And So It Begins Again

2017 - the year that was...or wasn't in my case.  After a few health challenges which turned out to be opportunities to clarify my thinking around my study (never miss an opportunity to try and turn a negative into a positive, or so I keep telling myself), I have decided to change my study path from an EdD, (Doctor of Education), to a PhD, (Doctor of Philosophy, Education).


WHY?
I have decided that I won't go back into the classroom as a teacher.  I love a good challenge but being completely deaf in one ear is a little too much of one and I have a passion for research - always have - and this completely feeds that.  It's something I've thought of doing, and wanted to do full-time, for many years now so this is the opportunity to do that.

Researching in a Different Way

While figuring all of this out, I've been working with my long-suffering supervisor at Otago, (he also put up with me for two Masters' papers).  We started to talk about what form my research should take in terms of methods, theories and all the usual bits and pieces that go along with planning one of these journeys and we hit on something called Grounded Theory.  I must admit this was a new one for me - had never heard of it before so this was my first bit of research before the research.


What on Earth is Grounded Theory and Why I Think it is Going to be so Powerful in Teacher Research

Grounded Theory is based on a constructivist approach to research (as a constructivist teacher, this already had me hooked!) where data is analysed throughout the research process rather than after it and this can lead to a change in direction for where the research leads.  It also emphasises not making any assumptions and that the researcher tries very hard to leave their biases at the door, so to speak.  This is a fantastic challenge for any researcher if they're prepared to take it on.

Grounded theory also has a strong aspect of ako integrated into the process where they researcher and the participants in the research process are learning from and with each other.  If done well, it becomes a collaborative process.  This also fits in well with my other passion - Communities of Practice - which were the focus for my Masters.  (Note - Communities of Practice are not the same as Communities of Learning, but that is for another blog post...)

What is Classical Grounded Theory?

Biggest Opportunities and Challenges for My Research

• Keep an open mind 
• Avoid preconceived ideas 
• Always be open to new ideas and different opinions
• Try to avoid bias at any cost - the hardest part of Grounded Theory but the most important if we want to create new theories together with our participants in the research process
• Build a community of practice through trust, connections and collaboration
• Constantly interact with and question the data

Let the journey begin...again...

My Learning Space...well, one of them...

(A blog post as part of the EdublogsClub Challenge #2 post)

This year brings some new challenges for me.  Last year I thought I had everything organised - ducks in a row and all that.  I was a Deputy Principal but ended up as Acting Principal for the best part of Term 1 - we have a 4 Term year in New Zealand.  The plan was that I would then go back into the classroom and carry on developing the Makerspace that my students and I had begun to create in the later stages of 2015.  This was an amazing learning journey where the students were completely in charge using the Design Thinking platform as their guide.  I've included some photos of this space and links to the planning the students did - their learning journey and the philosophy behind all the decisions we made. They were in charge of the whole process. I was their guide and facilitator only. 

Then, as often happens, everything changed.  In 2013 I had an 8 hour operation for an Acoustic Neuroma, a benign brain tumour that, if left untreated can be life-threatening. I recovered really well and was up and running, literally, within a month and returned to teaching within 18 months albeit deaf in one ear from the surgery.  Interesting bit of useless information - it's the exact same tumour and location as the actor Mark Ruffalo had.  Unfortunately, it decided to grow back at the start of last year.  Apparently they hardly ever do - less than a 5% chance. Go figure! 

Decisions needed to be made.  I'd just completed my Master of Teaching and was thinking about starting my Doctor of Education.  I knew I needed more treatment so this 'sealed the deal' I guess and I decided to leave my position and begin yet another stage of my career and yet more study, which I love. So, my current workspace is my office.  I'm a terrible procrastinator, can get incredibly messy while I'm studying and these are the two things they are warning us about!  If we want to succeed in our studies we need to sort these out.  Uh oh, I'm in for a challenge!!!

My Current Work / Study Space

 This is where I am going to be spending an awful lot of time over the next three years! It's very peaceful and looks out onto the garden.  I live in a country area so it's pretty quiet which is a bonus. At the moment it's pretty organised but this is something I know I really need to work on.  I've always been a digital learner and have had semi-digital and digital classes since 1999 when I first started teaching but the last area I needed to be fully digital in was my studying.  I still tended to print everything off and highlight / note-take in hard copy.  I've just moved everything to Mendely and it really has been a lifesaver so far.  A good learning curve but I knew I had to do it simply for the volume of reading I had to do and to keep track of all the paper!

And on the theme of procrastination...look what I found while I was about to start reading more research for my Literature Review...