My digital copy has been sent off! Yes! Hard copy has been bound.. Sending it off on Monday! Now I can forget about it and enjoy the rest of my holiday and sort out my work schedule and invoices! :)
Happy new year everyone and good luck!!
xxx
Saturday 29 December 2012
A Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry
A Critical Reflection on Professional Practitioner Inquiry
When
choosing a subject for my investigation, I realised I needed to begin with my
interests and proceed from there. When faced with the task of identifying a set
of research questions, I began by asking questions about subjects I had an
interest in (see Appendix 1).
When
reviewing my initial questions, I could reflect on them and pinpoint the
subjects I am most interested in; Drama and Drama Education. My questions had
not yet been answered, but by posting those on my blog I obtained some helpful
responses to these questions by the help of my peers (refer to Appendix 2).
This
fellow peer developed my thoughts further about the relationship between Drama
and child development (see response 5 Appendix 2). Meanwhile, I forwarded my
initial set of research questions to a practitioner with years of experience
(see answers in Appendix 3).
Reflecting
back on my original questions, I realised that some of the questions were not
actually relevant if I were to base my Inquiry on Drama’s effect on child
development. These questions, such as ‘How can dance be used within a dramatic
production?’ were eliminated. I adapted my first questions and formed some
additional questions, aimed at experienced Teachers, to cohere with the chosen
Inquiry (Appendix 4).
After
exploring these questions further, I came up with an Inquiry title; ‘An
exploration into teaching methodologies and styles in Drama and how they
benefit the Students’. We were then challenged to write three Literature
reviews on relevant texts to our Inquiries. Using Google Scholar, I founded
some relevant literature. Cole’s book ‘Educating Everybody’s Children’ is full
of teaching strategies for all type learners. Cole’s concept was that a good
teacher is teacher who can adapt their styles to appropriate situations (see Appendix 6). This and the help of my adviser made me realise that I needed to
hone in on my Inquiry title and edit it to become more specific and for it to
primarily, benefit myself as a practitioner. This is when I formed my existing
line of Inquiry.
‘The Panel members agreed that “good
teaching”-teaching that is engaging, relevant, multicultural, and that
appeals to a variety of learning styles-works well with all children, but that children from diverse backgrounds
sometimes have educational needs that might not be shared by other students.’
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Appendix 5: Extract from Cole’s book: ‘Educating everybody’s Children’.
I now
needed to focus on the ethical considerations of my chosen Inquiry.
Confidentiality is essential when dealing with participants. With this taken
into consideration, all data will be presented fairly and will be kept
anonymous. The intent and content of the Inquiry will be explained in detail to
all participants before it is carried out.
Appendices 6, 7 and 8 show my development of ethical considerations during the planning
of my Inquiry.
The main ethical issue
that is sure to arise during this Inquiry is the use of Students under the
age of 16. The researcher will have to be aware of sudden problems which may
appear when Students are participating. I will need to explain the Inquiry
process in detail in order to gain consent from all Parents, Students and
Teachers, if not this could potentially result in Parents extracting their
children mid inquiry. If a Student is self conscious, explaining the Inquiry
fully may prevent them from feeling threatened or intimidated by the
situation and may also prevent them from extracting themselves from the
Inquiry. Health and Safety of participants must be thought of at all times of
the Inquiry, ensuring all equipment is kept safely away from children.
Another ethical problem
is confidentiality which may surface if participants worry about who will see
their responses to questions. This could limit data and could even result in
self-exclusion of participants. To prevent broken ethics and restricted
results, Surveys are the best solution as these can be kept completely
confidential and the participants can fill these out individually,
eliminating the fear of their thoughts being made public to Students and
other Teachers. Surveys can be created online as well as in paper form and be
e-mailed over to the Teachers’ school e-mail addresses, which will mean I am
abiding by the Data Protection Act.
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Appendix 8: Revised ethical considerations
for my Inquiry.
My
Evaluation of the proposed Inquiry tools is that use of focus groups and
observation tools will not be necessary during my Inquiry. Refer to Appendix 9,
my evaluation of a pilot focus group.
After
piloting these tools, I felt interviewing was the most relevant tool to my
Inquiry, although surveys are also helpful, see Appendix 10.
After
further discussion with my adviser, I came to the conclusion that children may
not always be able to articulate their thoughts; therefore, Student surveys may
not actually provide reliable data. Surveys and Interviews with experienced Teachers are the most relevant tools to use and should
result in useful data.
Sources
Appendix 1: Original Inquiry questions.
Source:
Clarke, Rebecca. (2012). http://rebeccaelizabethclarke.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/task-4a-research-questions.html
Appendix 2: Ahmet’s response to my original Inquiry questions.
Source:
Ahmet, A. (2012). http://rebeccaelizabethclarke.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/task-4a-research-questions.htm
Appendix 3: Inquiry question responses from Culmer, V. (an experienced Drama Teacher).
Source:
Clarke, Rebecca. (2012). http://rebeccaelizabethclarke.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/task-4c-completed.html
Appendix 4: Interview questions adapted from original Inquiry questions.
Source: Clarke, Rebecca. (2012). https://docs.google.com/document/d/18kECFHNwbOTt1rbRkhS9DkjRBrXARZxeJs6SjZPM6D0/edit
Appendix 5: Extract from Cole’s book: ‘Educating everybody’s Children’.
Source:
Cole, Robert, W. (1995). Educating everybody’s Children: Diverse Teaching
Strategies for Diverse Learners.
Appendix 6: Original basic code of conduct to be used within my workplace.
Appendix 7: Original ethical considerations of my Inquiry.
Source:
Clarke, R. (2012). http://rebeccaelizabethclarke.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/task-5c.html
Appendix 8: (Please refer to Ethics form): Revised ethical considerations for my Inquiry.
Appendix 8: (Please refer to Ethics form): Revised ethical considerations for my Inquiry.
Source:
Clarke, R. (2012). BA Professional Practice- Professional Inquiry Forms (Ethics
Form)
Appendix 9: An evaluation of a pilot focus group
Appendix 10: An Evaluation of all
selected Inquiry tools
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