Self-Study
The Action Research Design and Cultural Proficiency
Read the following example from an action research design. As you read, ask yourself: How does
Mark’s personal culture matter? How does Mark’s cultural identity influence his action research
topic, design, and data interpretation?
Example: Mark
Mark is an upper elementary/middle school preservice teacher. His action research question is: Will
using homework as an enhancement exercise rather than an extension exercise increase the quality
of students’ schoolwork and improve their attitude toward homework?
Mark describes his interest in researching homework as follows:
I am interested in researching homework because I think that students often rush
through their class work to avoid having homework. I think that allowing ample time
for work to be completed during class will increase the quality of the work turned in by
the students and improve students’ attitudes about homework. After observing the sixth
grade students in my class rush through their work in an attempt to finish it, I became
curious about studying this. If homework is taken out of the equation – it’s already
assigned – and students are motivated by turning in quality work instead of finishing
quickly I expect them to perform better. The motivation and expectation should be the
same – QUALITY. Furthermore, if homework assignments are geared toward
enhancing or enriching lessons rather than extending class work time, I expect that
attitudes toward homework will improve and completion rates will increase.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
He describes some of his own values:
I grew up in an upper-middle class neighborhood. As a white male with a secure family
background I always had familial support and even pressure to perform academically. I
know that I always could get help from my parents and would get regular reminders
from them to complete my homework. While I did not rely on teachers to provide
academic motivation, I believe that an important part of good teaching is being able to
motivate your students to do their best. A teacher cannot be solely responsible for
motivating students, but they do play an important role. There are several factors that go
into a teacher’s motivation of their students. One of the most important factors has to be
meaningful class work. If students are rushing through work to get it done, the work is
obviously not meaningful. There are different things that can be done to give work
meaning and one of them is to give the work meaningful class time. If it’s important
enough to do, it should be important enough to dedicate class time toward doing it.
Homework should be meaningful as well. I believe that homework should be dedicated
to enhancing a day’s lesson or preparing for an upcoming lesson.
Mark describes his own experiences with motivation in the work world and identifies why
motivation and expectation are important to him:
It is difficult to remember what my experiences with homework were, especially when I
think about sixth grade in 1978-1979. However, the following example from my most
recent job should give you some idea of why I feel strongly about motivation and
expectations being the same. During my last job, before entering my teacher education
program, the salespeople of the company I worked for were expected to close as many
deals as possible during the week. Each week – sometimes daily – statistics were posted
publicly showing each salesperson’s numbers from the previous week. Ironically, sales
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
people weren’t paid commission based on sales volume. They were paid based on profit
margin. In fact, sales below a certain profit margin were deducted from pay. The
salesperson's motivation is pay based on profit margin. However, they’re being asked to
produce as much revenue as possible. The motivation and expectation contradict each
other. Similarly, students are expected to turn in quality work, but their motivation is
finishing quickly, eliminating or limiting homework. Again, the motivation and
expectation contradict each other.
In the next segment, Mark talks about his own beliefs about his students and what he assumes about
their values:
I think that kids want to do well and want to please other people like their parents or
their teachers. If given ample class time and meaningful homework, I believe that
students’ work will improve. I also believe that all students have enough time at home
to complete the homework which they will be assigned. It is my impression that many
of the students I am working with have limited parental involvement at home with
regards to academics. If I can help create the motivation in my students to turn in
quality work by providing them with time to complete assignments and meaningful
homework that they are eager to complete on their own, I expect the quality of their
work to improve – their motivation and my expectations will correlate.
Analyzing and Deconstructing the Example
Read through the above example one more time to answer the following questions. Using different
colored pens/pencils, underline portions of the text that might answer the questions; color code for
the question/evidence in the text. Read for both explicit statements and for the innuendos of the
text.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
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According to Mark, why is motivation important in and out of school?
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Who is responsible for a student’s motivation to do well?
Read through the text again and attempt to answer the following questions with evidence from the
text. Once again, underline portions of the text that might answer the questions; color code for the
question/evidence in the text. Read for both explicit statements and for the innuendos of the text.
1. How might Mark’s choice of an action research question reflect his own cultural context?
2. How might this context influence Mark’s data interpretation? For example if students do not do
any better with his intervention strategies to improve homework quality, what kinds of
conclusions might Mark come to if he does not take into account his own context?
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
Now, consider the context where Mark is teaching. Here are the details as he provides them:
Walker Elementary School is located 20 miles from a downtown urban area. It is one of
the largest suburbs of this city with a population of nearly 80,000 people. Walker
Elementary reflects the suburb in that it consists of students representing a wide variety
of ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. Forty-three percent of Walker’s
students receive free or reduced-price lunch while others are the sons and daughters of a
major computer manufacturer’s managers and executives. Approximately one-third of
Walker’s students represent a race other than Caucasian. The majority of those are
Hispanic.
Twelve of the 29 students (41 percent) in my classroom represent persons of color. One
of the students is on an Individual Educational Program and two of the students are
taking English as a Second Language courses although they both seem functionally
fluent in English. Fifteen of the students are male and 14 are female. Only two of the 28
students achieved “exceeded standards” for fifth grade benchmarks on standardized
testing.
Overall, I would say that the class is very average academically and the students have a
difficult time expressing themselves through writing. They have shown limited
vocabularies and poor study habits. On average, less than half of the students will turn
in all of their assignments during a given week. With few exceptions, the students seem
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
to accept poor academic work and are apparently more motivated to get work turned in
rather than turn in quality work. Is this because the students are trying to avoid
homework, or is this because students simply don’t care or are not capable of better? I
think these students are capable of more and that the quality of their work is related to
avoiding homework. This AR project will serve to help me answer this question.
Read through the above text again and attempt to answer the following questions with evidence
from the text. Once again, underline portions of the text that might answer the questions; color code
for the question/evidence in the text. Read for both explicit statements and for the innuendos of the
text.
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How is Mark’s background similar to and different than those of his students?
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How does Mark’s background and values influence his description of his students?
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How might Mark’s background and values blindside the questions he asks? What additional
questions might he consider?
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
Explain the connections between Mark’s personal context, his choice of action research question,
his values and beliefs as evidenced here, and the context of his school. You may find that sketching
a diagram or chart is a helpful way of conceptualizing these connections. Demonstrate areas where
Mark might want to be particularly wary while conducting his action research project. The
introduction of this section and Lindsey, Robins, and Terrill's (2003) “Essential Elements” of
Cultural Proficiency may provide you with useful information for this activity.
Becoming a Teacher Through Action Research, Second Edition © 2010 Routledge / Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.