Cathy’s Story: Engaging Others in Research

My research was conducted in a stable middle-class suburban neighbourhood, of a stable middle class area with established community services and facilities. Although this area is culturally diverse, the Indo-Canadian population is dominant. The school is the largest elementary school in the district with almost 600 pupils in both French Immersion and English. This school was largely rebuilt after a fire destroyed all but twelve classrooms in 1997. The Grade Five class chosen represents the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of the school that is the essence of the Vancouver environs. Of the 31 students, twelve were are girls and nineteen were are boys. Students here represented many cultural groups including: Indo-Canadians, Caucasian Canadians, Middle- Eastern Canadians, Aboriginal Canadians, Chinese Canadians, Filipino Canadians, Fijian Canadians, and African Canadians. The academic abilities of this class covered the spectrum, from high achievers to a student who is mildly intellectually delayed. The largest group represents students who struggle with academics, either because of learning disabilities or behavior issues. To teach here is akin to juggling and eating fire at the same time!

I collected data at first by selecting some target students from both the ESL group and the mainstream group who were average and slower learners. I tried to use a chart system, but that soon failed because of the make-up of the challenging group of students I was working with. I found it easier to focus on three areas: what was happening with the students, how I was feeling, and what kinds of interplay were occurring between the classroom teacher and me. Students provided insight about their thoughts of the process on exit slips.

According to my data, and the students’ own voices, there were advantages to using Russell Collins’ method for writing a report. The students found the process steps were logical and sequential. They were immediately thrilled to embark on a new project and pleased to have autonomy over the subject.

“I liked to read the [article] “Raccoons in the City” because I like to read with the teacher.” Deepak

The many steps in the process were modeled and the students were successful in linking the steps to their own work.

“It’s useful to know how to break the subject into categories.” Esha

“This process is useful so you know how to make key words into sentences.” Rupinder

As my co-researchers, my students came to recognize the long-term value of learning about researching in the classroom. Students had quite a mature outlook on this research experience in terms of their future.

“This gives us a few steps ahead for U.B.C.” Monnkeet

“This is making me think harder about working.” Bryan

As we worked on the research project, I found that I preferred to work in the classroom rather than use a pullout method to work with students individually. With two teachers in the room, we could rely on each other to deliver lessons. My partner teacher met with me weekly to collaborate and check our progress. He offered suggestions that would address the needs of his diverse group of learners, published the criteria sheet, and offered to photograph the students.

But there were some disadvantages too. Dueling teachers on the same stage sometimes created confusion. For example, one time when I was teaching a lesson, my colleague jumped in and began to draw bubble formations on the board as an example of a graphic organizer. Even though his input was useful, the students were not sure whom to follow. Another time, when one of my lessons tanked completely, my colleague simply chuckled rather than help me salvage the remnants of the lesson.

Classroom management styles were at odds as well. Finally, we reached a truce, and the class functioned in a regular manner.

The Russell Collins’ strategy for writing research papers provided some difficulties for the students.

“I didn’t like how we had to read, because I am not a reader.” Esha

Self-evaluation, a part of the process, for this group was problematic. All but a handful of students gallantly gave themselves higher marks than they had achieved based on the criteria of the project. They were simply unabashed fans of their own work and the disparity between their own assessment and the teachers’ assessment did not faze them.

I was amazed too that the students and I conquered this report-writing task in only twelve lessons! It took drill-sergeant-like discipline, a small army of staff and helpers (learning assistants assigned to students because of learning or behavioral needs also helped students through the process) and loads of encouragement to drag these ten and eleven year old scholars into the world of research. My main finding was almost an unfinding: All students, except those with written output difficulty, were able to produce a written document and share their findings report with an audience. The ESL students’ work mirrored the mainstream students’ work in both content and form, suggesting the success of the writing strategy for both ESL and non-ESL learners.

On a personal level, I experienced some of the pitfalls and wonders of working with another professional. I also discovered that several students who I had initially thought of as ESL students needed their support to be shifted to Learning Assistance. Sometimes ESL students have learning challenges that are masked by poor English language skills. This project has reaffirmed my understanding that as teachers we need to allow a little blending of the black and white rigidity of some established teaching methods and allow a little of the more relaxed gray teaching methods to seep through. It has also encouraged me to be more ambitious in what I want the students to accomplish. So it comes down to this: I need to expect more, celebrate more, and relax more.