Title: Action research mentoring for supporting professional development of teachers as learners in Croatia
1Action research mentoring for supporting
professional development of teachers as learners
in Croatian educational context
2My professional way
- I started my professional career in the fall of
1987 as teacher in small school 50 km from Zagreb.
3A need for learning
- Despite my wish to improve quality of my teaching
and beginning successes after two years I came
across lack of new ideas. I have also realized
how my formal education was only enough for
surviving but not for inventing new
possibilities. Therefore I started with learning
in more or less formal way.
4My new role as pedagogue
- After my pedagogy study, which I completed while
I was working, I was hired as a school pedagogue
in a primary school Vladimir Nazor in Slavonski
Brod. In my new role as a pedagogue I have tried
to assist teachers in introducing changes which
aim was to break from the boundaries of
traditional teaching.
5Professional information is not enough to start
educational changes
- I believed that the most important factor in
accomplishing this task was continued
professional development. In spite of the quality
of different forms of professional development
and teachers wishes for learning and changes,
teaching practice did not changed significantly
teaching still retained the form in which
teachers were oriented to meet official program
with little effort to develop different
childrens capabilities and especially their
creativity. I realized how professional
information, on which is professional development
of teachers mostly reduced, is not sufficient for
the true educational changes.
6Reasons for starting a new project
- That is why I decided to start a project which
would, in addition to professional information,
include reflective approach in education, improve
teachers capabilities, and assist them in
creating their pedagogical vision, plan of
changes and questioning their accomplishment
based on gathered information.
7The role of a teacher in Croatian schools
- The role of a teacher as a reflective
practitioner or an action researcher in Croatia
is still insufficiently appreciated and promoted.
8The teacher as mediator or technicians
- In our country, the teachers are most frequently
perceived as mediators or technicians whose task
is to prepare and implement the tuition based on
devised out-of-school expert instructions. Their
role is more artisan-like, being less
professional and creative.
9Action researches enables improvement of practice
- Action research enables the teachers, along with
other education-process participants (students,
parents, expert confreres), to initiate the
changes aiming at the improvement of educational
practice as well as personal emancipation.
Emancipation implies liberation of invisible
limitations caused by prejudices, compulsion, and
ideology.
10Living action researches
- Whitehead argues for living approach to
educational theory which is growing in the
living relationship between teachers, pupils and
professional researchers and embodied within
their forms of life. (Whitehead, 1989a, p. 3) It
is the value laden practical activity to
difference of the traditional science approaches
which intent to be of neutral value. Neglect of
our values could impel us to undertake the action
to change that situation. In the same time values
serve as the criteria for assessing results of
ours activities. (Whitehead, 1989b, p. 3)
11My values
- I wanted to fully realized the following values
in my practice - Education based on freedom
- Future oriented education
- Emancipatory education
- Communicational acting
12My living contradiction
- My role of pedagogue professional adviser - has
not often been in accordance with my values
freedom, future oriented, emancipated and
communicational education. - At that time I lost my time dealt with
timetables, statistics, servicing the computers,
writing letters and reports. In this manner my
values were neglected in my practice. Obviously,
it was my living contradiction.
13- Certainly, not all my values were neglected. Ive
done many jobs which were in accordance with my
values. For example Ive organised workshops,
helped teachers to improve their teaching, helped
teachers and students in using the computers etc.
14How could I improve my practice as a pedagogue
(professional adviser)?
- With my aim to live my values fully, I invited 18
teachers from several elementary schools to join
and start with action research project with main
question - How can I help teachers and myself to undertake,
in our circumstances, the new role of the
reflective practitioner and the action researcher
who is capable to improve one's own practice?
15The project
- The Project started in spring 2000 years and
officially finished in spring 2002 years.
Unofficially we have never finished the project. - We divided the project in two parts. In the first
part, we realized ten workshops which aim was
teachers learning and practicing new skills. We
dealt with themes just as Confrontation with the
risk of change, the Reflective Teacher, Multiple
Intelligence, Vision of Future School and so on.
16Example of one workshop in the first part of the
project
- Structure of the workshop Dealing with the risk
of changes - Associating of teachers at the beginning of
workshop. - Teachers introduced themselves.
- I introduce the topic of workshop.
- I prepared worksheets in advance.
- Teachers talked about their experience with
changes in their practice. - Participants tried to determine positive and
negative sides of changes (group working). - They made presentation.
- Spokespersons reported common conclusions.
- Teachers discussion about their positive and
negative experience with changes. - Arrangement over a date for the next meeting.
17My living contradicition
- My role during that period was predominant. This
fact was in contradiction with my values
(emancipation) but that was in the tune with the
teachers awaiting.
18Results of first part of project
- During that period teachers visited each others
lessons and discussed about that. They hesitated
to speak honestly about problems which they
observed. The first part of the project was
easier and a more appropriate way of professional
development for more teachers, but they were less
responsible for preparation and realization of
workshops. They just participated in activities
prepared beforehand.
19Teachers action research
- In the second part of the project we started with
teachers action research projects. The role of
the action researcher was impossible for most
members of the community, but in spite that some
of them realized first hand action research where
they freely made plans and improved their
practice.
20Action researches mentoring
- Mentoring was shown to be a better way to
introduce teachers to an action research process
rather than meeting as a learning community. - Mentoring satisfied teachers needs for
encouraging and supporting (Stoll Fink, 2000,
p. 209). - I realised that for qualitative mentoring the
number of novice action researcher should not be
more than five, because all of them need enough
attention which is difficult to sustain with a
lot of mentees.
21The feedback in mentoring
- The feedback is very important for teachers who
participate in mentoring, but not any and
whenever. It is important that the mentor answers
in a short time. In the action research things
occur very fast so if teachers wait too long to
the answer maybe it has not the importance for
them because new problems appear or they are
cooled down for the previous problem or for the
research in all. Answers should be an incentive.
It means that teachers should be encouraged,
understood and advised. The action research is
emotionally very exciting process and it is
important that answers would not be official and
distant because teachers could realise that the
mentor is not interested in their researches.
Critiques should be balanced and explained.
Advice which a mentor offers should not be too
extensive and expressed too expertly, because it
could inhibit initiative of novice action
researchers.
22Mentoring is a risky job
- Mentoring is always a risky job because in some
moments as critics and advisers what we say could
make our interlocutor angry, upset or hurt. It is
especially possible if the teacher because of
other tasks put the action research in the second
plan or if he/she does not know something how to
do. Then it is better to delay the mentoring
process and find out what the teacher is worried
about, and than agree with him/her what to do.
23Mentoring over an e-mail
- E-mail manifested as the successful way of
mentoring. - Writing is the process which much more impels
teachers into thinking than speaking. Apart from
that, the written word stays as a permanent
document which may be used in a different phase
of the research? - Written answers were much more important for
teachers than spoken, because their thoughts and
activities were more valued.
24- Jasna E-mailing with the mentor during the
action research was significant for me and was a
very stimulating for me. Since I had defined the
problem and the theme of my action research I was
aware how much that way of communication helped
in clearing of my thoughts and attitudes. Though
I spoke a lot of the research with the
facilitator and others participants in the
project, as with those who follow us in that my
pedagogue and family, especially important to me
was the correspondence through Internet. When I
started the research, I kept record in my action
research diary every day, and I sent these
writings to the mentor. He answered me very
exhaustively almost every day. - It was very significant and encouraging for me
that he followed me in my idea, he helped me to
better understand what I thought and what I wrote
without attempt to impose some of his solutions
or ideas. He listened to me actively.
Something else delighted me and gave the
importance to my records. Branko analysed each of
my sentences and commented them. He conducted
towards my records as it was literary or
philosophical creation. All of that stimulated me
to write regularly my diary and wait the answer,
which was not often just an answer to my letter,
than it was the answer to my inner, unexpressed
questions. - (e-mail, sent Jasna Zubcic, sent Tue 07th May
2002, 2307)
25The preconditions of successful mentoring
- Participants of the action research need to talk
about their work. They usually speak with
co-workers or professional adviser but also with
the members of their family. - Mentoring could be successful only if both side
(mentor and mentee) learn from each others. In
that way the mentoring could not be reduced on
the transmission of knowledge or skills as it is
usually defined in the business field. It is
rather the process where both sides are involved
in the process of research with the aim to
improve their practice (Fletcher, 2000 Holden,
2002, p. 20 Mullen, 1999, p. 13).
26Project results
- Our project gained the following results
- permanent teachers professional improvement,
- critical thinking about their existing school,
- creating and realization of a shared pedagogical
vision, - improvement of teaching practice,
- popularization of action research.
27New project and researches
- The Network of learning communities,
- Children as action researchers,
- E-collaboration system in teachers action
researchers. (http//mzu.sbnet.hr )
28Conclusion
- The action research projects in teachers
professional development are not occasional
professional information, but it is rather the
way of life which offers happiness of the
creation to teachers but also demand of them to
take the responsibility for the results which
they gain. Only emancipated, competent, creative
and (self)critical teachers may realize school of
higher quality.