- Error
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } --> <!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->
The greatest strength of the PAR cycle is its ability to be an energizing force that drives people to action. For instance, in one of our PAR meetings we were having a discussion about linking the family to the school. After about 15 minutes of debate on the use of social networking software for connecting families to schools one of the administrators in the group decided that she was going to start a Facebook page for her school. She did just that within the week. Even today that school’s Facebook page is a fantastic link from school to home and vice versa. Now they have a Fan Page for the school and it has created not only a communication hub for the school, but also advertisement and school spirit. Additionally, during the final meeting of our first South Florida PAR cycle Annaleah Morrow, a higher education professor, explained, ““As the PAR cycles are conducted with various groups, word-of-mouth will begin to spread. Eventually, the Futures of Education Project becomes well known to the point of reaching critical mass (even if only among certain groups, i.e., educators). At the point of critical mass, new team members come to PAR cycles with basic understanding of the Project and have higher levels of enthusiasm. Once this level has been reached, and the enthusiasm has touched more of the community consciousness/awareness, it is expected that a swell of action (versus just discussion) would begin.” In order to attain that “swell of action” that we desire, the Team decided to create a plan of action.
The South Florida PAR Plan
-
Continuously repeat the PAR cycle on the ground with people from all walks of life in South Florida for the next two years
-
Validate the data from previous PAR cycles with current participants at the end of each cycle
-
Create a Wiki Document for the South Florida Team members
-
Motivate members of the PAR team to continue the cycle by leading their own Team
-
Extrinsic motivation (WII-FM) (Frustrated with employees?)
-
-
Over the course of the next two years, include a PAR cycle with
-
School Board Leaders
-
Florida Department Of Education employees
-
Legislators (near election time)
-
People in business who have a vested interest in education
-
Small business owners (Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Target, Publix)
-
Middle business owners who need certified skilled labors (dental hygienist, mechanics, nurses)
-
Higher educators (college professors, teacher trainers, advisors, technical schools)
-
-
One of the most important questions raised in this first year of the South Florida Future Education Project is how to harness the energy that is created by participating in these PAR cycles. Ideas are exchanged freely at the South Florida Team meetings and an apparent weakness we experienced was the difficulty in keeping these many ideas organized and accessible to all participants. The use of a laptop computer and a screen projector simplified the dispersion of information for all to see and add to. Another weakness faced in the first year with the process was a dwindling number of participants as the weeks progressed during the PAR cycle. This discouraged those who were attending the meetings faithfully, but their discussion led to action. The solution to the problem of shrinkage that was suggested was to start with at least 12 members rather than the original number of eight due to the drop off in attendance as the weeks progress. The participants in the first South Florida Team were an inspired group who look forward to better preparing our children for the world they will inherit. They set up a plan for data gathering from many valuable sources if it is followed in the next 1-3 years. In order for our data to have more impact we need far greater numbers of participants in our PAR cycles. The future participants in the South Florida Team could add useful information regarding what we need to do in South Florida to better prepare our children for the world they will inherit.
Given that background what are the new lessons to be learned here?
-
Can the South Florida Team add to the international discussion? Absolutely, there needs to be more effort made to get the South Florida Team members to join the international discussion individually, but even if it is only done corporately we still have an energizing voice.
-
What remains to be done for the South Florida Team? The South Florida Team needs to continue to have multiple PAR cycles both with adult community members as well as students in the next one to three years. The merging of the data gathered from these two groups will give our voice a deeper meaning than if just one voice or the other were being heard. When students and adults join together to share their ideas regarding the future of education the leaders of South Florida will stop and listen. The world will be listening too.
South Florida is a beautiful place with a hopeful future in education. The South Florida Team of the Future(s) of Education Project will continue to allow everyone to have a voice that wants to be heard. There is no one too old, and no one too young to be heard if they have ideas about what it means to prepare our students for the future. “What do our children need to thrive in the world they will inherit? A world we cannot imagine.”
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->
Both the Facebook and the face to face group discussed similar ideas. They highlighted the need for communication links between the school systems, educators and families. The idea of using technology, such as social networking, Edline and email, to form these communication links was presented as a solution by the participants. The Facbook Futures group saw 54% of the participants list the use of technology as a way to better prepare the students for the future. The limitations discovered for using technology to create communication links for education were two-fold:
-
the lack of guidance regarding the best way to use the technology and
-
the lack of 21st century skills mastery in the area of technology that many teacher today face.
A solution discussed was the adding of 21st century skills training to professional development and teacher education programs in South Florida.
A second finding for both groups is the need for a higher value on education here. Terri Bowers, a research scientist and parent, said on the Facebook Futures discussion board,
“I also agree that teachers should garner a higher salary. I love teaching, I think I'm good at it, I have 3 college degrees through which I have learned a great deal. I am a cub scout den leader because I truly enjoy passing on my knowledge and seeing the light bulb moments. However, I won't take a teaching position because the pay stinks. If I don't make enough money, I lose power in providing my kids the best education possible. I can't believe how we value our athletes and pay them millions each year but pay the people who teach our children, and shape our nation's future, a salary that is not much more than a graduate student stipend. There should be higher standards for teachers, but also a pay scale that is commensurate with that standard.
As for looking at other countries, I have many colleagues from other countries and I ask them about their education systems regularly. Mostly, other countries value education and their teachers more than the US. Teachers and professors are respected and education is considered fundamental, as it should be. Basically, people live up to expectations. If we have higher standards, pay, and respect for our teachers and give them freedom to teach the children as they see fit that we would see better educated children. Fear mongering and cutting funding for schools that don't perform well isn't the best way to enhance education. I firmly believe that working to promote teaching as a valuable profession will go a long way.”
Generally the participants expressed their disappointment with society’s lack of respect and value for teachers. Annmarie Mitchell said this at a face to face PAR cycle meeting, “We need to begin to see teaching as a profession, not a job. We need to be to require teachers to act like professional, dress like professionals and be professionals. This will require proper training and then testing following the training to ensure that the teachers fully understand what it requires to be a professional teacher. If a teacher cannot pass this test then they should not be allowed into the classroom to teach. If this removes some teachers from the profession so be it. Higher standards like this could raise the bar for the teaching profession and possibly lead to higher pay and respect for teachers here.”
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->
Participatory Action Research seeks to solve “complex adaptive issues… [where] we feel confused and alienated from each other.” (James, 2008, video file) Education reform certainly is a complex adaptive issue. Educators are doing their best to meet the standards the state and federal government have set up, and yet they are not succeeding. Parents are angry when their children fail which puts a wall between them and the educators that are trying to help their children learn. The problem addressed in the Future(s) of Education Project, from which this project has been an outgrowth, is definitely difficult. The outcry for education reform is a resounding issue that can be heard even from the most powerful man in the United States, President Obama. On March 10, 2009 President Obama had this to say, “The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, it's unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children--- and we can't afford to let it continue.” (Murray, MSNBC) Denscombe (2007) suggests that one of greatest advantages of qualitative research lies in its connection to the humanity of education. I wanted to signify this connection in my research by representing all of the stakeholders in South Florida’s education system in the PAR group discussions.
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { so-language: zxx } -->
How do you make sense of a story like this? Two children in public schools, both are studying the same material, one hates school, the other loves it. These two children are my own. My son loves school, and always has. He currently attends an arts magnet program where the teachers are encouraged to be creative in the classroom and the students are given the freedom to be creative in their studies. My daughter, on the other hand, goes to a traditional classroom. She does not love school, and sometimes has hated it. Her studies include the traditional methods of reading a textbook and completing worksheets. Sometimes she gets to use the computer to learn, and those are the days she comes home smiling. In my experience, creativity is usually a foreign word in her classroom. This dichotomy between my two children led me to the futures of education project. I had been writing about the problem of my children’s different educational experiences in my doctoral studies when Alana James introduced me to the project. She asked if maybe this project could help me sort out the difficulties I was facing with my children’s education. I logged on to the website and was drawn in by the research question, “What do our children need to thrive in the world they will inherit? A world we cannot imagine.”
I immediately contacted Alana to let her know that I wanted to start a PAR cycle in South Florida. I knew I would not have any trouble finding others who wanted to participate since I had had a number of discussions with friends and acquaintances on the topic of my children’s education. These discussions had occurred in many places, from the parking lot of the elementary school to the baseball park, the grocery store checkout to the doctor’s office. Many, many people in South Florida were concerned about the education our students were receiving.
This was the beginning of the South Florida Team of the Future(s) of Education Project in March 2009. My part was to be much larger than I had initially expected. I was simply a mom who wanted more for the future of her children. I wanted to lead discussions to find out what that “more” might be. The initial group included medical professionals, educators, parents and students and the information that was being generated made me want to know what others would say. I was a “Facebooker” and began to look for how I could have discussions there to continue finding new ideas. In April 2009 I started the Future of Education Project Group as a Facebook application. I announced the group to all my friends and started a discussion on the discussion board. These groups allowed people from around Florida (and other parts of the US eventually) to voice their concerns and ideas. Finally, the one student I had participating in the face to face group continuously interjected out-of-the-box ideas that I found inspiring. I began to explore the possibility of doing PAR with students. I found several groups in US doing just that and so I began to do the footwork that would allow me to have a PAR cycle with just students. The first student PAR cycle was completed in September 2009. Thus far their ideas have been the most innovative. Their foundational statement for this cycle was, “Education should be individualized.”
How do you make sense of a story like this? Two children in public schools, both are studying the same material, one hates school, the other loves it. These two children are my own. My son loves school, and always has. He currently attends an arts magnet program where the teachers are encouraged to be creative in the classroom and the students are given the freedom to be creative in their studies. My daughter, on the other hand, goes to a traditional classroom. She does not love school, and sometimes has hated it. Her studies include the traditional methods of reading a textbook and completing worksheets. Sometimes she gets to use the computer to learn, and those are the days she comes home smiling. In my experience, creativity is usually a foreign word in her classroom. This dichotomy between my two children led me to the futures of education project. I had been writing about the problem of my children’s different educational experiences in my doctoral studies when Alana James introduced me to the project. She asked if maybe this project could help me sort out the difficulties I was facing with my children’s education. I logged on to the website and was drawn in by the research question, “What do our children need to thrive in the world they will inherit? A world we cannot imagine.”
I immediately contacted Alana to let her know that I wanted to start a PAR cycle in South Florida. I knew I would not have any trouble finding others who wanted to participate since I had had a number of discussions with friends and acquaintances on the topic of my children’s education. These discussions had occurred in many places, from the parking lot of the elementary school to the baseball park, the grocery store checkout to the doctor’s office. Many, many people in South Florida were concerned about the education our students were receiving.
This was the beginning of the South Florida Team of the Future(s) of Education Project in March 2009. My part was to be much larger than I had initially expected. I was simply a mom who wanted more for the future of her children. I wanted to lead discussions to find out what that “more” might be. The initial group included medical professionals, educators, parents and students and the information that was being generated made me want to know what others would say. I was a “Facebooker” and began to look for how I could have discussions there to continue finding new ideas. In April 2009 I started the Future of Education Project Group as a Facebook application. I announced the group to all my friends and started a discussion on the discussion board. These groups allowed people from around Florida (and other parts of the US eventually) to voice their concerns and ideas. Finally, the one student I had participating in the face to face group continuously interjected out-of-the-box ideas that I found inspiring. I began to explore the possibility of doing PAR with students. I found several groups in US doing just that and so I began to do the footwork that would allow me to have a PAR cycle with just students. The first student PAR cycle was completed in September 2009. Thus far their ideas have been the most innovative. Their foundational statement for this cycle was, “Education should be individualized.”
The South Florida Team of the Future(s) of Education Project Experiences a Steady Growth of Energy
Written byA presentation at the Collaborative Action Research Network conference, CARN, 2009: Athens, Greece, 31 October, 2009.
By April Maria
Article Highlights
-
Introduction of the South Florida Team of the Future(s) of Education Project
-
Discussion of the ideas that have sprung from the PAR groups
-
Examination of the strengths and weaknesses of using Social Networking Groups as a tool for research
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to analyze the data collected by the South Florida Team of the Future of Education Project to see the strengths and weaknesses that lie within the process of completing the research and what changes we can make to improve the process. The scope of this study centres on two groups, one a face-to-face formal discussion panel, and the second a Facebook group for the Future of Education Project. Based upon the philosophy of participatory action research organized as networks, this study employs mixed methodology analyzing data from transcripts of formal face-to-face discussions, discussion board entries, articles, an exit questionnaire and triangulating that information. Findings show that:
-
The research allows for good questions to be raised by the participants about the future of education.
-
The participatory process is not perfect and needs to be adapted to the participants needs in order to attain optimal data gathering ability.
-
The limited number of participants feel strongly that the PAR cycles should continue all over South Florida to find new ideas, and share the ideas gathered thus far.
This article concludes that participatory action research is an important means to gathering information that can shape the future of education in South Florida. For too long South Florida education has been lack-lustre despite the efforts of many caring educators, the PAR process gives those who care a means of reflecting on the current state of education in South Florida, discussing the changes that need to occur and laying plans for setting these changes into motion. While limited to a small number of participants thus far, the study contributes to the use of collaborative action research by demonstrating the passion that can be ignited by participating in the process.
Keywords
future of education, student-driven education, collaborative action research, networks
The South Florida Team has officially completed its first PAR cycle. The next South Florida Team will consist of High School and Middle School students. I can only imagine the innovative ideas that will flow from such young and free minds.
The first South Florida Team has a great vision for the future of education.
Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Ghandi
The South Florida team is a group of passionate life-long learners. Our first discussion included opinions from veteran educators, teachers-in-training, students, parents and health care professionals. Across this varied panel the same words rang out from each participant, “In South Florida there are teachers and parents creating life-long learners. We must use these positive models as our benchmarks, rather than merely using achievement test scores for the measurement of successful education.” The teachers and parents who are working to create a thirst for knowledge in their children are following Ghandi’s admonition. They are encouraging the learners to be curious, to solve problems and to look at the world beyond them.
Our team suggests three different segments of education that should be focused on and provided observations regarding what successful education could look like in South Florida in each segment.
The Education System should:
· Provide parent education (The Harlem Children’s Zone is an excellent example of successful parent education in action.)
· Provide teachers with enough time to accomplish the educational goals set by their school administration (perhaps by lengthening the school day as President Obama suggests)
· Provide monetary support to implement the strategies teachers learn during the rich, professional development activities provided by the education system
· Provide authentic assessment opportunities
· Reassess the link of funding to a school’s FCAT scores and the undue stress that situation is creating
· Reassess teacher certification processes
To find out more about what the South Florida Team concluded read more...
Donate Now
Why Not Support Our Efforts?
Even the smallest donations help our website stay online.
Indiana Wesleyan / Kentucky
Discover ideas at the Indiana Wesleyan University Kentucky to be skilled and educated in your chosen field.
