Step 24: An Inquiry Stance

Although I only just wrote to you last week about my Term IV project, the truth is I am currently deep into my work on my fifth (and final!) integrated term project. Term V is also called the Inquiry Portfolio, and the title suggests both its role as a culmination of our development throughout the year, as well as its focus on encouraging an "inquiry stance". This term largely embodies the TEP educational philosophy: that good teachers are researchers who constantly ask questions about their practice, collect data in their classrooms, and make improvements to their teaching. This also fits with my strong belief that those with firsthand experiences in the classroom should be the people making the decisions that govern the classroom - and here, too, an inquiry stance should inform policy and practice. This focus on teacher researchers is largely what drew me to Penn GSE, and it is exciting to now feel myself truly acting as one in my current classroom.

And I must thank you, blog readers, for some of the inspiration for my inquiry question. See, as I found myself reflecting on my days and weeks in the classroom (as I have done publicly here, and through more frequent journals, etc.), I realized how valuable it is to truly challenge myself to self-assess, rather than just answer the common "how was your day?" with a typical, "fine." While doing this for myself, I began to think about how I could prioritize it in my interactions with my students as well. That is, if I personally was finding that I could best cement my learning experiences through reflection, it seemed only fitting to encourage that practice in my students, too. The question that I am exploring, therefore, is along these lines (exact wording is not yet determined):

How can I facilitate meaningful self-assessment of both behavior and performance in my classroom? And why should I do it?

To investigate this question in my current classroom, I am facilitating conversations with my students about previous behaviors, and encouraging goal setting; I am giving self-assessment rubrics with  assignments; I am using a behavior monitoring chart that requires students to reflect on specific daily actions; I am tracking student behaviors and performance, and more. This research is unlike that which I grew accustomed to in my work as a research analyst where we were concerned about controlling variables, seeking pure causation, etc.; I do not for an instant believe that I will be able to truly find a cause and effect relationship through this inquiry. I do believe, however, that by trying some purposeful things in the classroom and by keeping my eyes and ears open to student responses, I can improve my practice as a teacher.