Hubbard & Power (Chapters 1 &2)

"Many teachers have to do some wandering to get to their wonderings..." (4).

I wonder if I will ever narrow down my Teacher Research question! In reviewing my Field Notes and class notes, I feel a little disjointed. I notice that I inquire about a range of possibilities--social justice in the classroom, teacher expectations and student reception, empowerment vs. entitlement, student ability to question authority with respect. The more I wonder, the more my mind wanders!
Nevertheless, upon reading Chapter 1 of Hubbard and Power, I found solace in the lines: "Teachers often need to rely on their intuitive hunches; trust these hunches to guide you in the genesis of your research question. Remember that research is a process "that religiously uses logical analysis as a critical tool in the refinement of ideas, but which often begins at a very different place, where imagery, metaphor, and analogy, 'intuitive hunches,' kinesthetic feeling states, and even dreams and dream-like states are prepotent" (8). Imagery, metaphor, and analogy! Now, I know this! Through the reading of Hubbard and Power, I understand research to be analogous to the writing process; thus, internalizing the purpose of Teacher Research through my schema or personal literacy. Hmmm...is it worth doing my Teacher Research on writing? I believe that I have narrowed down my area of focus.  Through this intuitive connection, I have a deeper understanding of the end goal. Writing is organic and evolves (or devolves!) in order to reveal the unexpected; Teacher Research is organic and evolves (or devolves!) in order to reveal the unexpected. Hubbard and Power advise the teacher "to make sure the question is open-ended enough to allow possibilities the researcher hasn't imagined to emerge" (7).

Here is my list of questions/thoughts. They bounce back and forth between a stream of consciousness and a laundry list of "what-ifs" (3).

1. How can I successfully teach grammar in the secondary classroom? How can I bridge the gap between overt grammar instruction while still helping students to efficiently acquire the language for the purpose of improving writing? (I really am leaning towards these questions. I hated learning grammar because it was so boring. Also, I feel like I do not tackle grammar lessons effectively or frequently enough to see student improvement.)

2. My students enjoy creative writing versus analytical writing. Through mini-lessons and Writer's Workshop, how can I motivate my students to write analytically with the same fervor that they exhibit for creative writing?

3. I teach my students to question absolute truths, so why don't they question my authority? (This sounds better in my head!) How can I encourage my students to respectfully question authority with clear purpose?

4. How does my choice of writing prompts encourage student engagement in writing? What if students could create the prompts?

5. How do I improve reading comprehension? (Way too broad! Suggestions?)

6. How can a Writer's Notebook function as a forum for issues of social justice? What if students could create the prompts?

7. What is the most beneficial way to edit student papers? Peer editing, teacher conferences, self-editing checklist? How do I get students to see the bigger picture--writing is a process?

8. How does teacher morale/energy positively or negatively affect students? Does the classroom environment or the school culture (as a whole) have a more significant influence om students?

Please provide feedback. I feel confident with certain assertions, yet off base with some. As I continue to complete Field Notes #3, I plan on focusing on student writing (informal, formal, sentences on a vocabulary quiz, reactionary paragraph to a voice recording of a Shakespearian sonnet.) I know that my students write daily, but how well? Is it more important to get ideas on a paper than mechanically-sound sentences? Like Sarah, I will post my Field Notes #3 as well. Please help me to hone in on the "specific, tangible, concrete" (5).

Campano (Chapter 2)

            “From my students I have learned about the structures and dynamics that deepen inequality.  Through their generosity and openness, I have been introduced to alternative accounts of social development, judgment, and capability” (Campano, 2007,  p. 27).

            In reading this chapter from Campano, I hear Dr. Bogad shouting out…inequality, powerlessness, and “culture of power!”  In Campano’s (2007) mentioning of “cultural broker” and “linguistic capital” (p. 27), I cannot prevent myself from turning my attention to Prudence Carter.  In excerpts of Keepin’ It Real, Carter (2007) underscores the unique cultural styles and practices that non-white students bring to the classroom.  Through her examination of African-American and Latino students and their resistance to ‘acting white,’ Carter includes Bourdieu’s rationalization of cultural capital, or a non-fiscal, social asset which promotes social mobility beyond financial means.  In “Pierre Bourdieu on Cultural Capital” (1973/2000), the French sociologist clarifies,

The education system reproduces all the more perfectly the structure of the distribution of cultural capital among classes … in that the culture which it transmits is closer to the dominant culture and that the mode of inculcation practiced by the family … An education system which puts into practice an implicit pedagogic action, requiring initial familiarity with the dominant culture, and which proceeds by imperceptible familiarization, offers information and training which can be received and acquired only by subjects endowed with the system of predispositions that is the condition for the success of the transmission and of the inculcation of the culture … This consists mainly of linguistic and cultural competence and that relationship of familiarity with culture which can only be produced by family upbringing when it transmits the dominant culture. (p.1)

Intrigued by Bourdieu’s notion, as a member of the “culture of power” can I play the role of power broker through my profession as an educator?  Idealistically, I could be the ‘in’ for student like Celso.  As a member of the “culture of power”, I am privy to “information and training which can be received and acquired only by subjects endowed with the system of predispositions that is the condition for the success of the transmission and of inculcation of the culture.”  Thus, I covet the potential to convert my power into empowerment in my classroom, echoing the sentimental intentions of Campano. 

            In order to begin to emulate Campano (Admittedly, I am envious of his ‘secondary classroom), I need to explore my conceptualized belief of power.  I need to keep this minimalistic and cogent—the way my mind works when processing what are deemed to be absolute truths.  In order to demystify the idea of empowerment, I challenge my basic assumption about the way things are and can be, a certain reminder of Dr. Bogad’s assertions!  Simply stated, at the core of empowerment is power.  I immediately recognize empowerment requires that power can change.  If power cannot change or if it is inherent in positions or people, empowerment is not possible or conceivable in a meaningful way.  Tossing out the belief that power is often related to influence and control, power does not exist in a vacuum; power does not exist in isolation.  Power subsists within the context of a relationship between people or things.  By implication, since power is created in relationships, power and power relationships can change.  Thus, empowerment as a process of change, then, becomes consequential. 

            Thus, Campano achieves a personal goal of mine.  I want this…“We changed school literacy from within, and it became deeply inflected with personal meaning.  We planted seeds of memory within the fertile soil of school literacy and watched to see what new meanings would grow” (Campano, 2007, p. 26).  In my opinion, Campano epitomizes empowerment.  Can I do this too? Through my students, can I be introduced “to alternative accounts of social development, judgment, and capability?”

Still Inquiring!

        So, I popped awake at 3:34 AM.  Unable to sleep and exhausted by an infomercial on yet another weight loss program, my mind began to wonder and returned to the course readings.  I realized that I am having quite the affective reaction to the text, a bona fide feeling!  As mentioned, I am not held accountable for NCLB, AYP, or NECAP—acronyms that give public school teachers heart palpitations!  Despite my ‘luck,’ how am I being held liable in my classroom?  If I was asked the question, how are your students doing?  I would respond like my students…um, good!   (I do realize that I am using the adjective form rather than the adverb.  It is intentional!)  Yet, I do not have quantitative data to back my assertion.  I am not saying that NCLB and high stakes testing are the answers (far from it!), but is it a valid starting point?  As a researcher and practitioner, I can gather qualitative data, but the public wants numbers, facts, figures, etc.  And, I got nothing!

Still Inquiring!

        So, I popped awake at 3:34 AM.  Unable to sleep and exhausted by an infomercial on yet another weight loss program, my mind began to wonder and returned to the course readings.  I realized that I am having quite the affective reaction to the text, a bona fide feeling!  As mentioned, I am not held accountable for NCLB, AYP, or NECAP—acronyms that give public school teachers heart palpitations!  Despite my ‘luck,’ how am I being held liable in my classroom?  If I was asked the question, how are your students doing?  I would respond like my students…um, good!   (I do realize that I am using the adjective form rather than the adverb.  It is intentional!)  Yet, I do not have quantitative data to back my assertion.  I am not saying that NCLB and high stakes testing are the answers (far from it!), but is it a valid starting point?  As a researcher and practitioner, I can gather qualitative data, but the public wants numbers, facts, figures, etc.  And, I got nothing!

Cochran-Smith and Lytle

Inquiry Stance- I have inquired, but I cannot yet take a stance.

Posted by Morgan Buonanno at Sunday, January 29, 2012 7:24:48 PM EST

In the excerpts of Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research for the Next Generation, Marilyn Cochran-Smith and Susan L. Lytle (2009) critique the assumption that pedagogical knowledge is generated from the "outside-in" by researchers, policymakers, school-based leaders, politicians, and parents. Only then is the knowledge imparted by educators in the schools; furthermore, in arguing for the validity and necessity for practitioner research, Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009) reject the current power hierarchies--"inquiry as stance" is...called a counterhegemonic notion" (p.3)--about teaching, learning, and practice. Thus, at the heart of "inquiry stance" is the teacher and other practitioners. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009) identify the teacher "as the linchpin of educational reform" (p.1). According to the course syllabus, "the [critical teacher research] movement...respects teachers as agents and intellectuals that have something to offer to the educational discourse" (Johnson, 2012, p.1); according to the article, "practitioners are...expected to be the gatherers and interpreters of school and classroom data as part of larger intiatives to improve school achievement" (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 2009, p.1). The parallel is evident.
In Part 1 of Inquiry as Stance: Practitioner Research for the Next Generation, the authors 'take the temperature' of the current educational climate. These "tryng times" (Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 2009, p.5) are marred by the policies of No Child left Behind, test-based accountability, and annual school progress reports--all threats which undermine the pedagogical agency of educators. (Side note: As a parochial school teacher, I am not held to NCLB. Aside from discussions and commentary in graduate school, my work as an educator has never been dictated by public policy. I empathize with the angst of my public school compatriates, but I truthfully cannot comment on the full impact of NCLB.) Thus, in order to counteract the menacing threats, Cochran-Smith and Lytle suggest that rather than leaving decisions in the hands of policymakers, educators play key roles in the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational reforms. As a result, practitioner research should be considered vital for the success of large-scale reforms as well as for the development of teacher knowledge and practice. The authors posit that at the foundation of "inquiry as stance" is educators' learning, knowng, and doing in order to be part and parcel of broader movements for social change; thus, presenting best practices.
Moreover, what does this all mean for me, a novice educator in a parochial school? To be candid, due to my teaching circumstance, I feel a slight disconnect, and I cannot fully answer the question. Nevertheless, I am confident that I will achieve clarity and a personalized understanding that are applicable to my current school of employment. Thus, I must function as a researcher and gather information--I can reflect upon my classroom, but I know that it will be advantageous to be an observer and witness to the classrooms of my fellow graduate students. Initially, it may seem that I am taking a more pacify role, but I believe that starting the conversation on "inquiry stance" with dedicated public school educators is an irreplaceable asset to truly understanding the pedagogical process outlined by Cochran-Smith and Lytle.
I must concur with the authors that practitioner research is instrumental in questioning our fundamental assumptions about teaching and learning--an anecdote that transcends the school, but how? Thus, in seeking advice, I pose the questions to the class: Does "inquiry stance" work in a parochial school which is exempt from public policy initiatives? I see the potential for social change in either school sector; therefore, how do I make this function in my classroom?