research project maied 2011 2012 alt

Research Project MAIED 2011-2012

Thomas SalmonThe Impact of ESL Teacher Training and

Professional growth in Madrasah Tsanawiyah in Indonesia

Doing the Research Project

Contents

1. First steps

2. Getting Organised

3. Finding the Logic

4. On the Road

5. Writing Up

6. Final Tips

First steps

"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com

Topic / Idea

English Language Teacher

Indonesia

Teacher Training

Governance

Quality

Key Questions for Research Design

WHAT is the research topic and WHICH methodology will be employed

HOW will the research topic be addressed in this study

WHERE and WHEN will the topic be studied, and WHO are the subjects

WHERE will the subject be found and HOW will the data be gathered

HOW will the data be processed and IN WHAT WAY will it be interpreted

HOW will the findings be communicated to the community and interested parties

LAPIS – ELTIS (AusAID 2004 to 2011)English Language Training (ELTIS) in Madrasah Tsanawiyah (MTs)

Component of Learning Assistance Program for Islamic schools (LAPIS)

Delivered by the Australian Indonesian Language Foundation (IALF) & State Islamic Universities in Indonesia

6

• Trained 771 teachers, 125 master and district trainers

• Supported 14 teacher support groups in Java, Lombok and Sulawesi.

• Cascade training model

• In-service language upgrading

• Introduced communicative ELT methodology

• Adapted In-service Cambridge English Language Teaching (ICELT)

• Created materials and resource kits and packs including textbooks, flashcards and listening materials with a focus on Islamic life.

• Aimed to introduce ways of teaching English in a more communicative and less didactic way.

• Broadly successful evaluation of short term impact by AusAID

ELTIS Cascade Model

Master Trainers in IAIN Institutes

Teachers in schools

Teachers working between schools

Teachers working in support groups

8

Bases for Methodological Distinction

Ontology

Epistemology

Methodology

Design

Instruments

Paradigms of Research

Positivism Symbolic InteractionismPhenomenology,Feminism, etc.

Ontology Realism / Objectivism Constructionism

Epistemology Empiricism Interpretivism

Methodology Quantitative Qualitative

Research Fixed Design Fixed /Flexible Design

Ontological Assumptions

There is no objective reality

There are no absolute truths

Knowledge does not come

through the senses alone

Research focuses on the

construction of meanings

Meanings emerge out of

people’s interaction with the

world

Meanings do not exist before a mind engages with them

The world is constructed by

the people who live in it

My initial chosen paradigm was “Relational Co-constructivism”

Getting A Focus

Context Contingent

Issues

BackgroundMain focus

Initial Focus

Enabling conditions for change

Experience / perspective of actors

Real vs / projected change

Methodology and practice of ESL pedagogy

Post Colonial perspective and Globalisation

Neoliberal Education Reform in Indonesia

English as a global “linguistic currency”

Bourdieu

cultural / social capital perspective

Clifford Geertz

Cultural Anthropology

Education and Modernisation & historical background

Plans Changed

Took an internship with UNESCO for 3 months

Worked in Australia for 6 months

Travelled to visit the project HQ in Indonesia

Set up contacts to work with in Indonesia

Returned to Sussex in 2012

Getting Organised

Research questions

1. What is the impact of ELTIS training on teaching and learning practices for teachers within these schools?

a.What is the impact on their teaching practice?

b.How do teachers describe changes in their teaching practices since being trained?

2. What has the program enabled teachers and trainers to do within their institutional contexts and professional network?

a.What do teachers say they have been able to do as a result of the project within their institutions and teacher support groups?

b.What do teachers and trainers see as important factors in the process

enabling them to do this?

c.How do teachers describe themselves as agents of change within their

contexts? 17

Steps for Flexible (Qualitative) Design

Selection of the research topic and methodology

Framing of research questions; literature review; conceptualisation strategy and rationale

Choice of: setting, key informants, study groups, events, methods of data collection and assistants

Entering field; collecting data; re-defining, aligning methods / sampling; checking for soundness of data and the approach

Analysing data; formulating / testing hypotheses; aligning research process.

Preparing a report for discussion and submission and publication

Iteration of the Research Design

Issues My Solutions• Effectiveness of interviews (open or closed) and tools to collect data

• Try to pilot questions and improve them if necessary. Consider the wide range of instruments to collect information

• Scope and number of research questions given the short time frame

• Be prepared to cut back if absolutely necessary, try to be realistic

• Gaining unrestricted access to teachers in schools and negotiating local bureaucracy to gain information

• Email, use social media, snowball contacts, write letters, build relationships upfront via official and unofficial channels

• Reporting results to stakeholders afterwards

• Seek and be clear about support early on, keep stakeholders informed and use ethics process to set permissions

• Language issues, transport and dates of school holidays

• Use translators & internet services, find out distances and travel details, plan dates for interviews and schedule

• Concerns about gaps in my literature review and methological design of the proposal

• Keep reading, thinking about research design and questions

Finding the logic

Finding the logic

Theoretical Frameworks

_____________

Methodology andMethods

Dunne, M.(2012) Insights From Different Stages of The Research Journey

Focus and Design

• What are the substantive issues I want to address?• What theoretical ideas will I use / confront?• What data ? From where ? How does this position

you as a researcher?• How will the data speak to the substantive /

theoretical issues?• Your research questions indicate your focus – what

are yours?• How has the process of focussing (context –

substantive – theoretical – methodological) influenced your design?

Dunne, M. (2012) Insights From Different Stages of The Research Journey

Finding the logic

Theoretical Frameworks

Substantive Issues

Methodology andMethods

Dunne, M. (2012) Insights From Different Stages of The Research Journey

Into the Vortex

f

o

c

u

s

Reflective diary

On the Road

What HappenedI was given a lot of amazing support, time and help from the district trainers

and local teachers, provincial and district authorities, and the project staff

and the schools themselves.

I spent a lot of my time with people. I talked with teachers, visited private

universities for workshops, interviewed staff at partner institutions in person

and with skype, held focus group discussions with teacher support groups,

and interviewed the principals of schools and observed 6 lessons.

I also spent a lot of time travelling around with teachers and local Imam’s,

visiting villages and local schools and teachers.

I recorded as much as I could using my tools and in four weeks I collected

plenty of data.

Writing up

Changes and Revisions

• I made some revisions to my project design / plan.• I had so much data but I found that I still needed to

go through it all again.• I found new uncertainties and gaps in my knowledge.• I began to recognise more of my own assumptions

and also my own bias in my work.• I under-estimated the time it would take to get work

done.• I coded everything (using Invivo)• I had to get into a new frame of thinking for writing

Final Tips


Focusing

• Many tools helped and guided me through (mental exercises, ethics process, Invivo, research books, toolkits etc).

• I used time management tools (Pomodo).

• My tutor helped me a great deal to find ways to set limits around the research process and my thinking.

• It was essential to set priorities and plan tasks out.

Finding My Way

• It was a complex iterative process.

• Stepping away and thinking about the big picture / story I wanted to tell was often helpful.

• Asking people for feedback, discussing and presenting my ideas to others helped.

• Giving myself time to engage with people and the process was important too.

Finishing

• I had to make compromises to get things done.

• I had to learn to recognise if things were not working and change them.

• I had to take a few risks, but they were calculated risks.

• I had to pick quick wins and find ways to avoid intractable problems.

Any questions ?
