I just finished up a presentation at the KOTESOL international conference. I presented Using action research as a means of developing student centered curriculum. This was a project I did with one of my co-teachers when I taught high school in Seoul. Below is the my abstract and you can jump the break below for a short story about it and a link to the press I used.
Using Action Research to Develop Student Centered Curriculum Abstract
As educators, bridging the gap between theory and practice when creating student- centered curriculum for the ELT classroom can be challenging but extremely rewarding. To gain direction and purpose when creating student-centered curriculum, ELT educators may engage in reflective practice supported by SIGs, CoPs or other professional development groups. However, is there a more research-oriented approach to ELT classroom reflection? Action research can address both of these concerns and is known for providing immediate change to perceived needs by bridging the gap between theory and practice. This presentation will demonstrate how teachers can use action research approaches to develop theories about curriculum choices that inform and impact their own ELT classroom practices. Through examining real classroom experiences in which action research was used, teachers will take with them a research-oriented approach to classroom reflection that can address their day-to-day concerns while creating the direction and purpose for student centered curriculum that so many of us seek in ELT classrooms.
My Story (been living in Korea way to long!)
So my story begins in my frustration of working at a school that was one of the lowest socio-economic schools in Seoul. It wasn’t in my co-workers, or students but in the circumstances that my students were in. Most were poor and worked a part-time job, which is a big no-no still in Korea for high school kids. Most of our school was on free or reduced lunch. I was in the typical low socio-economic school conditions. Not much money, good hearted students but seemly hopeless and frustrated with their education. Long story short after about a year teaching my students nothing except preparing for the 스능 (Korean SATs) my students were burt our and if not already had, lost hope. Despite all of this I had a great relationship with my school and students. I really loved teaching there and my students. We had so much fun together and were all really close.
While this was going I was studying for my masters degree and was finishing up a approaches to research model. We had read, studied and used action research during the model. Basically action research is an approach to research that allows for research to be contextual, valid and reliable to our setting, and continually modified to create practical interventions for our research question (Read more in my abstract). Our research question centered around:
Why exactly, despite my students liking us so much, having great camps, and other XCAs were they so disinterested in learning English in our classroom.
So my co-teacher and I went into research mode. We did informal/ formal interviews, surveys, and observations. From this we developed a class curriculum that the students helped design and implement. It turned out to be a really good success. Not everyone was happy but in short we had much better participation, test results, and a general mood and moral change that gave not only out students hope and belief in learning again but also ourselves.
Let me know what you think and your experiences in either using action research or developing SCC in your class.
A life of Teaching 