Dan Lima Blog 5 - The Mess

Tina Cook’s “The Importance of mess in action research” explores the process of action research in the classroom, its benefits, and its importance for us as educators. This article was very relevant for me as I pursue my own qualitative research in my classroom. Prior to taking this course, I has always conducted quantitative research. Whether it was an economics project that focused on the distribution of wealth in an emerging market or a psychology research proposal that focused on the effects of a visual stimulus, I often found myself doing very strict, controlled research; gather results, compare it to a control group, and analyze the results for variation. As a result, this qualitative research proposal has been somewhat of a challenge for me to put together. I really enjoyed Cook’s piece because it showed that I was not alone in my struggle. Just as Cook’s colleagues found themselves grappling with the idea of “what is true action research”, I found myself in the same position.

Perhaps the most difficult challenge for us as researchers is coming up with an idea. When I was tasked with coming up with a research proposal that would allow me to explore my own practice, I found myself lost in a myriad of ideas. Cook defines this as the “mess” of action research. Her colleagues used words such as “mess, bumbling, jumble, untidy, free flowing” and “thoughts without set outcomes” to characterize the ‘searching for meaning’ period. Indeed, this was my experience when I first completed my journal articles. I would go home and reflect on my day, but I was not trying to find one area to focus. As Cook explains, this was, “a lot of it casting around and then something grabs you.” Although I had not predetermined what my area of focus would be, I eventually started noticing trends in my reflections. Botanizing allows shapes and patterns to emerge from the ‘initial confusion’. We observe our practice and begin to develop our research focus. Cook explains this as the “botanizing period”. I was over-exhausted after school from lecturing, and my kids were tired of the same routine. So I decided to explore how my classroom and my own identity might change if I mix up the routine.

While I have not completed my research, I can relate to Wagner’s (1987) findings in which teachers were described as adopting “self-imperatives”. They implemented ideas of what they should be doing, and then tried to find that in their classrooms rather than trusting their own judgements. The teachers sometimes found that their “self-imperatives” went against each other. I have seen this trend as well. We often hear about what “best” teaching should look like. Except for many widely accepted norms, I often find these “rules” to be in conflict with each other. Much research does not take into account differences in teachers, school, demographics, etc. I hope that my research will allow me to explore and better my classroom.