Educational Research Mentoring

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Sarah Fletcher
• sjfmentor_at_yahoo.com
• http//www.TeacherResearch.net

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Why educational?
• What kind of research?
• What kind of mentoring?

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Enables a growth of knowledge about teaching and
  learning in schools and in universities.
• Bridges between two populations of researchers in
  complementary educational contexts.
• Is distinct from traditional forms of research
  mentoring associated with university contexts.

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Educational Research Mentoring

• The research mentor assists the teacher
  researcher in identifying a research question for
  school-based investigation.
• Email, video conferencing and tele-mentoring
  might supplement the face to face dialogue

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Educational Research Mentoring

• The research mentor assists the teacher to
  identify values, skills or understanding to
  develop to assist his/her CPD and actively
  participate in his/her schools improvement.
• Email, video conferencing and tele-mentoring
  might supplement face to face dialogue
  sessions videoed as data which can be later used
  as evidence to support any claims of improvement
  in teaching and learning.

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Educational Research Mentoring

• The research mentor assists the teacher with
  understanding various ways to collect data.
• This might include using digital video, MP3
  recording, making movies to cut to DVD/CD.

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Educational Research Mentoring

• The research mentor assists the teacher in
  collecting and collating data in his/her
  school-based enquiry.
• This might include use of the KEEP Toolkit
  templates and Critical Thinking Scaffolds.

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Educational Research Mentoring

• How is ERM a beneficial two way process?
• Potential for professional personal development
  for the research mentor teacher through
  collaborative enquiry.
• Co-writing papers for publication and conference
  presentations and co-creating web-based
  snapshots.
• Mutual learning about the use of technology in
  enabling systematic enquiry as a form of CPD that
  can inform and improve teaching in very different
  educational contexts.

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Case Study One Rieko Iwahama, Kobe, Japan
• Case Study Two Emma Kirby, Bristol, England
• Case Study Three
• Donna Chipping and Rachele Morse, Southampton,
  England
• Case Study Four
• Karen Riding and her students, Salisbury, England

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Relates to Boyers (1990) Scholarships
• Discovery (research)
• Integration (connectedness of educational
  aspects)
• Application (e.g. to assist individuals and
  institutions)
• Teaching (the highest form of understanding)
• and Generativity

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Is there evidence that my contribution to
  educational knowledge has influenced anyone?
  Donna Chipping and Rachele Morses research
  (2006), suggests there is
• We support the definition offered by Fletcher
  (2000) of research mentoring as creative
  collaboration between teachers as researchers and
  other researchers' where the whole is greater
  than the sum of the parts.

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Educational Research Mentoring

• Fletcher, S.J. (2006) Technology-enabled action
  research
• in mentoring teacher researchers, Reflecting
  Education
• Journal, Vol. 2 (1) pp. 50-71
• Fletcher, S. (2005) Sharing Teachers Action
  Research,
• KEEP Newsletter Carnegie Foundation for the
• Advancement of Teaching (winter 2005) Feature
  Web-
• Article accessible at http//www.cfkeep.org/static
  /index.html
• Fletcher, S.J. (2005) 'Research Mentoring The
  Missing Link', in Bodone, F.
• What Difference does Research Make and for Whom?
  New York, USA,
• Peter Lang, pp. 177-190