To satisfy the terms of the award from the Spencer Foundation, the TTAAP teachers must investigate the following research question: How does a teacher come to be a teacher/researcher in the classroom?

In addition to exploring various techniques for cultivating transfer across the arts at the elementary level, the TTAAP teachers had to track and reflect on their thinking during the course of the project. Some of the findings have been revealing. Looking back over the reflections collected by the TTAAP teachers, it appears that all five teachers have come "think like researchers" in many ways and some have begun to apply a research-based view to their teaching in regular subjects.

The nature of the reflections varies a lot. Some reflections highlight new insights or emerging questions a teacher may have had after trying a new transfer lesson. Others outline critiques and analysis of research procedures. And yet others merely list observations concerning what the TTAAP teachers saw from their students as they moved through the project.

The aim of tracking the reflections was to 1) document the project from start to finish, and 2) monitor emerging and evolving conceptions about how teachers think about their teaching. In short, the research strand of the TTAAP project was an extended exercise in teacher self-assessment. Teachers looked at the strengths and weaknesses in their thinking as teachers, and then methodically tracked the self-evaluations over time.

Sample Reflections

"What features do I need to focus on for being a teacher/researcher? I need to develop a way of documenting and organizing my observations in the classroom. Something specific, I need to be watchful of evidence of progress toward my research questions and goals. I need something I can go back to steer my next moves. Something handy, that doesn't take a lot of time."
Chris Ashley
6/2/98

"Today in art class, I discussed the ideas of line and rhythm with my fourth graders. I asked them to think of areas outside of school where the word "line" is used. I asked my first graders the same question. My first graders did far better than my fourth graders. They came up with all kinds of ideas and connections. My fourh graders were stumped. Why??? Is it possible that students loose their ability to transfer (or activate) what they know outside of school as they progress through the grades? I wonder if this is natural or if it's a result of how we are teaching them."
Linda Tilden
9/30/98

"Can a teacher easily take on research in a classroom setting? As a teacher, it has been hard at times for me to adhere to both a research and instructional agenda in the classroom. Students are so diverse, and they are all in different learning modes. I often find myself drawing on all kinds of ways to do a lesson so that it reaches a variety of students. At times during this project, I found it difficult not to jump over to another way of doing a lesson when kids were having a tough time. Another way may have clouded up the research, but it also may have helped my students understand. Without knowing it at the beginning, the research design in some cases limited our ability to "do whatever it takes" to help students learn because we didn't want to confound our research. Next time, we'll need to think about how to design the research so we can get our results and collect data while maintaining a lot of instructional flexibility."
Chris Ashley
12/2/98

• TTAAP Reflection Form [Word 97 Format] [PDF Format]

© Rochester Memorial Elementary School. Old Rochester Regional School Department. Rochester, MA 1999.
 

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