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mccomas, June 21, 2002 at 9:10:14 PM CEST
Focusing IV: Binary Opposites
What powerful binary opposites best catch the importance of the topic? Earlier today, I wrote this down beside this question in my notebook: When I was writing about the affective elements of this particular assignment, I suddenly realized that there was a marked difference in how the students talked about the assignment when responding to the interview questions that dealt with the before and how they responded to those questions that dealt with the after. I wondered then if the before and after might not provide the powerful binary opposites I might be looking for in an attempt to focus myself on this work. I've looked through my writings thus far (looking for the word "but" as it would be indicative of a space where there might be other binary opposites...oddly enough, I haven't found any -- which is rare for my writing, but interesting in this situation) and have been unable to identify any powerful binary opposites besides this one. The other things that I know is that I've expressed my interest in process of coming to know repeatedly and of course, these binary opposites also deal with that point of knowing. I think I'm getting focused now. How do students move from a place of unknowing, confusion, and anxiety to a place of knowing, clarity, and confidence? I'm ready to do my essential question now, I think... mccomas, June 21, 2002 at 5:27:11 PM CEST
Focusing III
What is affectively engaging about the topic? This question makes me think about what I read in the transcripts the other night. The three students all wrote about confusion, anxiety, and fear as they prepared to begin the counseling simulation project/assignment. What makes this affectively engaging is not those specific feelings but the fact that these students, in spite of their confusion-anxiety-fear, were able to move forward and complete outstanding work. It strikes me that as the students responded to the interview questions that there is a change in their voices from the first set of questions (when discussing preparing for the simulation/assignmnet) to the last set of questions (which is their reflections on the work)...their voices become stronger, more confident.
To me, this is the most affectively engaging aspect of this research. When I met with Dolores on Wednesday I read to her what I have written thus far (Focusing I and its two loops: Strategies and Success. When I was done, she said she heard me expressing an interest in the processes students go through as they come to know. What leads them to their epiphanies? It is interesting that in the interviews, each student talks about an epiphany of sorts: I paused one day over lunch and just looked at it, made no marks or labels, just looked at it. It hit me... What I want to know is what path did these students follow to reach these epiphanies? Are there any similarities in their paths? Is this related to the tipping point theory? Perhaps, for everyone, there is a tipping point where on the xth reading of the transcript the path becomes clear? mccomas, June 16, 2002 at 4:48:47 PM CEST
Narrative Inquiry?
This week I've been reading Narrative Inquiry: Experience and Story in Qualitative Research by D. Jean Clandinin and F. Michael Connelly. Their story resonates within me as I recognize my natural tendency toward an interest in narrative inquiry, or stories. At one point in the book, they raise the question about why they chose narrative inquiry as opposed to ethnography....explaining, essentially, that narrative is a part of their history and experience. Viewing people as a collection of stories, past-present-future, and a desire to understand those stories as a way of understanding a phenomena. The difference between ethnography and narrative inquiry is that in ethnography one studies a culture and in narrative inquiry, one studies a phenomena. In the studying of a phenomena, one picks exemplars, or people who participate in that particular phenomena as the focus of the study. They make it clear, however, that one is not studying the people, but the phenomena, or experience. An example is one researcher who wanted to know more about the experience of team teaching...her phenomena was team teaching. To study this phenomena, she focused on two team-teachers, but they were not what the study was about. It was through them that she learned about the phenomena under investigation...the team-teaching. mccomas, June 15, 2002 at 4:54:24 PM CEST
Focusing Loop: Success?
From my previous Focusing I writing, two things stood out that were interesting for me to think more about. One of those: "By distinctly successful, I am referring to the work created that is astonishing in some way...the papers that evidence deep and profound transformation of thinking."Again, some unpacking is necessary. Several years ago, when I became involved with WAC on Marshall's campus, I learned about the need for providing students with some indication of how their work would be assessed...that is the criteria against which their work would be judged. After several of us began developing criteria we discovered that first of all, we weren't always sure what we wanted (I know that's scary for students to read) and secondly, we weren't very adept at articulating what we wanted even when we thought we knew. I began developing PTAs (primary traits analysis) for some of my major assignments, forcing myself to articulate exactly what I was interested in having students achieve and demonstrate in their work. In order to do that, however, I did a good bit of reading about assessing writing. One book, in particular, really stood out to me. It wasn't the newest text on the market, in fact I hadn't even discovered it...Dolores pointed it out to me when I was almost at the end of my research into this particular topic. Since it has been a while since I read this, my paraphrase will be horrendous but I hope to impart the sentiment he expressed. First, he suggested that it was essentially impossible to articulate exactly what an "A" paper looked like because the "A" papers are the ones where students go way beyond the minimum expectations, they are creative in a variety of unique ways, and more importantly, they show independence by the learner as they take an assignment and make it uniquely their own. He suggested (or hinted?) that teachers should determine what a "B" paper is (not nearly as hard to do) and then suggest that an "A" paper goes beyond that. It's true, what he says. If I articulate clearly what an A paper looks like, it is no longer an A paper because all of the creativity is gone. When students ask "What do you want?" it is no longer their original work in the most creative way they can develop it...it becomes their work through my filter...the creativity is gone. This then, is where I am with understanding what "distinctly successful" work is. Perhaps I need to begin to understand the many ways that distinctly successful work can appear, the many faces it has (certainly, the three case studies I am using have very different faces). Is my question about success? Do I want to know what success looks like? What success is? mccomas, June 15, 2002 at 3:53:04 PM CEST
Focusing Loop: Strategies
From my previous Focusing I writing, two things stood out that were interesting for me to think more about. One of those: "What students need are strategies...and I think, in the projects that are successful, these students are demonstrating some of the strategies that just might serve as predictors for clinical excellence." I thought it might be useful to work on unpacking a little more what I mean about strategies. I often cringe at that word...knowing that there are a million (and one?) books available that claim to share teaching strategies, or clinical strategies, yet tend to be isolated activities that can be useful or not useful depending upon context. Context is critical, therefore, to me when thinking about strategies. From Merriam-Webster I learn: Main Entry: strat·e·gy Pronunciation: -jE Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -gies Etymology: Greek stratEgia generalship, from stratEgos Date: 1810 1 [snipped] 2 a : a careful plan or method : a clever stratagem b : the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal 3 : an adaptation or complex of adaptations (as of behavior, metabolism, or structure) that serves or appears to serve an important function in achieving evolutionary successInteresting that the technical definition of the word strategy implies what I believe to be a critical element. Strategies are not isolated behaviors; they are, in fact, the plan themselves. So when I talk about strategies, or careful plans or methods, that are necessary for clinical excellence...what am I talking about? What exactly do I mean by saying that students might demonstrating the strategies for clinical excellence? I mean that students are....what?! I don't know what I mean...is this then the focus? Is it my task to discover what strategy they used...how they went about moving from a beginning with nothing -- not a word, not an idea -- through to a "distinctly successful" project...a project that evidenced deep and profound transformations of thinking in one way or another? mccomas, June 14, 2002 at 7:58:55 PM CEST
Focusing I
What is most important about this topic? Started something here earlier, got interrupted and then lost it. So, I'll start again and see where I go. I think I was talking about the reasons I started thinking about doing this teacher research, and the reasons for choosing this particular assignment as the focus of my research. Early on I thought it was an interesting assignment because of the novel use of technology (MOO) as a support to learning. Lately, I think I'm less enamored of the technology and more enamored with the kinds of thinking students do as they complete the analysis. I hold my breath as they work through this project waiting for the epiphanies to happen. I simply like observing and thinking about processes and then trying to find patterns in the processes to make them explicit instead of invisible or hidden to the particular thinker. Is this topic important? I don't even know what the topic is...is it the assignment? Is it the research question? What is the research question? I started by asking myself what happens with the students who are distinctly successful with this assignment. By distinctly successful, I am referring to the work created that is astonishing in some way...the papers that evidence deep and profound transformations of thinking. They aren't always the best written papers, but the ideas they contain can, at times, be breathtaking. I thought, think(?), that by knowing more about how these students went about completing their work that I might gain some insight into how to support others in reaching higher levels of achievement...perhaps even helping others come to points of transformation. So, is this important? Well, it is important to me as it informs my teaching practice. It might be important to some students, particularly if they are the ones who might benefit in terms of success from my knowing more about how to support them. It might be important to other teachers in that they might learn more about supporting students in their learning. Why is it important though? If I can answer why, then I can most likely discover what about this topic is important. It's important because the practice of speech pathology is not an exact science. There are no textbooks that can provide students with every morsel they might need to be successful in interacting with their clients. What students need are strategies...and I think, in the projects that are so successful, these students are demonstrating some of the strategies that just might serve as predictors for clinical excellence. So, that extends the importance even farther...it could serve as a predictor? It definitely means that this assignment brings students face to face with the reality of knowing is not the same as doing. It brings students face to face with the reality of their real role in clinical relationships. It brings them face to face with the humanity of their clients as well as their own humanity. It's important because practicing clinicians must recognize, understand, and respect that humanity if they want to be successful in their clinical practice. I'm jumping all over the place...probably a good time to stop..wait a bit...and then try looping. |
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