Coffee and biscuits will be waiting
for those who can make it, 4.30-7.00 1WN 3.8, Tuesday 25 October. I know it
will sometimes be impossible for you to make a session so I'll keep my notes
updated in the Tuesday evening's MA session of http://www.actionresearch.net at:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~edsajw/tuesday.shtml . The easiest way to
remember the site might be just to type actionresearch into google and the
web-site appears at the top of the list.
Nina has sent in some delightful
reflections on her values and intentions
at: http://www.actionresearch.net/writings/tuesdayma/nina.htm . Ros, Juliet and Shirley
- just to start off the writing you might like to share experiences with a
pupil or class that is focusing your attention on
what you value in education. (
Claire and Nathalie - could you forward this to Juliet - I haven't added her
e-mail to my list yet)
Meg - I do think the work you are
doing on peer massage has very significant implications for how we create safe
and creative spaces in our classrooms. I'm hesitant about recommending the
educational enquiry of Je Kan Adler Collins on Can a Collaborative Action
Research to my Educational
Enquiry help to express, define and
validate my standards of professional practice?, at
http://www.living-action-research.org/writings/pdf/collaborative_action2.pdf
. IÕm a bit
hesitant
because at first sight it may
appear not to directly connect to evaluating the educational influences of peer
massage. I do think that you could do some original work in encouraging pupils
to do some collaborative
action research on the educational
influences of peer massage. Let's chat about this in the group. Robyn, I think
you've a lot to contribute here about the values of alongsideness - I think
these resonate with the values of a teacher 'in loco parentis'.
Ailsa & Ed - great to see your
video-clips. Do let's work on finding ways of showing and explaining, with the
help of video, the educational influence you are having in your pupils'
learning and sense of well-being.
Richard and Vicky - your two
accounts of the work you are doing at Wansdyke clearly stimulated everyone's
interest and admiration. What I've done is spend this evening using Vicky's
account as a basis for an imaginary account of my own! This is at:
http://www.actionresearch.net/writings/tuesdayma/vickytuckerjw.htm
This is an experimental response
for me in that I haven't done this before and I'm hoping you find it helpful in
showing what an educational enquiry looks like that will meet the criteria for
a successful submission. What I've done is frame Vicky's enquiry with the four
criteria of a successful submission and then include in some 2000 words (with
the whole of the New Curriculum at Wansdyke as an Appendix) most of them
Vicky's, references from action/practitioner research and from OFSTED and QCA
with the live urls to the websites to show how the four criteria can easily be
met.
At the end of the account I've
added something new about pupil voice and the importance of evaluating our
educational influences in our pupils'/students' learning through the evidence
pupils/students provide.
My assumption (open to question) is
that you will be able to show how your pupils, with your support, are taking
some responsibility for their own (enquiry) learning in a way that shows that
they are capable of making judgements on the quality of their learning with
your support.
Vicky - I'm hoping that you don't
feel I've massacred your writing! What I'm suggesting Richard and yourself
might like to do is to continue with your enquiry as the new curriculum is
implemented and I'll shift my focus in my responses to your writings to
emphasise the research methods that might help you to evaluate the influence of
the new curriculum through the way you mediate this in your
pupils' learning.
James - that work you did with
Phoebe seems to me to show how you helped to create a safe space in which
enquiry learning was being encouraged.
I'm working with Marie on an
educational enquiry into our influences in each other's learning as we support
action research and inclusionality in BANES. I'm always wanting to improve the
quality of my communications and if you can think of ways in which I can
improve the keynote address on 'Creating living theories of educational
influence for a productive life' I'm due to give to the Act Reflect Revise 111
Conference in Ontario on the 11th November, do please let me know. You can
access this at:
http://www.actionresearch.net/writings/monday/arrkey05dr1.htm
Looking forward to next Tuesday's
conversation over half term. If you are away I'm expecting to see you much
refreshed the following Tuesday!
Love Jack.