Action Research

Research

Secondary

Students discover about life in India from a partner school

As they embark on their India project, teachers from Braunton Secondary School in Devon use video to record their pupils' initial ideas. Deputy headteacher David Butt starts by recording his pupils' discussion as they pose questions about India in a geography lesson. These are sent by email to their Indian partner school, but before getting the reply the pupils try to guess what the answers might be. Not surprisingly, when the answers come back there are a few surprises, like the length of the school day - from 8am to 8:30pm! The next stage is for the pupils to video a conversation with an Indian visitor, Rittika Chanda Parruck from the British Council in Delhi, which exposes some further misconceptions. In the discussion that follows, Rittika is joined by David, by the school's head of geography and by a local authority adviser. The group discusses the value of using video as a means of gathering evidence from the start of the project.

A Guest from India

Case studies on use of action research in primary and secondary

Three case studies reveal the growing use of action research, a process where teachers assess teaching and learning to improve both teacher and student learning, in this whole-school video for primary and secondary teachers. Each of these case studies highlights the way in which action research projects can work within a school and provides a valuable insight into the problems that various schools have faced. St George's Primary School in Birmingham started an action research project due to the high level of newly arrived children at the school. Their research led to the development of a welcome pack that gave children a defined focus for action. At Colmore Infant and Nursery School in south Birimingham, reading at KS1 had been identified as a development priority for teachers. Their research project led to the introduction of a succesful bookmark scheme that encouraged more reading at home. At Douay Martyrs School in Middlesex, head of Year 11 Simon Cheale is engaged in action research as part of his school-based MA in education. His research is centred on a motivational scheme for improving boys' performance at GCSE level.

What do pupils really think about their lessons?

At Hanham High School in Bristol, headteacher Peggy Farrington wants to engage her students in their learning and is keen for pupils to provide as much feedback as possible on their lessons. Recently, pupils have been asked to fill out questionnaires capturing this feedback at the end of each lesson. In this programme, we see a video made by Year 11 pupils that documents this system in action. Find out how constructive the students have been in their feedback, and see how teacher Lucy Croft deals with the challenge of addressing their concerns. What are the benefits of this system for staff and pupils? Back in the studio, consultant Adrienne Jones is joined by headteacher Peggy and other staff to discuss the video. The experiment at Hanham looks set to be extended, but is it reasonable to allow pupil voice to encroach on performance management?

Being Heard

A school in India tries to reduce its carbon footprint

This programme showcases a student-made video from Springdales School in Delhi, where the pupils have been measuring carbon footprints and taking action to reduce global warming in their school. School principal Ameeta Wattal believes education is power and all power should be used for service, and in keeping with this ethos, the students are reducing their carbon footprint. Senior students teach the juniors how to measure carbon footprints and to reduce emissions through everyday choices and behaviour. They hope that their video will take the message to schools across India and to their cluster of partner schools in the UK, so that they too can make a difference. Consultant Adrienne Jones is joined by Ameeta and teachers Nidhi Tewari and Pramada Lele to discuss the project. Nidhi's computer lab seemed to have the greatest carbon footprint in the school, so the students went to the principal for action.

Carbon Footprints in India

Alex Gibbons presents her creative techniques in teaching science

Alex Gibbons, from Thomas Tallis School in south east London, teaches science by inventing creative activites for a Year 9 class who find the subject challenging. Alex presents a video showing how a puppet making activity and a puppet show have transformed the process of learning the reactivity series at her school. After watching the video, Alex discusses the techniques with consultant Adrienne Jones, arts college manager Jon Nicholls and deputy SENCO Jenny Armstrong. They explore the benefits of this creative approach on pupils' learning and retention, the impact on interpersonal skills and the possibilities of new methods of delivery using technology.

Chemical Puppets

A teacher discusses his video on work experience for students

Teacher Ian Eustace presents a video he made raising the issue of providing suitable work experience for motor vehicle students from Warwickshire College. Eustace's video, The Importance of Work Experience, includes the views of three students as they reflect on the benefits of their work placements and shows the race day climax of a placement involving both students and teachers. Eustace joins presenter Xanthe Steen in the studio to discuss the benefits of work experience, and ask what makes a work placement successful for the student and the employer. They are also joined by education consultant Adrienne Jones and teacher Anthony Partington as they discuss the wider implications of using teacher-made videos for assessment and CPD. The Importance of Work Experience is part of a unique showcase of videos made by pupils about their own learning.

Further Education - Work Experience

Students in India develop an eco-friendly mosquito repellent

Students in India are developing an eco-friendly mosquito repellent, and are capturing the process captured with their own video. The project addresses problems of pollution and global warming by replacing aerosol-based repellents or those that need electricity with a natural lemon-grass repellent. The idea of distilling lemon-grass leaves to produce the repellent came from Beena Varkey and Uttara Mazumdar, two science teachers at St Paul's School in Delhi. The experiment and all the testing and marketing are being done by the pupils themselves, as is the filming for their video. In the discussion, consultant Adrienne Jones talks with Beena, Uttara and school principal Rema Alex Daniel about the project. It is clear that the students are completely engaged in the scientific enquiry which the project has provoked, but is this degree of pupil autonomy also possible in UK schools?

Green School in India

Sabine Stroud records the impact of laptops on her Year 7 pupils

Year 7 Pupils at the The Arnewood School, in Hampshire school have been given laptops since September 2007 for a long-term project to evaluate the impact on their learning and motivation. Teacher Sabine Stroud makes a video about the experiment and follows the pupils both in the classroom and at home to see how they are being used. Back in the studio Sabine is joined by deputy Nigel Pressnell, headteacher Chris Hummerstone and consultant Adrienne Jones to discuss the project. They see how the scepticism amongst parents disappears as the students enjoy using the laptops, demonstrating an increase in creativity and enhanced thinking skills. Further gains also seem to derive from home learning, by bringing the school and family closer together in a new kind of learning partnership.

Laptops for Learning

Using video to develop critical and observational skills

At Stratford Girls Grammar School, two groups of Year 12 drama students are approaching their end of year show in rather different ways. Teacher Sara Coyle has captured the process on video and shows us a glimpse of the end results. One group is devising a piece with a self-appointed director, the other is taking on an unmediated approach but has a script to work from. Watch as both groups work on their performances, and see the culmination of the projects on stage at the RSC Courtyard Theatre. Once her video has been shown, Sara discusses what she has captured with consultant Adrienne Jones and headteacher Kate Barnett. Amongst other things, they talk about how video can reveal the learning process and aid assessment. Shooting and editing video is a new skill that Sara believes will help to develop her students' critical and observational skills. These skills are vital in drama but it have relevance across the curriculum, where a deeper understanding of the learning process helps with gifted and talented pupils.

Making a Drama

Two insightful videos made by secondary school teachers

Wouldn't it be great if teachers could find the time and money to produce their own programmes and have them broadcast on Teachers' TV? Well, that's what Teacher Video is all about and in this introductory episode you can see two videos created by secondary school teachers: <ul> <li>Anthony Partington from Longsands College in Cambridgeshire presents "Making Learning Personal", a video that focuses on two Year 9 pupils and looks at target-setting.</li> <li>Bob Overton from Meer Oaks Special School in Wigan explores a unique puppet making project in "Make Me, Move Me".</li> </ul> The teachers are joined in the studio by presenter Fenella George, education consultant Adrienne Jones and Dr Richard Hatcher from the Faculty of Education at UCE Birmingham. The group discuss the content of the programmes and consider how Teacher Video could be used for assessment and as a powerful CPD tool to exchange ideas and reflect on practice. See the resources and support materials page for links related to this programme.

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