Course Overview:
As educators, we grapple with frustrations and complex problems each day, and we often feel stymied by existing policies and practices. But we actually have much more agency than we might imagine. When we closely watch and listen, children show us so much about what works, what does not, and what is missing from their educational experience. With the impact of COVID-19 on children, it has never been more critical to carefully observe children and embrace an asset mindset when making instructional choices and solving problems. We can generate questions related to seemingly intractable problems, study them in a disciplined way, and work toward some possible solutions. This is not as daunting as it sounds! This course is designed to help you undertake action research based on the pressing questions and problems of practice you face each day as an educator.
This course is intended for classroom teachers, librarians, principals, instructional coaches, and anyone else working in a school or district who believes they can tackle problems of practice and make meaningful changes in their settings.
Course Objectives:
- Work with other educators throughout the course to discuss pedagogical problems of practice and action research projects.
- Learn to generate a viable research question and write an action research plan based on problems of practice and your question.
- Undertake action research in your own setting. Receive feedback and support from others in the course.
- Use practical tools to gather data on your students, colleagues, or the school as a whole.
- Analyze the data in a systematic way—examine patterns and trends and how they point to new approaches.
- Hear from action researchers at varied grade levels and job roles who have experience in action research, and learn from their successes and missteps at each stage of the process.
- Read blogs and articles that will help you affirm your beliefs, reveal your biases, and understand how others have shared the outcomes of their research.
- Consider ways to share the outcomes of your research.
Session Titles:
Session 1: I'm a Researcher?
Session 2: The Heart of It All: Kidwatching
Session 3: Beliefs, Biases, and Blindspots
Session 4: It's All About the Questions
Session 5: Develop Your Action Plan
Session 6: Analyzing Data: Looking for Patterns
Session 7: Reflect on Action Research as a Process
Credit/CEUs:
On completion of this course, you will be awarded a certificate for 30 contact hours, or 3 CEUs.
This is an On-Demand Course presented by Heinemann Online PD. Course access is 365 days from the date it is activated. Please note, access cannot be extended past 365 days.
Note: We encourage group participation; however, we require that each person be registered and be included in the subscription payment. For group pricing information please call 800-541-2086, ext. 1100.
