Can children carry out action
research about learning, creating their own learning theory?
Word count 4499
The Time is Now!
'The time
is now, break free and fly.............
if you have the courage!'
It's simple, I
love teaching. I am still excited by the possibilities and the children I
teach, their way of thinking and expressing themselves. I am writing this as a
teacher-researcher who wants to contribute to educational knowledge. I write as
someone with a passion for learning and the opportunity to experiment with new
ideas. Someone keen to take a risk and share the journey and learning with the
wonderful and curious children in my class. I am finding that a form of
narrative enquiry in which I generate my own living educational theory of educational
influences in learning is appropriate for presenting my account of
understanding learners and learning
(McNiff, 2007).
My journey of
hope and change began with the arrival of 'Excellence and Enjoyment' (DFES,
2003). For the first time I felt we had the opportunity to take the curriculum
and review it with flexibility and enthusiasm. I remember reading the first
page and introduction by Charles Clarke and reading it a second time, just to
make sure I had understood the meaning correctly.
'There will be
different ways. Children learn better when they are excited and
engaged........... different schools go about this in different ways.' (DFES,
2003, p. 3)
For the first
time since the rigidity of the Literacy Hour I felt we had hope to really make
changes that would matter and have an impact. To develop creativity, flexible
ways of thinking and learning.
Developments have
happened at the discretion of individual schools, without a cohesive national
or local policy. Leading figures in the fields have toured and shared ideas,
for example Guy Claxton, 'Building Learning Power', Shirley Clarke, 'Assessment
for Learning' and Belle Wallace, the 'TASC Wheel'. I have read everything I
can, listened to speakers and visited schools with new and forward thinking
ideas. Please see appendix one.
One of the
difficulties facing schools is knowing that we want to change, but maintaining
levels of value added achievement. How do we balance the risk of change, with
not changing and playing it safe, but being critisised for that too?
Many schools have
identified one area they think they can introduce safely. For myself looking
around, I am excited by the possibilities and want so much more for my
children. I know I want to explore personalised learning in a creative and
stimulating learning environment. I want the children to understand what a good
learner is like using their Rainbow learning Log and own experiences, the
skills involved and that there is progression within those skills.
Understanding themselves, the things that make them tick, their worries and
strengths, the quirks that make them an individual and influence their
emotional learning will all identify the learner they are and the potential
learner they could be. Only then can the children begin to form their own
learning values and articulate them to others. Art Costa highlights that:
All human beings have the capacity to generate
novel, clever or ingenious products,
solutions, and techniques – if that capacity is developed. (Costa & Kallick, 2000, p. 32)
That is what I
want the children to develop, to have the opportunities to work creatively on
any task, thinking outside of the box, with freedom and risk taking. To see
learning as being flexible and fluid, that requires different skills and
responses. To think beyond their immediate learning and begin to generalise and
create their own theories of learning. For me personalising learning is
enabling a child to react to any learning situation with an understanding of
self and the ability to empathise and evaluate, working with the learning
skills of others around them.
But this has to
be in the context of a learning
environement and a creative curriculum where the children are involved in
developing their own educational theories. I want to develop a format for the
children to explore learning, including theories of others and use this as a
platform to create their own knowledge and values. I want to see over time the
narrative of their developing thinking in the floorbook they will keep of the
journey. Michael fielding in his research states;
'The intellectual
and practical motif which most readily captures both the values and alternative
practices exemplified in the Student as Researchers initiative is that of mutality, of education as
both a shared responsibility and a shared achievement...'
(Fielding, 2001)
Pupils as
researchers of their own learning, clearly being on the inside of the learning
process and exploring and challenging their ideas of themselves as learners and
the learning theories we impose in the classroom.
I am interested
in the writings of Alvin Toffler although I have read little at the moment. I
am drawn to quotes of his I have found.
'Teachers become
coaches – encouraging the children to open up questions for research for
themselves.' (Quotes, Dec 2006,
www.nswppa.org.au/pwinspire.hmtl)
'We need to
cultivate qualities of mind and spirit that seem most relevant to life in the
21st century.' (Quotes, Dec 2006,
www.nswppa.org.au/pwinspire.hmtl)
Will a child in
the future look back on school and value the 'pace and challenge' they
constantly experienced in all 'good' lessons? I worry whether children have
time to rest, to experience, to reflect or to explore learning as a skill. Will
they only take away the knowledge context of lessons or have the skills to
articulate their own learning experiences in a reflective, emotional responsive
way, talking about the moments that were significant to them and the impact
that had/ has on them? Will they have the vision to see forward, or be caught
in the cycle of maintaining the well trodden path because we know it is
successful? How do we know it is successful?
Well SAT results
at KS1 and KS2 are higher than they have ever been aren't they?
Does this link in
anyway to the rise in teenage pregnances or the suicide rates of young people?
The number of young people finishing university and school with no idea of a
path or excitemnet for the future and their possibilities for change. Do I see
too much that isn't there or has my box collapsed and the light is blinding to
the reality that I don't want to hold on too, but can't let go of !!
I want this to be
part of a whole picture and not a one off initiative that feels safe. Often we
feel overloaded with new strategies even though we can see the benefit of them
as they rush towards us. I want more. The whole package, ideas, but also
practical ways to introduce it into my classroom and across our school. I want
this now, not in several years time when things may come together. I do not
want to keep exploring new ideas and finding out the hard way which ones are
more successful than others. But at present I can find no package which
delivers or guides my thinking in the way I want to explore.
The answer for me
is to do it myself, plough through all that I have read and experienced,
explore different paths, trial aspects with my class, then share what I have
found with others. The children and I will be learners together, action
researchers into learners and learning.
The exciting
thing is in sharing the journey with my class, they are exciting companions and
look at the world through very different eyes. We talked about the research I
am carrying out about learning.
They were surprised and challenged me immediately, if I was writing about learning, didn't I need their help!
From the tone of the comment child C couldn't even comprehend that I could
write about learning without the classes help. It made me take a step back and
look at learning in my classroom from a different perspective. Their ideas are
thought provoking, challenge my thinking and help me to see as a learner
through their eyes.
I am interested
in the work of Branko
Bognar who works with children in a class in Croatia focusing on the action
research process, on creativity and on validity. I am interested whether this
process has been combined with an exploration of themselves as individuals, as
part of a learning community, as 'receivers' of learning in traditional roles
and curriculum's. But perhaps the worrying part will be later in the process.
Will this open the children to dissatisfaction for the system they find
themselves? Will they have a 'student voice' to articulate their ideas and
theories? Will tradition and results allow that voice to be heard?
We talke about
what we believed about learning or how we learn and it was fascinating the
perseptions of the chiildren. I have recently found the work of Dweck (1999),
and have been interested in the theories of gifts and talents and how we
perceive intelligence. And the effect this has on our ability to approach
learning opportunities.
Z said that we all have little factories
in our brain with little people that work in them and store all the things we
learn for us. It transpired that her Mum had bought her a series of books
called 'My Body', that came out monthly for children to collect. It tried to
explain the workings of the brain in pictures as little people storing the
information and Z had just taken it literally. Another child T started thinking
about why we forget things when we have learned them. He spoke in a tone that
implied the answer was obvious, we all keep things we have learned in a special
wardrobe in our brain. But sometimes things fall out of the wardrobe and slide
down our neck, down through the body into our feet and then into the ground so
we loose it. This discussion
started our thoughts about learning and what we would like to find out or
explore together. We decided, and it was the children's idea that we would make
a floor book together with pockets to store film discs or extras. That we would
both write about our thoughts and ideas. We are going to try and use the format
of the 'TASC (Thinking Actively in a Social Context) Wheel'
by Belle Wallace (Wallace, 1993) as a framework
for our journey together. Her work fascinated me a couple of years ago when I
introduced the concept of a TASC Wheel into my classroom, but I feel now with
my growing awareness of my own living theories, that I am looking for Belle to
be moving her ideas on. I need the next book and will sigh with relief that
perhaps someone else sees the possibilities the same way as I do.
Guy Claxton
(2002) explores skills he identifies to be a
good learner, Belle Wallace (Wallace, 1993) gives
a framework for children to plan, do and evaluate their own learning, but I
feel that neither go far enough. My children are confident exploring learning
skills and using the TASC Wheel, but are dissatisfied as well. There is more,
'P' described the wheel as too 2d, flat, whereas his thinking spirals around
flows through the middle of the wheel and explodes, sometimes showering others
with sparks from your learning.
This is a photograph of the wheel the children developed from their
experiences and reflections as learners.
Photograph of
wheel
I think often we get caught at the end
of the wheel and it is easy to just share our learning in a topic through an assembly and think
about how many facts we have
learned. The wheel needs to encourage us to self reflect, evaluate skills we
have used and need to develop within the topic as well as as a learner. It is
the knowing of 'self' that moves our thinking forward and the emotional aspects
of myself that reflect in my learning.
I have read
research of the benefits of action research on clarifying our own ontological
values (Hutchinson, 1998) but I am interested in research into the impact on
the child researcher and on the 'teacher', pupil relationship.
Hutchinson (1998) writes about the: '...empowering nature
of research which takes the form of action research. ......valuable role in
effecting school change'.
We feel as a
group of learners that we have something to say, something to share, and
something new to learn.
The children I
had in my class last year consider themselves expert learners, beyond their
age, they are confident to lead others and share their thoughts. We have called
them 'Learning Coaches'. The children and I were invited to share our
experiences at a days training on TASC run by Belle Wallace. The children
weren't worried, rather pleased and excited to be sharing their 'learning'.
Photographs were taken and even a video recording made of their thoughts of the
TASC Wheel. This is an incredible short extract of the children developing
their thinking, expressing their reflections and clarifying their ideas to
develop an adults 'learning theory'. (Please see appendices two) By expressing
their thoughts and feelings to adults, the children felt a sense of value as
having something important to say. They received an e mail from her thanking
them and asking for photographs and more details of their work. They glowed.
Following this we
are having visitors in to watch Creative Literacy from our Primary Learning
Network. This again the children met with enthusiasm and are becoming more
confident that the world outside of our school is listening , really listening
to their message. And recognising that it is important.
Where do we go
from here? I feel the children need the opportunity to record the moment, each
step forward in their thinking in any way they feel will express it
appropriately.
Could they write
a book about learning for children?
But if they are
the learning experts could we put a book together for adults, a learning
journey recorded from both perspectives? 'Children are our future', their
learning experiences are critical for themselves, relationships and for
communities they will live, work and relax in. Why currently are all
educational writings that theorise about teaching and learning, written by
adults.
Have we explored
the ability of a child to consider their world and their place in it, to
reflect, ask questions that they explore as they develop as a learner?
To talk about
their feelings and beliefs to theorise about learning in a meaningful way.
One morning four
learning coaches worked with my class and shared some of the poetry and
pictures they had made. They encouraged the children to reflect on their
learning journey so far and also the journey to come. The children were then
asked to make a picture of their learning journey, a map. We thought of things
that we could use to show the times when learning is tricky and when it feels
right. Ideas such as swamps, mountains, tunnels, traps were suggested. Things
that catch you or suck you in. When you feel positive as a learner flying free,
flowers blooming, downward slope, an open path to follow were suggested.
The maps are all
different and what was so special was the expalnations the children gave behind
the symbolism they chose. Genuine reflection and understanding of themselves as
learners was demonstrated. This was the first of a series of sessions, that
were planned in a free way to follow the ideas of the children as researchers/
learners.
The second
session was very different. Picture maps were finished quickly and the
conversation returned to Belle Wallace and her TASC Wheel. The children were
curious as to whether lots of schools used the TASC Wheel, and for a while that
thread of conversation lay quiet. I introduced the vocabulary of having a
learning theory. This was a difficult concept for the children to comprehend
and we struggled together for a while, some still cannot explain back our
discussion. From it though came the idea that the children wanted to have a
learning theory of their own. As experts they felt that people should listen to
them and not adults as it is children who are the learners all day, for years
as they grow. Then the quiet thread rose in a new way.
'Will they listen
to us like Belle Wallace is? Asked child T.
A question I
cannot answer. Even if others listen will it be understood for the incredible
thinking that it is, evidence of a journey and not a moment, or listened to and
forgotten.
My children will
not forget, not for a moment. Never!
They want a
conversation. A platform to talk and share ideas, thoughts, questions, to
challenge, encourage and support. A Tuesday group infact. How can I create that
enriching flow in my classroom?
A first step is
setting up an e mail link with Marie Huxtable. I will open it up on the
Interactive Whiteboard so that they can receive and send messages and wait and
see what develops. Other ideas may follow. The other schools locally have not
gone as far along the road of self learning as we have and the learning coaches
spend time explaining and telling others about their self awareness and
reflection. But we need something more. We need others thinking along similar
paths to challenge and question, not only to listen and say what amazing
thinkers they are. To critically challenge us. It is strange how the
relationship changes and writing this it was naturally 'we' , we are learning
and exploring our relationship and roles as this research progresses.
'Perhaps learning is a journey we undertake our whole lives, by realising the quality of the experiences on the journey and not the results, we learn more about ourselves and our values grow and change'. (Wallace, 2004)
The children
thought about this quote for a long time, trying to understand the message she
was sharing. They felt strongly that achieving the end result you want is
important as well as the journey to sustain you to want to go on. But felt
deffinately that through the process of research and the reflecting necessary
they had learned a lot about themselves and how they had changed even in the
last year, as learners and their self belief.
Our discussions
often tend to wander from the path that we set out on. What follows is one such occassion. The talk about
theories had awakened a keen need to begin planning and articulating their
ideas to form a learning theory of our own. Following the idea that TASC meant
something when you looked at each letter, the children talked in pairs for a
special word of their own to summarise the learning theory. I was amazed as 'A'
suggested the word 'Quiff', quite quickly. The children liked the sound of the
word and began thinking what the individual letters could stand for, just like
in TASC. They didn't have to argue or even debate ideas, they quickly agreed
and all ideas seemed to come from the group almost as a collective mind.
Q 'questions we all have to ask to learn'
U 'understand – making sense of things around us and ourselves which
is harder'
I 'I am important'
F 'feelings' so important as a learner
F 'focus' to be able to
concentrate and persevere
QUIFF, 'I' as in I am important is in the
centre, just as we are the centre of our learning and self.' I' is surrounded
by our understanding of 'things'
and ourselves, feelings which often control our learning. Focus applying
ourselves as a learner.
The class then
decided that as TASC is represented by a circle, they needed a visual image for
QUIFF. Paper to draw
out ideas was quickly given out, and thoughts turned to the sh.ape Quiff would be. The pictures are all so
different and thoughtfull. Below is 'A's' picture. She has used a triangle with
I at the point, represented by an eye, the most important point. An eye to the
wolrd and into ourseves. Questions are at the bottom, the start and widest part
of the shape. Focus is almost like an egg floating in between our questions and
feelings that control us, our thoughts and learning. Kellett (2005) highlights the opportunities for pupils to engage
with a subject in great depth and work with primary, self-generated data
(Kellett).The depth of the children's thinking shocks anyone we share our
journey with. Age, knowledge and skills have often been quoted as barriers to
children taking part in action research successfully, but this study will
challenge these preconceptions, encouraging the children to critically
challenge each others thinking and funnel down their research question and test
their hypotheses.
A's picture of
QUIFF
QUIFF
Following this
session we used the Interactive Whiteboard to record our questions and
thoughts, narrowing down our ideas behind 'Quiff'. We began thinking about how
children learn best and we worked in pairs and then fours to come up with
ideas, share them and then discuss and record those we all agreed upon.
We learn best
when we:
1.
Understand
and use our learning skills ( Child P) ('Understand' in Quiff)
2.
Believe in
ourselves (Child M) ('I am important' in Quiff)
3.
Think about
ourselves as a learner (Child A) ('Focus' in Quiff)
4.
Are curious
( Child TH) ( 'Question' in Quiff)
5.
Are happy
and calm ('Feelings' in Quiff)
These are the 5
key points or rules for QUIFF that we agreed
upon. Behind these are values that the children feel are important but come
under the headings or rules above. Child 'E' felt not worrying if things go
wrong is a very important skill, because even when things are wrong you are
learning, just don't worry and keep trying (Linked to 2). Child 'Z' felt it is vital to do the
right thing. I was unsure what she meant and asked her to explain, she said that
you have to decide to be a good learner and feel right, no one can make you do
it, they can try but only you can make it your best. I just thought Wow! (Links
to number 1!) Child
'A' wanted included the phrase 'Don't let your dreams float away' linking to
Child 'Z' s analysis of self. Bullet pointed below are the other points the
children felt impotant to list:
- Mixture of learning ways for all of
us (Coach DC's group). Links to 1
- Belief came up again and again. Links
to 2
- Fun learning. Links to number 5
- You must take learning seriously.
Links to number 3
- Tricky is exciting (Coach N's group).
Links to number 4
- Be interested it is then easier (
Coach P's group). Links to number 4
- Use what you already know.
- Concentration, only you can do it
(Coach A's crew). Links to number 1
- Don't copy, better to get it wrong
and believe in yourself and just try again calmly. Links to number 5
- Help other people but also help
yourself (know when to ask for help, know yourself to help yourself).
Links to number 3
We had our
learning coaches with us and they helped to encourage and lead thinking in
groups then feed back to the rest of the class, whilst I scribed. The session
only took half an hour and I am amazed at the depth of understanding and
reflection and their ability to articulate their thoughts.
Kellett (2005)
talks about the possibilities and rewards for young researchers, describing
working with children aged 10 – 14, where as mine are only aged 6, 7, 8. But she does describe the benefits of teaching
research processes to children to create knowledge. Learning in schools is
aften about acquiring, understanding and applying knowledge and skills, but she
talks about the lack of oppotunities to create knowledge ( Kellett, 2005, p 2). The children in my class asked a simple
question to which I really didn't have the answer:
Why is it only
adults that find out and write about learning? Why haven't we been asked?
Kellet examines
this point asking a similar question, concluding that knowledge and theories
about research have been done exclusively by adults. With children's rights and
awareness of self, central to legislation it should be no surprise tht this
question from my children would be asked sooner or later. It is just worrying
that no answer has been thought of, or processes of change towards the answer
the children would like before the question has been asked. It now hangs in
limbo, the children feeling more thoughtful snd reflective than adults are
giving them credit for. Shouldn't questionning of this level be celebrated and
shared rather than left hanging out there?
Perhaps the core
thread that will come from this research is the need for some central link for
learners to challenge, ask and question the 'knowldege base' we currently hold
as truth. A forum for challenging thinking and a space to air our questions.
Not necessarily for a deffinitive answer but a place to say this is what we are
thinking, this is the place our learning is at present, we challenge and want
to be challenged. With the World Wide Web so readily accessible this could be
an easier task than first imagined, but it would need some forward thinking
individual to coordinate.
' Children are
acknowledged as experts on their own lives (Alderson, 2000; Mayall, 2000;
Christensen and Prout 2002) and if adults genuinely want to understand children
and childhood, better ways to seek out child perspective and unlock child voice
must be sought.'
She has made me
think and reflect, as she questions the validity of children truely carrying
out their own research within schools, as it is an environemnt controlled by
adults. Their dress, time, eating. She questions that adults rarely hand over
the reigns to children to initiate and drive their own learning , this is
something I have tried hard to do. To step back and allow the session to run
freely.
Bassey (1992) wrote:
'In the
past there has been too much slavish repetition in education following the
historic model; today there is too much blind playing of hunches. For tomorrow
we need more recognition of the power of research in creating worthwhile
education'.
Bassey doesn't mention the power of research for the child, but this we believe applies as much to the child's perspective and opinion for change as it does to adults that Bassey implies.
The ending ties to the beginning as again I am drawn to the
research and writings of Dweck (1999). Incremental theorists," are
interested in learning and mastering challenges. Following failure, they remain
confident that they can succeed by revising their strategies and increasing
their efforts. Unlike entity theorists, they believe that effort, through
increased learning and strategy development, will actually increase their
intelligence. She writes:
people with
an incremental view of intelligence believe intelligence or ability to be
malleable and changeable. Students with this view cultivate their intelligence
through effort, task involvement, and strategy development. (Dweck, 1999, p, 74)
Child O's comment recorded in
his maths book., smiling he said:
'I got lots wrong, but I
learned lots too.'
This cannot be the end, but
the beginning. The beginning of a new range of voices with a powerful message,
a message they are excited and keen to share. My inner most fear is that people
will listen, but not hear what the children are saying.
Listen and we will
learn!
Appendix One
Books, schools visited,
articles and details of what learned
Appendix submitted with the
original work to the University.
Appendix Two
Mini disc recording of the
children talking about their developments for the TASC Wheel
The video-clip has been separated into a clip of the children responding
to a question about the usefulness of the TASC Wheel and a clip of them responding
to a question about what they think of the TASC Wheel.
You can access the clip:
'What use is the TASC Wheel?'
at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH2-5xexbAQ
and you can access the clips:
'What do you think of the TASC Wheel?'
at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti4syOrIDdY
and at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSqg1phEEaM
References
Bassey, M. (1992) Creating Education through Research.
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BenShea N. (2002) Great Quotes To Inspire Great Teachers;
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Claxton. G. (2002) Building Learning Power:
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Costa, A.. L. and Kallick, B. (2000) Discovering and Exploring Habits of
Mind; London: Assoc. for Supervision and Curric Development.
DFES (2003) Excellence and Enjoyment; DFES Publication
Centre: London. Charles Clarke .
Dweck, C. S. (1999)
Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development.
Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis.
Fielding, M,
(2001)Students as radical agents of change. Journal of Educational Change 2:
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Hutchinson, B. (1998) Learning
Action Research and Managing Educational Change - Improvement in Careers
Education: A Case Study of Managerialism in Action? Educational Management and
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(2005) How to Develop Children as Researchers: A Sep-by –Step Guide to
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McNiff, J.
(2007) My Story is my Living Educational Theory, in Clandinin, J. (2007)
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Toffler, A.
(December 2006) Quotes. www.nswppa.org.au/pwinspire.hmtl