Participatory Research Proposal

Final
Marta Niewiarowska and Magdalena ukasiewicz
GPTE 2014/2015
Action Research

Collaborative action research is a powerful

form of staff development because it is
practice to theory rather than theory to
practice. Teachers are encouraged to reach
their own solutions and conclusions and this is
far more attractive and has more impact than
being presented with ideals which cannot be
attained.
(Linda Ross, New
South Wales)
Action research
1. Identify an issue (We have a problem with one
student who is less knowledgeable than other
students this is the reason why the rest of the
class does not like this student)
2. Gather information about the issue
(observation)
3. Use that information to design changes in
classroom procedure (we came up with two
ideas which we would like to compare)
4. Implement this procedure
5. Observe changes this implementation
brought about in the classroom
(observation)
6. Reflect on the outcomes and implications
What have we done to narrow down our
question/puzzle?

Marta Magda collaboration

Our university supervisor

Ms
Brzosk
o-
Barratt MARTA
MAGDA
Two students - two contexts
Private primary school in
Warsaw
- Age: 8-9
- 15 studnets in teh
group
- Four lessons per week,
45 min
What do they have in
Private Language school in
Warsaw
- Age: 8-9
-10 students in the group
- Twice a week, 90min
common?

-These students are less knowledgeable than other

students
- They do not listen, they do not know what happens in the
classroom and then cry that they do not know what to do
- The rest of the class does not like them because they
always do not know what to do and do not know answers
What to do?
How to encourage the
students to more active
participation in the lesson?

How to integrate
the class?
Our ideas:
1. The problemtic students
sit next to the teacher;

2. Points all of the

students get points for
each active participation
(the willingness to
answer questions; active
listening etc.);
10 points = 6 Comparing
grade how it works
in our
3. The problematic contexts
students sit with very
good and fast students
Our results:
MARTAS CLASS:
- First action: the problematic
pupil sat with the best student
in the class the learners
cooperation became total
disaster. The children argue
all the time and do not work
with each other
-Second action: The student
sits next to the teacher = the
student became more focused
on the lesson, she pay more
attention to what the teacher
says. Moreover, thanks to the
teacher praises the student
became more confident ( she
started to answer to the
teacher's questions and
MAGDAS CLASS:
- My first action: the
problematic students sat with
the better student it did
not work (the better student
do not like this problematic
student so much that s/he did
not want to help him/her)
- Second action: The
problematic student sits next
to me. What is more,
I introduced Points system it
really works!!! The
problematic student is very
active (because he wants to
have more and more points),
he has better grades and
other students appreciated
Comparison:
In both cases the students attain the best results
when seated next to the teacher

Pairing the best student with the weaker one is

not a good idea, especially when the students do
not like/know each other

Additional motivational strategies really help in

engaging even the shyest students

Good class atmosphere and cooperation is

inevitable.
Final reflections
What have you learned?
Collaboration is always a good idea
Context is always important
The things which work in one classroom may
not work in another one
Observation is important
Always draw conclusions!
What have you done in order to:
bring people together.. our collaboration;
we do everything in order to integrate the students

mutual development.. each class, each

year of our experience, other teachers, parents
every aspect of our work develop us

make the work a continuous enterprise

we do not treat our work automatically. We analyse
each aspect of our teaching and try to solve all of
the problems
(Allwright,2005, p.360)
What have we done in order:
Integrate the work for understanding
into the existing working life of the
classroom.
(Allwright, 2005, p.360)

We went through the whole procedure of the

action research.
It means that we noticed a problem in our
classes, tried to understand it and then solve it.
Thank you for your attention!