Book Review of The Art of Classroom Inquiry,
by Ruth Shagoury Hubboard and Brenda Miller Power
It has taken me much longer than I thought it would to read through
The Art of Classroom Inquiry. It isn’t that the book didn’t interest me; it
was fascinating. The book is so dense with useful information that I had to read
slowly and with no distractions. Almost every line is important and relevant to
teachers who want to examine some aspect of their approaches to teaching
children.
The authors convinced me that it is a normal development for teachers to do
research on their own practices. In their introduction they write: "You
will see the line between teaching and research blur often as you read many
examples of teachers doing research in this handbook because teaching and
research have many of the same skills at their core."
They quote Charles Kettering who explains teachers and
researchers have problem-solving minds; they do not let well enough alone.
“Research like teaching is a messy and complicated process,” write the authors.
Divided into seven chapters, the book starts with finding a research question,
then continues to Chapter 2-strategies for data collection; Chapter 3-research
design; Chapter 4- strategies for data analysis; Chapter 5-review of other
literature; Chapter 6- writing; and Chapter 7-finding support. Notice the lack
of education jargon even in the chapter titles. What also is impressive is
a frankness and a tone that makes the reader feel on an equal footing with the
authors. For example see this sentence on page 110: “We are two authors whose
work is rejected by reviewers as often as it is accepted, and we have much to
learn about what makes writing successful.”
The beginning of the book presents a very convincing argument for teachers to do
research as long as they are not afraid of change. The authors contend that a
major quality necessary to do research is to be unthreatened by change. On page
2 they write, “Research is not just to validate a teacher’s practice or
methods.” They explain further on page 5, “Research questions if answered will
probably result in changes in the teaching philosophies and attitudes towards
students.”
After their convincing rational for teachers to become researchers, the
authors’ detailed and concrete examples should guide any researcher. They start
with finding a research question to examine and then data collection, which
could entail collecting student work, note-taking, and video and/or audio
interviewing. Field notes, the authors explain, are direct observations. They go
on to explain the many different ways to record observations.
If you have any questions on the process of doing research you will find answers
in this book. You will also find the motivation to continue when you feel
overwhelmed and like giving up. “Teacher research can enrich your professional
life immeasurably. But learning for yourself isn’t enough. If you have
discovered something that can help other teachers work with their students you
have an obligation as a professional to share it,” they write on page 122.
Throughout the entire book you will find excellent examples of actual teachers’
research questions and techniques. If one way doesn’t work, the book has
suggestions for other avenues. Here’s an example of what they write about data
analysis on pages 96 to 99:
1. In your journal , freewrite for ten minutes about
your thoughts and concerns regarding data analysis. Use your journal to “speak
bitterness”; then share your journal with two or three colleagues. Brainstorm
ways to support each other to get past these concerns.
2. Practice data analysis by taking a “cold” look at someone else’s notes and
experimenting with beginning categories. The following is a set of field notes
taken by a student intern in a high school class. Make copies of these notes for
yourself and for a partner or a group of three or four. As you read through the
notes, mark down beginning categories that strike you. Then share the results
with a partner, noting both similarities and differences.
Then the book includes 3 pages of field
notes with continued suggestions. Number 6 is highly unusual: "Read a
mystery novel and look at the ways that the detective has triangulated her data.
This is a wonderful way to make creative space for yourself by doing something
that is enjoyable." There are lots of wonderful mystery writers, such as Sue
Grafton, Sara Paretsky, and Robert Parker, who have written books about clever
detectives who are skillful data analysts.
Triangulation is a way of coming up with theory by looking at different types of data. For example, one teacher’s question was “What strategies can I develop to help children like Mickey, who face social challenges?” She collected several kinds of data such as a sociogram to see if Mickey related to any children. She looked at his writing over a period of time. She also tape-recorded and transcribed his interactions in small groups. Her support for her finding that he worked best in small groups with peers, particularly with a peer who was a mutual friend, was supported by the data or by triangulation, looking at all the data together.
For more specific examples of other teachers’ research efforts and methods, which will no doubt be applicable to an action research study in your own classroom, you need to read this book.
--Peggy Maslow