September 4 Follow Up

Great to meet with almost the full cohort.

This is an update for all present and those unable to attend.

SUMMARY

If you don’t get around to reading the detail below!

1. Be familiar with the ethical considerations
2. Work on your action plan
3. Be familiar with data collection methods and why you are using what you are using (baseline collection at this point) READ THE TOOLKIT

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1. Ethics – you should read the section on ETHICS from this link as a matter of best practice and this update from the last cohort.
   Mostly for teachers your research will be conducted as part of your normal classroom practice and does not need specific written consent from parents.
   1. If you feel, in discussion with Phil, that you might need to follow up with parents because your research will involve some specific differences to normal classroom practice then you might wish to consider seeking permission and here is a sample letter to work on.
      1. Sample consent letter update March 2021.
      2. As ever for google docs – make a copy!
   2. Please make sure you VP or Principal and Phil know that you are ready to send out a letter to parents.
   1. For parent researchers considering a separate question and not with a teacher partner, please discuss with Phil any approaches to the community/ data collection methods you wish to apply.
   2. We will come back to ethical considerations at each phase of the research and especially when we come to presenting your findings.
      
2. New Groups and Research Themes – follow the link (coming soon) – it is dynamic and will change!
   1. Read the Research Toolkit section on page 7 about research teams and participants –
      1. Who will carry out the research?
      2. Who will take part in the research?
         
3. Action Plan -LINK to a copy of the planning tool you might like to use – send it to me and Helen.
   
4. Data Collection Methods – we did not have time to go into the detail but will return to this in October. Gerald Pine has a great section on Sources of Data from classrooms/schools (pp 253 – 254). The whole chapter should be read but in particular these pages are relevant at this point.
   1. In the meantime, the Research Toolkit is a great lead in if you are rusty around data collection.
      1. You should go through this short read in any case to refresh you on the research process.
      2. Please let me or Helen know if you are starting to collect baseline data and you need some support in this critical early step.
         1. remember to pilot/try out any questionnaire/survey/interview questions on a small group before you launch into the electronic ether (pages 8 and 9 in the Research Toolkit)
         2. Here’s a diagram that captures some elements of data collection. See the header graphic for an outline of the process.