries directly. The other facilitator had a recently completed master's degree, and was able to get help from his former professors. As project advisor, I was also available to advise facilitators and teachers as required.

在我用來例證本篇論文的行動研究網絡中,有一位內部推動者是在讀博士,總能及時地回復教師們的問題。另一位剛讀完碩士學位的推動者可以從他以前的教授那裡得到幫助。我作為項目顧問,也能在需要時向推動者和教師提出建議。

 

3. Teachers are given some release time from face-to-face teaching during the course of their action research. As I mentioned in the preceding section, the single greatest impediment to the successful completion of an action research study is time, or the lack thereof. It is also a factor militating against teachers' doing their best. The hundred and one pressures faced by teachers as they go about their daily professional lives conspire to push action research to the bottom of the agenda. An operating principle I have tried to adhere to (with rare success) is that if you put something in, then you should take something out. In other words, if you add a new item to your daily agenda, then you should remove an existing item. One way of freeing up time for teachers to do quality action research is to give them less teaching to do. This may seem a risible suggestion in this day and age when bureaucrats and bean-counters have taken charge of educational agendas in many parts of the world.

3. 在行動研究的過程中減少教師的授課時間。正如我在前一節提到的那樣,時間,或者說缺乏時間,是成功完成研究的最大障礙。這也是使教師們不能全力以赴的因素。完成每天的教學任務時需要面對的無數壓力導致教師們往往把行動研究拖到了日程安排的最後。我儘量堅持(卻很少成功)的原則之一就是如果你想加入一些東西,就必須先拿走一些東西。換句話說,如果你想在你的日程上加進一個新項目,那麼你應該去掉一個現有的項目。讓教師能擠出時間進行高質量的行動研究的一種方法就是減少他們的教學任務。可是這個建議在今日今世看來可能很可笑,因為在世界上許多地方,精明的教育管理者們早就把持了教學日程的安排權。

However, it is surprising what can be achieved with persistence and a well formulated rationale. In our action research networks, we had some success. In one case, a principal agreed to adjust teaching loads so that while teachers had the same annual teaching load, they did comparatively less teaching in the semester in which they were doing their action research. In other cases, schedules were rearranged so that teachers had blocks of time (in one case one whole day a week) free to focus on their research.

然而,令人驚訝的是憑藉著我們堅持不懈的努力和制定好的理論依據還是取得了一些成效。在我們這個教學行動研究社區裡,有一些成功案例。其中一位校長同意調整教師教學時間,這樣在保證他們每年教學任務不變的前提下,減少他們學期的教學工作時間,把這部分時間用來進行教學行動研究。另外一個案例中, 重新安排這些教師的課表。這樣教師就有整塊時間(比如一周有一整天)用來做他們自己的研究。

4. Create collaborative teams, desirably across schools or teaching sites, so that teachers involved in similar areas of inquiry can support one another. This was the essence of our action research networks. Unlike Kemmis and McTaggart (1988), I do not believe that collaboration should be a defining feature of action research. It is, nonetheless, highly desirable. Teachers who are mutually engaged in action research inquiry of a similar nature understand one another in ways that others involved in the educational enterprise do not. In the words of Donald Freeman, "To tell the story, you have to know the story." In other words, to be able to understand and convey an experience, you have to have lived that experience from the inside.

4. 建立最好是全校或者教育網站範圍內的合作小組,以便研究相似命題的教師可以互相支持。這是我們教育行動研究社區的核心。不像Kemmis和 McTaggart (1988),我並不認為合作是行動研究的定義性特徵。當然,這種合作是至關重要的。在性質相似的行動研究中建立了密切關係的教師對相互的理解是參與教育事業的其他人做不到的。用Donald Freeman的話來說,「要講故事,你要了解這個故事。」換言之,想真正理解和傳達一種經驗,你必須有過局中人的經歷。

 

There is no doubt that the collaborative teams we set out within our action research networks provided tremendous support for the teachers involved and materially enhanced the quality of the outcomes. While supportive round-table discussions sometimes became "grouch" sessions, these were relatively rare. On the whole, teachers reported a great deal of satisfaction with the support they received from their colleagues.

毫無疑問,我們在行動研究網絡中安排的合作組給參與研究的教師們提供了巨大的幫助,大大提高了他們研究結果的質量。儘管支持性的圓桌討論會有時變成了「吐槽」大會,這樣的情況還是比較少見的。總的來說,教師們對從同事那裡得到幫助感到非常滿意。

 

5. Teachers are given adequate training in methods and techniques for identifying issues, collecting data, analyzing and interpreting data, and presenting the outcomes of their research. Like any other project, from buying a home to writing a novel, success demands adequate planning and preparation. In the case of action research, giving teachers training in research methods and providing adequate planning time before they embark on the research, will enhance the chances of success. At the beginning of the process, once teachers have identified an issue, problem or puzzle, the trick is to get them to think small. Many teachers, in the first enthusiastic flush of the project, begin sketching out a proposal that would require a piece of doctoral research to deal with.

5. 對教師進行充分培訓,尤其是在確認議題的方法和技巧、數據收集、分析、解讀以及呈現研究結果這幾方面。正如其他任何項目一樣,無論是買房還是寫小說,成功都需要充分的計劃和準備。具體到行動研究,在著手研究之前對教師們進行研究方法培訓,並給予他們充分時間來計劃和準備,成功率就能得到提高。在研究過程初期,教師確認議題、問題或困惑後,關鍵就是讓他們從小處思考。許多教師在研究初期高漲的熱情驅動下,草擬了需要龐大的博士論文才能來闡明的研究計劃書。

 

Another challenge is to convince teachers that qualitative data collection and analysis is research. Many who have had minimal contact with research come to the project with the mistaken idea that research must necessarily involve number crunching. Ironically, it is this notion that lies behind much of the trepidation that teachers feel about doing research.

另一個挑戰是讓教師明白定性數據收集和分析也是一種研究。因為很多與研究接觸有限的教師加入的時候都有這樣一種錯誤的認知,即所有研究都必須鼓搗數字。好笑的是,教師們對於做研究所感覺到的害怕,其背後正是這種認知(在起作用)。

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Background:

What is action research in educational area?

「Action research in educational area school situation to understand and improve the quality of the educative process (Hensen,1996; Johnson, 2012; McTaggart, 1997). It provides practitioners with new knowledge and understanding about how to improve educational practices or resolve significant problems in classrooms and schools (Mills, 2011; Stringer, 2008).」 Hine, G. S. (2013).

教學領域內的行動研究旨在理解教學過程並提高其質量(Hensen,1996; Johnson, 2012; McTaggart, 1997)。它向從業者提供對如何提高教學實踐質量這一問題的新知識和新理解,並解決學校、課堂教學中的重大問題(Mills, 2011; Stringer, 2008)。

 

Qualitative Research vs. Quantitative Research

在社會科學中,定量研究(Quantitative research)或又稱為量化研究,指的是採用統計、數學或計算技術等方法來對社會現象進行系統性的經驗考察。定量研究中最重要的過程是測量的過程,因為這個過程根本上連結了現象的「經驗觀察」與「數學表示」。量化數據包括以統計或百分比等數字形式呈現的各種資料。定量研究方法一般會經歷獲得數據、數據預分、數據分析和分析報告四個階段。定量研究方法採用統計與線性規劃兩種分析方法。(維基百科)

 

定性研究(Qualitative Research)或稱質性研究、質化研究,是一種在社會科學及教育學領域常使用的研究方法,通常是相對定量研究而言。定性研究實際上並不是指一種方法,而是許多不同研究方法的統稱,由於他們都不屬於量化研究,被歸成同一類探討。其中包含但不限於民族志研究、論述分析、訪談研究等。定性研究者的目的是更深入了解人類行為、及其理由。相對於定量研究,定性研究專注於更小但更集中的樣本,產生關於特定研究個案的資訊或知識(維基百科)

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