Portfolio and Teaching Research
Throughout my work in the graduate school of education at the University of Pennsylvania, I have focused on learning education content, pedagogy and best practices. I have also spent a lot of time becoming a reflective practitioner during my field experiences and student teaching placements. Part of being a reflective practitioner and becoming the type of teacher I'd like to be, involves learning about inquiry and teacher/action research in the classroom. One of the benefits of the action research approach is that it allows teachers to be both researcher and participant. Another draw of action research is that it is meant to be a formative inquiry that allows teachers to use the results of their research to inform and enhance their teaching practice, classroom experiences and in the end, improve student success. The following quote provides clarification of this type of "teacher research":
"in the broadest possible sense to encompass all forms of practitioner inquiry that involve systematic, intentional, and self-critical inquiry about one's work in K-12, higher education, or continuing education classrooms, schools, programs, and other formal educational settings. This definition includes inquiries that others may refer to as action research, practitioner inquiry, teacher inquiry, teacher or teacher educator self study, and so on, but does not necessarily include reflection or other terms that refer to being thoughtful about one's educational work in ways that are not necessarily systematic or intentional" (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1992).
My experiences with inquiry in the classroom have been very enlightening. I have learned not only more about teaching and my students, but also about the process of inquiry and research itself. One of the perhaps most surprising discoveries I have made is learning how much my inquiry's focus could evolve over time and be shaped by what occurs during the classroom experiences in which my inquiry is embedded. I started this year with various interests related to all sorts of pedagogical practices and theories, not knowing which would become my focus for inquiry. As the Fall semester began, I chose to focus on the value of meta-cognitive and non-cognitive strategies that allow students to become more independent, capable and self-aware learners. Over time and after experiencing a second student teaching placement with access to many diverse students, I realized that one of the most important ways in which meta-cognition is stimulated is collaborative learning. With this epiphany, I decided to focus my inquiry on how important it is for my students to be open and willing to learn from one another. I became very interested in how I could encourage them to see the value in learning not just from the teacher but from the fellow students in their classroom community. I felt it was my responsibility to find effective outlets for them to teach and learn from each other.
Please use the links below to learn more about the story behind my inquiry question, the process of my research and an analysis of my findings:
Please use the links below to learn more about the story behind my inquiry question, the process of my research and an analysis of my findings:
Use the link below to learn about my original inquiry focus from the Fall semester related to meta-cognitive strategies: