Week 12: Are We There Yet?
Now let me say this once again: this week’s chapters have just come at the right time! Not only because I am about to enter the analysis stage of my inquiry, but my interns are almost there as well. We all are engaged with our own self-studies and it is my goal to provide the right assistance and support to each of them. Also, we all are currently having the “good struggle” in terms of how to move forward with the data we have. The analysis process seems to be of a concern to them and this is very normal to me since it is a novel experience to them.
According to Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2014), “findings and conclusions do not materialize out of thin air-they come from careful scrutiny of your data as you proceed through a systematic process of making sense of what you learned” (p. 166). Thus, to reach that final rewarding destination, where we find the answers to our questions, we need to carefully pass through every station, especially the analysis station.
Speaking of analysis, during the past year, I have been engaged with some colleagues in two empirical studies. In both studies, we collected and analyzed data that included interviews, videotaped lessons, photographs, and etc. It was with practice that we as a group of international doctoral students were able to understand and utilize the best analysis tools to that research. It was through that process that I got to understand how coding is more than “keywords”. Moreover, the coding process varied across those studies, e.g. categories, cycles and groupings, and thus I’m expecting new unique cyclic process of coding the data gathered for my inquiry.
Honestly, I was so concerned about the best time to start the analysis. Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2014) made me feel better by explaining the two analysis types, formative and summative. I decided to review the data I have and start coding soon to give myself some sort of a formative feedback. Further, this will allow me to have a sufficient time for the coding process and assure the quality of every step.
I am so excited about my inquiry because it’s about my own practice, not that of others and the topic I’m investigating is coming from my own true interest. This inquiry is my attempt to explore, understand, and reveal my professional identity as a developing teacher educator. I believe that the process this time would be more challenging than any other work as I might be subjective although this is acceptable to some extent. Thinking about the process of coding made me look back at one of my favorite theories, the sociocultural theory of Barbara Rogoff (1990, 2003). In fact, I decided to utilize this theoretical lens to look at the beliefs and values reflected in my practice. Rogoff’s notions stress that for such investigative process, it is essential to address the social issues holistically through three planes: personal, interpersonal, and institutional. Thus, I will be looking at my conversations with others, such as the interns and their teachers, as well as the institution I am serving, which is USF.
In addition, this theoretical framework has made me think about a way to validate my codes in this process and this is something I truly value. I am planning to share my thoughts and codes with someone from my culture, probably one of my Kuwaiti colleagues who are currently in the US, to have their perspective and to make sure that what makes sense to me is making sense to the audience of this research type.
Back to my interns, I am so glad that we both are engaged in a similar work. This reminds me of Dinkleman (2003) and his notions about self-study and more specifically, the idea of modeling to the interns. Preparing myself in terms of knowledge regarding this critical research phase, analysis, is key. We will meet next week to discuss their inquiry and I am thinking of replicating what we might do on Friday that I’ll invite them to bring their data and do some hands on coding activities.
Finally, I am so grateful and thankful for Dana and Yendol-Hoppey (2014). Their book is clear, well organized, and written with a simple language. In deed, their work is of a big value to me and I am so glad that I shared it with one of my interns and honestly I can’t wait to have a conversation with her about it!
References:
Dana, N. F., & Yendoll-Hoppey, D. (2014). The reflective educator’s guide to classroom Research: Learning to teach and teaching to learn through practitioner inquiry (3rd ed.).
Dinkelman, T. (2003). Self-Study In Teacher Education: A Means And Ends Tool For Promoting Reflective Teaching.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford University Press.
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. Oxford University Press.
