Dear Shaikha, i am pleased to hear from you and many thanks for such approach. I am from Oman and the idea of teacher researcher has not yet been introduced , thats why i am so interested in the topic!!. i have red alot about this country and supprise from the huge support for teachers to under take research and i hope to plan good veiws about the theme when i am back home. as i know from you that teacher researcher is not a new topic in Kuwait ,since you and colleague have done some in your schools, this is great. i would like to know more about your experience back home regarding reflective practitioner. thanks fatma On 03/03/2008, Al-Ghanem, Shaikhah <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Dear Fatma, Sarah and All; > > I am a PhD student from Kuwait studying at the IOE\ University of London. I > am glad to hear from someone in the Arabian Gulf region interested in this > exciting movement. I have just joined the list, and I am glad that I did! > > I, like you, got very excited in the idea of practitioner research and > found it relevant and indeed necessary to bring change and development in > our schools ( this was part of my interst in Stenhouse's ideias in An > introduction to Curriculum Research and development, and then the growing > literature on action research. > > My own experience in conducting action research project with teachers in my > field study 2003-2005, was daunting, but don't be let down, it was and still > a worthwhile and exciting because it was real ! I encountered action > research and asked teachers to do research on their own practices ( since > they were working on developing a new curriculum which is similar to the > PHSE in the UK) . There were inherently some methodological and ethical > contradictions; I struggled in presenting action research with its > practical orientation, with the conventional way of doing a PhD thesis and > that made me ethically disturbed. Teachers and I were learning according to > our individual realms and at the same time we were able to communicate and > share our reflections in an attempt to understand What is Al-Ru'yah ? ( the > name of the new curriculum which literally means vision). > > You will find out that most teachers may become interested in the idea of > researching their own practices , but they will use it and use you > according to their various needs , and I think that this is a success and > one of its potentials. For instance, in my case teachers did not accept the > idea of writing down and sharing their individual reflections through > "journals" as it commonly used here in the UK. However, when I suggested > using videorecording - I was using it as the discusions in the seminars and > workshops were one source of data- and shared my thoughts about this > experience. Immediatley, they started to experiment video-recording their > individual lessons. They were assured that videos are their individual > properties and no one have the right to use them without their agreement. Of > course this was somewhat a costly way of reflection, but the school > administration was willing to do so and offered two videocameras. > Interestingly, teachers were already in the "reflection" process by the > moment they accepted to start video-recording because decision-making and > selection of "which class, which lesson, and most importantly why framed > the way they chose to reflect. The video-recording brought changes in > teacher's attitudes toward thier work: some of them placed the camera in > certain position in their classroom, others asked a colleague or even a > student to do so. > > Reflection in its own, is powerful and indeed new. Unlike the context here > in the UK, the term "reflection" is rarely used in relation to > professional development or educational context. Reflection is an > internally- driven process for professional development, and > "professional development" in our country, I would say, is usually applied > as an externally- driven process ; developing through the "transmission of > knowledge from the knowledgeable and expert to the less knowledgeable! > teachers are trapped within a hierarchal school system and if we want > teacher research to strive we need to work on developing a culture of > learning based on the idea that schools needs to develop as "communities > of learners". > > You will be empowered and will observe "growth" in your own learning , > simply because teacher research is responsive, flexible and creative! it > will help you , as it did with me , understand why our educational system > despite the huge amount of money spend on educational developments do not > bring genuine changes in classroom practices. Teacher research shoudl be > realised within as embarking a differnt way of thinking and not merely a > method or a trend in doing research.( I know that there is an emerging > interest in action research in two Arabic countries but as I observe it , > it is being used by mentors as a tool to help new teachers to comply with > the exciting policies without questioning) > > I would encourage you to "invest" in your presence here in the UK , the > practitioner research movement is very vibrant and active and I am really > in debt for all those who took the initiative to facilitate the resources > and the form of access of information and communicating for teachers. It is > very important to keep in touch with supportive community , and I hope we > can do that for our teachers in our schools and schools in the World. > > > > Shaikha Al-ghanim > > > > >