EDITORS: TERI MARCOS, LINDA PURRINGTON, & CLOTILDE LOMELI AGRUEL

This is the Spring 2020 newsletter of one of the Action Research Communities (ARCs) of the Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA). Our ARC is Supporting the Teaching of Action Research (STAR). A group of professors who teach action research have met between ARNA conferences over the last few years to think about strategies, issues, and resources to support the teaching of action research. We created a website (star-arna-arc.org) as a forum for our Learning Circle discussions (onlinelearningcircles.org) around our own teaching of action research. The website provides resources to help support the teaching of action research including supportive topics, syllabi, examples of how action research fits in different programs, and both teacher and student resources.

While we enjoyed seeing many of you at the ARNA Conference in Montreal we want to extend the discussion and invite all of you to join the STAR community. We invite your contributions to the ARNA-STAR Newsletter. Please submit short essays on any issue in the teaching of action research, your feedback on what you would like to see in the newsletter, or books, conferences, or resources you would like us to add. Please send your submissions to the STAR-ARC website and an editor will be in touch. We have also launched a blog to encourage more discussion around topics. Please join us at: https://actionresearchteaching.home.blog/

Learning Circles Edition

This edition features three articles that are closely related around Learning Circle approaches to teaching, learning, and researching. You will find Margaret Riel's article of interest as she addresses Learning Circles as a way of fostering collaboration in communities of practice, particularly toward the scholarly development of action researchers.  Riel explores the use of a collaboration structure- learning circles – as a strategy to help foster a community of practice among action researchers. Learning circles provide a collaborative structure for designing, conducting, and sharing action research.

Linda Purrington provides us an overview of Norms of Collaboration and their relationship to effective Learning Circles.

And, Teri Marcos applies a practical application and view of Learning Circles through the use of Learning Circle Logs that she engages with her doctoral students at National University.

Action Researchers’ Collaboration through Learning Circles 

By Margaret Riel, Pepperdine University

As Co-vid 19 necessitates the closing of university’s campuses, professors are searching for online structures of teaching and learning. In this article, I share what I have learned through years of experimenting with the learning circle model, as a way to structure online learning. Learning circles provide a collaborative structure for designing, conducting, and sharing action research

I begin with brief descriptions of (1) action research, (2) learning circles, and (3) how they work together. Then I analyze survey data from novice action researchers over a period of five years which was used to review the implementation and effectiveness of learning circles in my teaching. The findings suggest that learning circles support action research by:

• Creating a context for knowledge building dialogue

• Developing a structure which supports the process of conducting action research

• Providing a context to share and critique findings as a community of practice

Theoretical Models and Approaches

1. Action Research

Action researchers hold themselves accountable for measurable change over time accepting a responsibility to share knowledge about both methods and outcomes with other action researchers and the larger community (Coghlan & Brannick, 2014; McNiff, 2016). Planning action research involves developing “problem seeing” skills. By formulating a theory of action, students begin the planning process of progressive problem solving (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1993). Enacting the problem solution is followed by an analysis of outcomes, and a reflection on role the person has played in effecting change. The process of deep personal reflection is an important part of forming professional knowledge, and developing new skills and practices (Schön, 1983).

Through collaborative analyses of the change process, the researcher participates in building workplace knowledge, developing collaborative practices among their colleagues or communities and often redefining roles. This process of learning new strategies for working with others, valuing their contributions, learning to listen and do research with, rather than on, people can be transformational for all participants (Wood & Zuber-Skerritt 2012) However, actualizing this new perspective can involve a steep learning curve for novice action researchers. In action research, practitioners engage in defining the topic of investigation and the research process from beginning to end. They are also involved in the writing and sharing the results with others a practice that can further a professional identity as a researcher and lead to new forms of expertise (see Social Publishing Foundation).

2. Learning Circles

The goal of learning circles is to build, share, and express knowledge through a process of open dialogue and deep reflection around issues or problems with a collective focus on the outcome (Riel 2014). Online learning circles take advantage of social networking tools to manage collaborative work over distances following a timeline from the open to close of the circle.

Circles have a final project which collects the shared knowledge generated during the interactions.

The online learning circle model (onlinelearningcircle.org) is defined by six characteristics and a set of norms that shape the nature and process of interactions in the learning circle.

Learning Circles have these dimensions:

Distributed Leadership

Diversity of Participants

Knowledge Building Dialogue

Centrality of Project-based Work

Phase Structure for interaction

Sharing of Circle Products

Distributed leadership in the context of diverse participants supports a process of knowledge building dialogue around action research projects. When university students are mid-career professionals engaged in action research, their diverse backgrounds and experiences create a rich learning tapestry. However, even mid-career professionals need to learn the process of distributed leadership to make learning circles effective. The phase structure provides a timeline and expectations of completed products to be shared by the participants. See the learning circle model, for more information.

3. Learning Circles in the Service of Action Research

A paradox within action research is that it is simultaneously an intensely individual and highly collaborative process. Participatory action research often refers to the collaboration that is centered in the context of action. This often involves researchers working side-by-side with practitioners (Locke & Hawthorne, 201) or researchers working with communities (Fine, 2018; Foster & Glass, 2017; Wood & Damons, 2017). Collaboration with critical friends can also play a valuable role supporting the development of action research and the action researcher.

The degree of collaboration among students engaged in action research in graduate programs varies. In some cases, the novice action researchers work independently with advisors with some common class discussion around the process. In other cases, the students are formed into action research communities supporting one another (Riel, 2004). Learning circles can provide an effective structure for developing a knowledge building community among people engaged in the process of action research in different sites and for diverse purposes.

When learning circles are used with action research, all circle members frame their own action research project. Instead of working alone, however, each circle member is the leader of the project facilitating the circle process of planning, implementing and, evaluating the outcomes together. This creates a situation of individual ownership coupled with group responsibility for the quality and process of the implementation, and evaluation of all of the action research projects of the circle members. The structure of learning circles lends itself to effective integration with action research in university programs. It is particularly effective in the blended online learning context where collaborative models are often not well specified.

To be invested in knowledge building students need to feel intellectually safe to offer ideas as they form their living theories (Whitehead, 2009). Working in learning circles takes some amount of preparation to develop the norms that assure a safe space for collaborative thinking. These norms include trust, commitment, and reciprocity. It takes time, effort and experience to frame the activity for online students who begin as strangers to become effective partners. In blended programs and for those who move from face-to-face settings to working online, this will be less of an issue. Learning circle interaction can take place both synchronously through video conferencing and asynchronously in discussion forums. In discussion forums students post work and receive feedback from everyone in the circle including the professor. The goal of both the student and instructor feedback is to increase the quality of the plans, implementation, analysis, and writing. One indicator that knowledge building is taking place comes from the number of discussion threads started by students, the number of posts that follow in a thread and the degree to which students provide critical feedback to one another (Riel, Ellis & Rhoads, 2006.

In learning circles, students met regularly in videoconferences both with and without their professor. This practice mimics conventional classroom practice, where the professor places the students in small groups, and travels from one group to the next while groups of students work on their own for periods of time.

Learning circle meetings start with a short period in which circle partners check-in by briefly sharing professional or social news since the last meeting. This check-in deepens the bond between students as they have an opportunity to share what is currently important to them. Then each of the students takes a turn leading the group in the ongoing discussion of their action research. They can prepare documents beforehand for the group to review, or they can use the time to show materials or project websites. They can pose problems for the group, collect ideas for research design, or seek group help with data analysis strategies. The leadership of the group rotates so that each member of the circle has a chance to make productive use of the “group mind.” The students who are not speaking are encouraged to use a shared document (Etherpad or Google docs) to document the interaction in real-time. The circle meeting ends with a lightning round of reflections where participants speaking in turn, identify the most important idea or insight developed or shared during the session. When the professor joins, there is an effort to maintain this same student-led structure but sometimes the normative roles of professor and student interaction supplant the learning circle interaction. This is why it is effective to have students meet often without the professor (about 3 to 1).

Analyzing Learning Circles to Support Teaching Action Research Online

Participants

Survey responses were used to assess the effectiveness of learning circles as a support for action research. Students who participated in learning circles during their Master of Arts in Learning Technology program over a period of five years were asked to complete a voluntary survey to provide feedback on their experience. In each semester students were placed different learning circles. The overall size of the group I worked with each year was 16 students.

Data Collection

The surveys were posted electronically after the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters. Students were not obligated to complete the survey. The surveys were collected and stored without review until after each cohort graduation to assure students that shared information would have no effect on their grades or program completion. Also comments on learning circles interaction in reflections and course evaluations were noted.

There were a total of 161 survey responses across the five years with 83% with 60 of the 72 students responding to the survey after one or more semesters. The response rate varied by session (Fall, Spring and Summer) with a lower completion rate for the summer session and slightly by year.

Data Analysis

Changes were made to improve the process based upon a review of comments from one year to the next. However, the reviews, often very positive, did not show a great deal of variation across the years and no consistent trends. Since the sample is relatively small, they were grouped for this analysis. The responses were arranged to explore student views about the value of learning circles to support their work in action research in three areas:

1) The Structure of Learning Circles

2) The Process of Learning Circle Interaction

3) The Evaluation of learning outcomes of working in learning circles.

1) The Structure of Learning Circles

The first set of questions had to do with the students’ views about the structure of learning circles, specifically if students were able to work in the format of distributed leadership, and if circle projects was an effective way of organizing the meeting time.

Figures 1 and 2 suggest that the majority of the students were comfortable with the distributed leadership approach in learning circles. When asked in a positive direction, 85% of the responses agreed, or strongly agreed, that the participants should organize learning circle interaction. When asked if assigned leadership would have improved productivity 82% disagreed with 62% strongly disagreed. This suggests that the distributed leadership, although a new way of working, was not difficult to learn.

To explore student evaluation of the structure of learning circles with respect to activities, the question was again asked in two ways. First, participants were asked if action research and class activities provided enough structure and, second, if more structured activities from the professor would have improved productivity. Most students (94%) agreed that the action research and class activities provided sufficient structure. However, when asked in the inverse, a quarter of the responses held open the possibility that more external structure might improve the productivity of the group. This led to increased specificity of the projects in the course syllabus which grew to a website for each course.

Meetings: Learning circles were expected to meet weekly, but the frequency of meetings was not formally monitored. The students knew which meeting the professor would join making it possible for students to only meet when the professor was scheduled to attend. When asked how often they met, 85% reported weekly meetings; 7% said they met more often. Only 8% reported meeting only when the professor attended. Examining responses of people from the same learning circle validated these findings.

The acceptance of distributed leadership and focus on action research as the organizing activity coupled with students’ meeting independently suggest that students found value in working in learning circles.

2) The Process of Learning Circle Interaction

The next set of questions explored the norms of circle interaction in learning circles, specifically: if students trusted each other; if there was a sense of reciprocity; and if they were able to share their ideas about their action research.

The responses to the two questions about trust indicate that in most cases (89%), the students did trust their peers to provide the help they needed (Table 1). And by a slightly larger margin (91%), thought that their peers trust them to provide the needed help. We sometimes minimize the amount of trust that students need to share emerging ideas in online learning. A student shared this comment in her reflections about the issue of sharing emerging ideas.

When I write about topics that are very familiar to me, I don’t experience a feeling of uncertainty, but in the forums, I was expected to give my opinion and comment on topics that I was still learning. Not exactly the most comfortable position for me. My learning circle was instrumental in helping me to be more vocal and I learned a great deal from the different perspectives in the group. From working with my learning circles, I was able to understand that the forums were simply a larger arena to gain this same benefit. This understanding was not an overnight process, not even an over week process, but I do recognize why being in the forums and exchanging ideas is important to my growth as a professional in this field. (Student action research reflection, cadre 14, quoted with permission)

Two questions explored commitment; one was directed at the person and one directed at the respondent’s view of the other participants in the learning circle. Responses were almost identical; 70% found time to work together and stated that others found the time to work with them. Only a few responses indicated that the students were either too busy for learning circles or that others were not committed to the practice of helping others as they developed their action research ideas (Figure 4 and 5).

If we only look at the strongly disagree responses, then there was a slight difference. Circle participants indicate that they were more likely to invest the time (60%) and a bit less convinced that their peers were as highly committed (42%). Circle participants often address the value of learning circles in course evaluations and in the forums.

Learning circles have been valuable to me because they introduce an accountability to my peers. Without learning circles, it would be difficult to be as motivated in a distance program where anonymity can easily become the enemy of productivity. (Student, cadre 10 reported with permission)

However, some students are eager for the dialogue to push them harder.

I very much enjoy and learn best in time when my learning or thoughts are challenged. I would have enjoyed more “grilling” learning circles sessions. Perhaps we could focus slightly more time up-front on peer critique. (anonymous, course evaluations).

Learning circle interaction depends on the participants’ ability to share their understandings. This set of questions was designed to explore the production and reception of ideas (Table2). Both questions were asked in the negative so if we reverse them, 29% of the respondents were very confident of their own ability to share ideas while only 17% of the respondents found it very easy to understand the action research of their peers. When we look at the percent of those responding that it was difficult or very difficult, 12% had trouble communicating and only slightly more (16%) found it difficult to understand their peers. Grouping positive and negative and reversing the statement, 87% expressed some degree of confidence in their ability to communicate and 84% could understand the action research of their peers. When the topic of communication was raised in course forums a student responded,

If someone doesn't understand someone's work, we ask for more information and why it is important to what they are trying to accomplish and then we brainstorm on how we could help (quoted from class forum with permission).

The final question about communication overlaps with the next section on outcomes (Figure 6). The intent was to see if students found sharing their ideas with others was a productive learning experience. There was very high agreement; 95% agreed that sharing ideas is an effective form of learning. With a few exceptions, it is fair to say that the participants found professional value in sharing their work with their peers.

3) Evaluation of Learning in Learning Circle Interactions

The most important questions are those that explore the learning outcomes of this collaborative way of learning (Table 3). We start with comparisons of learning in different contexts that contrast with learning circles, learning alone, working with a single critical friend, or reflective writing. Only 14% thought that they would learn more working alone and 18% thought that working with a single partner would have led to better outcomes while 86% of found more value in working on learning circles. While the first two options were in clear contrast with learning circles, the third option was an implicit comparison looking for the source of new ideas in action research. While a slightly higher percent (25%) place solitary reflections as the primary source of ideas, the rest of the responses suggest that the course discussions in the shared learning circle space might be of more value for idea creation.

The evaluation of the quality of help that students received is a strong indicator of the value of learning circles (Figure 7). Peers need to be able to provide help with action research that others value. In 40% of the time, the participants found the support offered by their peers extremely helpful and 34% found it somewhat helpful. Only 5% found the help offered in learning circles to be lacking.

The professor could monitor students’ learning in discussion forums and when present in the synchronous meetings. But 3-4 of the circle weekly meetings each semester were scheduled without the professor present. The students’ attendance was not checked by the professor.

This question here was about the value of these student-led meetings (Figure 8). Only 1% (2 responses out of 161) did not find any value in these meetings. Almost half of the respondents (45%) found the learning circles discussions without the professor present were very valuable. Another 42% found the sessions to be of moderate use. In forum discussions, students often comment on the non-competitive spirit of learning circle interaction during these meetings.

These learning circles are different for me because there is not a competition between each other. We are all present to share what we are doing and get input from its members for each member. (Quoted from course discussion with permission)

When asked to rank order the people from whom they received the most help on their action research, selecting among their professor, critical friends in the workplace, students mentors from past cadres, in the current cadre, and in their learning circles, 75% of the respondents ranked their learning circle professor as either first (50%) or second (27%); however the next highest-ranked was learning circle partners first (16%) and second (45%).

Discussion and Significance

Almost all students appeared comfortable with distributed leadership and emergent patterns that are central to the learning circle model. The students indicated that they trusted others and felt that others trust them to give effective help in their action research. Commitment and communication appear to be reciprocal concepts. However, student’s responses suggest that while they believe that they communicate clearly, they don’t find their peers were as clear.

Students reported that they learned more from working in learning circles than they believed that they would have if they had either worked alone or in pairs. It appeared that students place a high value on the help they received from their learning circles. They often added voluntary comments crediting their learning circle for many of the ideas and tools that were significant for their work. One student described the best part of learning circles as the knowledge building capacity and indicated how much she learned “about action research, data collection and analysis and the learning process, just by discussing how to tackle these problems with my learning circle partners.”

Students also said they create a sense of accountability in online learning. While students never want to leave the current circle, a number of students found value in working with different sets of students over time. In course evaluations, learning circles are frequently listed as one of the strengths of the course.

Over the five years in which learning circles were employed in my college instruction, I added more structure in the form of activities and prompts to guide student leadership. However, the trend data did not show that these changes affected the responses on the learning circle experience. The measurement pattern over time is more indicative of variation in the degree to which specific groups of people were able to work well with each other. This data is very similar to data collected when learning circles were used with K-12 classrooms. (Riel, 2004) About 75-80% of the learning circles are very successful; however, some people find it more difficult to work in a collaborative setting and can make the group work less successfully.

This evidence suggests that Learning Circles can support action researchers by creating a context for novices to engage in dialogue with others about plans, to develop reliable methods of analysis, and to share and critique findings. Learning circles provide an instructional strategy to support the process of doing action research. But it also helps students in the process of forming an identity as action researchers. In the conventional model, each student does his or her action research under the supervision of an advisor with some classroom discussion of the process. The learning is limited to the experiences that the student designs. By working closely with three different learning circles during the course of an academic year, students have been a vital consultant on, and participant in, the planning and analysis of a dozen or so projects. This insider view of the progression of transformative change in different contexts helps students to develop a wider perspective on the value of action research. While one student’s experience might have had mixed results, they learn from what others have attempted and accomplished. Action research involves some degree of courage and risk. By playing a minor, but important role, in many different approaches to systemic change and witnessing how the action researcher succeeds and/or fails, students come to understand the process at a deeper level. The path of progressive problem solving towards expertise is often more apparent from the viewpoint of the learning circle experiences than from only one’s own experience.

But perhaps the best indication of students’ reaction to learning circles is the number of action research projects in which students implemented learning circles in classrooms and workplaces. One student reported that at first, her students found the shift to knowledge building dialogue in learning circles very difficult. Her students had a strong dependency on their teacher for the “right” answers. She quoted one of her students from their online discussion forum talking about this shift: “So now, instead of worrying about being wrong, I embrace what I can learn.”

References

Aronson, E. (2008). Jigsaw Classroom. Retrieved Apr 1, 2012, from http://www.jigsaw.org.

Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An inquiry into the nature and implications of expertise. Chicago, IL: Open Court.

Bruffee, K. (1999). Collaborative learning: Higher education, interdependence, and the authority of knowledge. Baltimore, MD: The John's Hopkins University Press.

Coghlan, D & Brannick, T. (2014). Doing Action Research In Your Own Organization, (4th Edition). London: Sage. ISBN-13: 978-1446272572

Fine, M., (2018) Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination. Teachers College Press. Kindle Edition.

Foster, S., & Glass, R. D. (2017). Ethical, Epistemic, and Political Issues in Equity-Oriented Collaborative Community-Based Research. In L. L. Rowell, C. D. Bruce, J. M. Shosh, & M. M. Riel (Eds.), The Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research. New York: Palgrave Macmillan U.S., p 511-525. DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-40523-4.

Locke, T, & Hawthorne, S., (2017). Affecting a high school culture of writing: issues and dilemmas in participatory action research. In L. Rowell, C. Bruce, J. Shosh & M. Riel, (Eds). Palgrave Interactional Handbook of Action Research. Palgrave, DOI 10.1057/9781-137-40523-4.

McNiff, J., (2016). You and your Action Research Project (4rd Edition). Routledge: NYC. ISBN10: 1138910058.

Riel, M. (2004). Building Communities of Learners Online. In G. Kearsley Online Learning: Personal reflections on the transformation of education. New Jersey: Education Technology Publications, pp 309 320.

Riel, M. 2014. The Learning Circle Model: Building Knowledge through Collaborative Projects. Retrieved on April 1, 2020, from https://sites.google.com/site/onlinelearningcircles/Home/learning-circlesdefined

Riel, N., & Lepori, K., (2010). Transformational Research: Changes to Self, Workplace, and Action Research. Paper presented at the annual meeting of American Educational Research Association, May 2011, New Orleans.

Riel, M. Rhoads, J. & Ellis, E. (2006). Culture of critique: Online learning circles and peer review in graduate education. In (Ed) Tim Roberts Self, peer and group assessment in elearning. London: Information Science Publishing, p. 142-168.

Rowell, L., Riel, M., Polush, E. (2017). Defining action research: Situating diverse practices within varying frames of inquiry, science, and action.. In L. Rowell, C. Bruce, J. Shosh & M. Riel, (Eds). Palgrave Interactional Handbook of Action Research. Palgrave, p 85-101. DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-40523-4.

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action, London: Temple Smith.

Whitehead, J. (2009). Generating living theory and understanding in action research studies. Action Research 7 (1), 85-99.

Wood & Damon (2017). Fostering a school-community partnership for mutual learning and development: a participatory action learning and action research approach. In L. Rowell, C. Bruce, J. Shosh & M. Riel, (Eds). Palgrave Interactional Handbook of Action Research. Palgrave, p 771-805. DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-40523-4.

Wood, L & Zuber-Skerritt, O., (2012). PALAR as a methodology for community engagement by faculties of education. South African Journal of Education 33(4):1-15 Full Text.

Contact Margaret Riel

Learning Circle Norms for Collaboration

By Linda Purrington

“A learning circle is a highly interactive, participatory structure for organizing group work” (Riel, 2014, The Learning Circle Model, para. 1). Developing shared norms is key to fostering participation and collaborative interaction among learning circle members. Norms are the agreed upon rules/expectations for guiding individual and group behavior. Developing shared norms is a critical step in the opening of a Learning Circle. The process, led by a facilitator, is intended to result in positive and productive behaviors to which all Learning Circle members subscribe and hold themselves and the group accountable. The facilitator may be a group-designated member of the Learning Circle or someone external to the Learning Circle.

Introducing the Norms

As a professor of action research in leadership masters and doctoral programs, I utilized Learning Circles for group work. Before developing norms, we became well acquainted through a number of strategic activities designed to foster student engagement and inclusive communities (See ARNA STAR ARC Newsletter May 2019 for sample activities). Once acquainted, I introduced the students to the Seven Norms of Collaboration (Thinking Collaborative, 2017). Later, I shared the Seven Norms of Collaboration: A Supporting Tool Kit (Thinking Collaborative, 2017) so that students could facilitate norm setting in their workplaces among action research project collaborators.

The Seven Norms are:

1. Pausing

2. Paraphrasing

3. Posing Questions

4. Putting Ideas on the Table

5. Providing Attention

6. Paying Attention to Self and Others

7. Presuming Positive Intentions

I used a shared reading process for introducing the norms and invited students to engage in small group reflective conversations about the norms guided by question examples from the Tool Kit including:

• What personal connections are you making with this set of Norms?

• Which of these Norms might be most important for your full participation in a group?

• Considering these seven Norms, which might you find most challenging?

• Given your selecting, what strategies might you use to focus on this/these?

Following the reflective conversations, we reconvened as a whole group and each small group shared recorded highlights from their respective conversations for each of the questions.

Following are the seven norms of collaboration and descriptions as represented in the Tool Kit Norms of Collaboration Annotated Poster and originally credited to the Center for Adaptive Schools.

1. Pausing

Pausing before responding or asking a question allows time for thinking and enhances dialogue, discussion, and decision-making.

2. Paraphrasing

Using a paraphrase starter that is comfortable for you – “So…” or “As you are…” or “You’re thinking…” – and following the starter with an efficient paraphrase assists members of the group in hearing and understanding one another as they converse and make decisions.

3. Posing Questions

Two intentions of posing questions are to explore and to specify thinking. Questions may be posed to explore perceptions, assumptions, and interpretations, and to invite others to inquire into their thinking. For example, “What might be some conjectures you are exploring?” Use focusing questions such as, “Which students, specifically?” or “What might be an example of that?” to increase the clarity and precision of group members’ thinking. Inquire into others’ ideas before advocating one’s own.

4. Putting Ideas on the Table

Ideas are the heart of meaningful dialogue and discussion. Label the intention of your comments. For example: “Here is one idea…” or “One thought I have is…” or “Here is a possible approach…” or “Another consideration might be…”.

5. Providing Data

Providing data, both qualitative and quantitative, in a variety of forms supports group members in constructing shared understanding from their work. Data have no meaning beyond that which we make of them; shared meaning develops from collaboratively exploring, analyzing, and interpreting data.

6. Paying Attention to Self and Others

Meaningful dialogue and discussion are facilitated when each group member is conscious of self and of others, and is aware of what (s) he is saying and how it is said as well as how others are responding. This includes paying attention to learning styles when planning, facilitating, and participating in group meetings and conversations.

7. Presuming Positive Intentions

Assuming that others’ intentions are positive promotes and facilitates meaningful dialogue and discussion, and prevents unintentional put-downs. Using positive intentions in speech is one manifestation of this norm.

Posting the Norms

After introducing the seven norms, I posted the Norms in our classroom and in our online course resources. Throughout the action research series of courses, we briefly revisited the Norms at the beginning of each face-to-face and online session. This helped to guide individual and group behavior.

Engaging with the Norms

Next, I asked students to identify a norm or two upon which to focus during group learning activities. The purpose was for students to become more aware of and intentional in their behavior as individuals and as a group.

Assessing Consistency with the Norms

The students used two scales for assessing consistency with the Norms. One scale was for assessing personal consistency with the Norms and the other scale was for assessing group consistency with the Norms. Both scales use a four point Likert scale with one as low and four as high. Both scales are included in the Seven Collaborative Norms Tool Kit and are available from The Thinking Collaborative website via resources. (See References for website address)

Learning Circle Reflections

We formed our Learning Circles after students had engaged with the Norms and utilized the scales for assessing consistency. I asked students to revisit the Norms at the beginning of each of their Circle sessions and to reflect upon their personal and Circle consistency in their Action Research Journals. Students also reflected about their facilitation of norm setting with co-collaborators in their Action Research projects.

Summary

Developing shared norms are essential for fostering positive, productive collaboration in Learning Circles. The Seven Norms of Collaboration and Supporting Tool Kit are a great resource for facilitators to use for norm setting with Learning Circles. The Tool Kit provides a means for introducing the Norms, posting the Norms, engaging Circle members with the Norms, and assessing personal and group consistency with the Norms.

References

Riel, M. (2014). Re: The learning circle model: Collaborative knowledge building. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/onlinelearningcircles/Home/learning-circles-defined

The Thinking Collaborative (2017). Re: The Seven Norms of Collaboration Full Tool Kit. Retrieved from https://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/

References

Contact Linda Purrington

Learning Circle Logs for Reflection

By Teri Marcos

While Keane, 2016 notes, “For over 100 years Learning Circles have proven an effective and practical method of learning and social change” (p.1), he provides two examples of modern expressions of Learning Circles: 1). the traditions of King Arthur and his Round Table; and 2). the United Nations’ Society of Friends. Keane shares, “Community organizations, trade unions, churches, schools and social justice groups have used them to empower their members to make choices and take action” (p.1).

I find Learning Circles to open new pathways for learning (Damasceno, 2018) within an online, interagency, multidisciplinary Ed.D. in Organizational Innovation program. Candidates enrolled represent a plethora of leadership backgrounds, including private and business sectors, municipalities, education, non-profits, health, engineering, military, and State agencies. I design course Learning Circles that encourage 45-minute to one-hour Ed.D. student led collaborations to support their key Unit assignment concepts, individual engagement of shared approaches and strategies, as well as a synthesis of key-learnings emerging from the course content.

Cristiane Damasceno (2018), explored learners' and facilitators' participation in Peer 2 Peer University's Learning Circles (face-to-face study groups for people who are taking massive open online courses together). The study’s findings revealed that participants in these study groups "expressed care," "shared learning resources," "enacted self-motivated learning strategies," and "took risks by leaving comfort zones." Damasceno discovered that participants leveraged affective labor to create group cohesion, strengthen accountability, and enable peer interactions that supported self-guided learning.

The purpose of the Ed.D. Learning Circle is to encourage an agile, student led doctoral learning space, three times over each 12-week course, or, once per Unit for a total of three Units per course. Riel (2011), described Learning Circles as, “A structured form of collaborative learning employing distributed leadership. Circle members collaborate on a set of related projects for a specified period of time to build knowledge and share results.” (Slide 6/15)

In structuring Ed.D. students’ collaborative learning, while I team them, they lead their own discussions within each Unit. Student teams rotate across Units ensuring they have the opportunity to collaborate with most of their other cohort members during their 12-week course of study together. Ed.D. students strategize their best thinking and processes as aligned to assignment specifications. This assists them to accomplish the tasks expected of the assignments of each Unit while identifying whom among the group might offer their organization as the laboratory for a particular assignment. Approaches and strategies are shared across the Learning Circle serving to both extend ideation for scholarly papers and projects, but more, to deisolate the cohort from individuals out on the end of the internet into an online problem-solving community of practice.

Each course contains three content Units that build one on the other. While Unit 1 generally contains introductory content for early engagement and key-learnings as foundational to the course, Unit 2 requires a team project in practice for Unit 3, in which doctoral students submit individual signature assignments as a culminating experience aligned to the Course Learning Outcomes.

Ed Tech Center World Learning (2019) notes, “Learning Circles shape more than just the classroom⁠—they shape the whole student experience. Just as the image of a circle evokes inclusion, the Learning Circle model emphasizes that learning is for everyone” (p.1).

While, learning is for everyone, reflective processes around how learning has both shaped the strategies to complete course assignments, and accountability for individual contributions, can be captured in a Learning Circle Log that is submitted by the group.

Learning Circle Logs

During their 3-Day Orientation, doctoral students complete their first Learning Circle while performing community roles of facilitator, process checker, time keeper, and recorder. Moving from Orientation into their coursework doctoral students engage Learning Circles comprised of different individuals three times per course. Generally engaged during the 2nd week of each four-week Unit a reflective Learning Circle Log is completed in two ways:

1. Together, by the Learning Circle Group as a whole;

2. Then, by individual Ed.D. students who provide their reflections regarding the Learning Circle experience before submitting it for grading.

The Learning Circle Log encourages doctoral students to record their names and roles as well as to complete the log using their preferred online portal (i.e. Portfolium, Google Docs, or another shared portal). They add their instructor and click share when completed. All participants individually upload the document to their Blackboard Learning Circle link during each Unit.

Reflective Learning

While reflections are recorded in the two areas, as noted above, members of the Learning Circle share their discussion, planning for successful completion of the task, new concepts, approaches and strategies generated by the Learning Circle, Next Steps, Learning Circle Reflections regarding what worked well, what did not work well, key-learnings of the group, recommendations to other Learning Circles, or faculty, etc, and individual reflections (what they learned during the Learning Circle that can be applied to their course, program, or professional life), as shown below:

Summary

Learning Circle Logs are supportive documents that assist doctoral students' strategic thinking, conceptualizing a variety of approaches and strategies toward task specifications, and planning in their coursework as they co-create new knowledge together. Group and individual reflections are recorded as key-learnings, or key-takeaways. And finally, Learning Circle members are encouraged to craft recommendations to other Learning Circles, or to doctoral faculty, as they apply their key-learnings to their course, program, or professional lives.

References

Damasceno, C. (2018). New Pathways: Affective Labor and Distributed Expertise in Peer-Supported Learning Circles. Communication Education, v67 n3 p330-347.

EdTech Center Staff (2019). 8 Tips for Implementing Learning Circles in Any Program. Retrieved 3/21/2020 from: https://edtech.worlded.org/8-tips-for-implementing-learning-circles-in-any-program/

Keane, B. (2016). The Learning Circle in Culture Change: Why Use It? Retrieved 3/21/2020 from: https://www.pioneernetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Learning-Circle-in-Culture-Change.pdf

Riel, M. (2011). Learning Circles at Pepperdine. Retrieved 3/25/2020 from: https://community.pepperdine.edu/techlearn/content/learning-circles-at-pepperdine.pdf

Contact Teri Marcos

Some of our Students' AR Studies

As faculty within the STAR-ARC we guide many aspiring Participatory and Action Researchers to complete fascinating, helpful topics, alongside others within their organizations. A sampling of our current studies include some doctoral students' preliminary research questions:

What are the perceptions of Advanced Placement 11​th​ grade students on their engagement in class, participation, and academic achievement when their mobile device is inaccessible during instructional time? What recommendations do AP 11​th​ graders make to future AP students for maintaining student autonomy while exercising mobile device responsibility?

What are the perceptions of middle school and high school counselors on the services they provide to enhance student performance indicators in the core curriculum and college readiness?

What are the effects of using closed reading strategies as an intervention to improve reading comprehension toward proficiency on the S.B.A.C. for 6th-grade students?

What are the effects of social-emotional learning, MTSS, and Behavior RTI on reducing K-5 students' over-identification and placement into self-contained emotional disturbance classrooms?

What are the perceptions of administrators, teachers and counselors on the motivation of Junior High students to vape at a Jr. High in Imperial County?

What are the perceptions of Advanced Placement Teachers on the effectiveness of district level Professional Learning Communities to support the implementation of the Advanced Placement curriculum and common formative assessments? What are the perceptions of Advanced Placement teachers on the effectiveness of district level PLCs to develop best practices for teaching Advanced Placement students?

What are the effects of housing and food insecurity on degree completion at a large California University? What are the effects of housing and food insecurity on degree completion at a large California Community College?

Resources

Champion Teachers: Stories of Exploratory Action Research. The primary purpose of the present book is to provide examples to other teachers of what an exploratory action research project can involve. The nine stories included here also serve to show others in Chile and beyond what some of the Champion Teachers have managed to accomplish in spite of their difficult working conditions.

A Handbook for Exploratory Action Research. This is a practical handbook, written in a non-academic, teacher-friendly style, to show teachers how they can engage in practitioner research for continuing professional development and for the benefit of their students. The book is unique in the literature on teacher-research in ELT in being particularly targeted at secondary and primary school teachers working in relatively difficult circumstances.

The Center for Collaborative Action Research (CCAR) affords action researchers 12 tutorials that were developed to support action researchers in their work. Each tutorial includes a video, activities, and supporting resources (https://www.actionresearchtutorials.org).

The Social Publisher's Foundation is a non-profit corporation organized for public and charitable purposes to provide support for practitioner-research projects for improved individual and social well-being within communities and to disseminate completed projects around the world. The Foundation is committed to establishing a global non-profit, open source network of practitioner-researchers engaged with sustainable and just social and human development in a variety of critical domains involving professional practices and citizen involvement.

Books to Explore

1. The Good Men Project is highly recommended for practitioners and scholars who work to provide learning opportunities to refugees, and it may also be a useful read for policymakers to consider opening up more learning spaces for refugees and asylum seekers.

2. Putman, M., Rock, T. (2017). Action research: Using strategic inquiry to improve teaching and learning. Thousand Oaks: SAGE ISBN-13: 978-1506307985 Acknowledging their experiences working with teachers, the authors describe that one of the principal reasons for writing their book was to address the needs of practitioners in the field. The authors note that the orientation of the book toward proactive planning as part of an organized, efficient process for developing and conducting an action research study will help readers at a variety of levels, including practicing teachers, pre-service candidates, educational leaders, and administrators. Acknowledging these different audiences the authors see the primary use of the text as a primary or supplemental resource in a graduate-level action research class or professional development seminar. Given the focus on methods and processes that incorporate formative data that is readily available to teachers, the authors note that practitioners will be able to make direct associations between classroom instruction and the action research process.

3. Zuber-Skerritt, O., Wood, L., (2019) Action Learning and Action Research: Genres and Approaches. Emerald Publishing Limited ISBN: 978178769538. Action Research (AR) is an ideal methodology to enable practical and emancipatory outcomes, as well as to generate relevant and authentic theory. Consequently, it has gained popularity worldwide. However, this emerging paradigm of AR in the Social Sciences has been widely misunderstood and misused by researchers, educators, and practitioners. The integration of Action Learning with Action Research deepens understanding and contributes to new knowledge about the theory, practice, and processes of both Action Learning (AL) and Action Research (AR). It clarifies what constitutes AL/AR in its many forms and what it is not. AL and AR enable participants to effectively approach increasingly complex global challenges confronting humankind in this twenty-first century, collectively achieve practical, emancipatory and sustainable outcomes and generate relevant, authentic theory. This book, written by internationally renowned experts, is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of the main genres and approaches of AL/AR. They explain the genre of their expertise, reflect on their rich experiences with it, and consider both the common features shared across the AL/AR paradigm and what is distinctive about the particular genre they overview. This book discusses the what, why and how of their particular approach and will prove invaluable for researchers and practitioners alike.

4. Fine, M., (2018) Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination. Teachers College Press. Kindle Edition. Michelle Fine who gave the keynotes at the last two conferences has a new book - Just Research in Contentious Times: Widening the Methodological Imagination. Drawing from both personal and professional experiences, Michelle Fine focusses on how methodological imagination has served her well in crafting research with underserved communities. Fine shares her struggles over the course of 30 years to translate research into policy and practice that can enhance the human condition and create a more just world. The book examines a wide array of critical participatory action research (PAR) projects involving school pushouts, Muslim American youth, queer youth of color, women in prison, and children navigating under-resourced schools. Throughout her writing, Fine encourages the readers to consider the sensitive decisions about epistemology, ethics, politics, and methods; critical approaches to analysis and interpretation; and participatory strategies for policy development and organizing. This book is an invaluable guide for creating successful participatory action research projects in times of inequity and uncertainty.

5. Feldman, A., Herbert, A., Posch, P., Somekh, B. (2018). Teachers Investigate Their Work. an Introduction to Action Research across the Professions. 3rd ed. London: Routledge. Now in its third edition, Teachers Investigate Their Work introduces both the theoretical concepts and the practical methods necessary for readers wishing to develop their action research. Drawing from studies carried out by teachers and other professionals, as well as from the authors’ own international practical experience, the book provides detail on multiple educational contexts from primary education to university training and beyond. It contains practical methods and strategies to understand and conduct action research. It is a concise yet thorough introduction to action research and is an essential, practical, and easily accessible handbook for teachers, senior staff, and researchers who want to engage in innovation and improve their practice.

6. Rowell, L., Bruce, C., Shosh, J.M., Riel, M. (Eds.) (2017). The Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN:9781138225756 The Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research offers a vivid portrait of both theoretical perspectives and practical action research activity and related benefits around the globe while attending to the cultural, political, social, historical and ecological contexts that localize, shape and characterize action research. Consisting of teachers, youth workers, counselors, nurses, community developers, artists, ecologists, farmers, settlement-dwellers, students, professors and intellectual-activists on every continent and at every edge of the globe, the movement sustained and inspired by this community was born of the efforts of intellectual-activists in the mid-twentieth century specifically: Orlando Fals Borda, Paulo Freire, Myles Horton, Kurt Lewin. Cross-national issues of networking, as well as the challenges, tensions, and issues associated with the transformative power of action research, are explored from multiple perspectives providing unique contributions to our understanding of what it means to do action research and to be an action researcher. This handbook sets a global action research agenda and map for readers to consider as they embark on new projects.

Upcoming Conferences

CANCELED DUE TO COVID-19 - ARNA 2020: Co-creating Knowledge and Empowering Communities. The 8th Annual Conference of the Action Research Network of the Americas, June 3-6, 2020, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The conference was to be co-sponsored by a consortium of local community agencies, including the Fundacion Punta de Mita, and La Red de Asociaciones Altruistas de Puerto Vallarta y Bahia de Banderas. The theme chosen for the conference was: The hope of the Conference Organizing Committee is that the focused theme, keynote speakers, and presentations would have generated interest in the place of community-based participation in action research - CBPAR. Website: ARNA Conferences

Action Research and Action Learning (ARAL), 13-16 Sept. 2020, DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando at SeaWorld, Orlando, USA. The Action Research and Action Learning aims to be an integration of academic activities: research, education, and consulting/real-life problem solving, integration among disciplines: inter-disciplinary research, education, and communication, and integration among academe, industry, and society. Website: https://10times.com/aral

Call for Proposals: Teaching + Research is a conference and publication initiative coordinated by Routledge, AMPS, PARADE and the University of Manchester. There are two virtual upcoming conferences, both virtual, with a keynote presentation from the University of Manchester:

1. TEACHING-LEARNING-RESEARCH: DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENTS, 02-04 December, 2020 Virtual / University of Manchester. Round One Abstracts: 30 June 2020 http://architecturemps.com/teaching-research-conference/

2. ONLINE EDUCATION: TEACHING IN A TIME OF CHANGE, Dates: 21-23 April, 2021. Virtual / University of Manchester. Early Abstracts: 30 June 2020. http://architecturemps.com/online-ed-conference/

The STAR-ARC invites the larger ARNA community to join us in expanding the site and discussing ideas, activities, projects and resources. Members have made the site available in Spanish, developing a blog to encourage feedback and working on an idea to offer STAR Conversations on issues related to teaching action research.

Thanks to all that joined us at the ARNA conference in Montreal. If you have ideas or professional needs as a teacher of action research, please come and share your ideas. We will evolve with all of you.

The ARNA 2020 Conference has moved to 2021 DUE TO COVID-19: Co-creating Knowledge and Empowering Communities. The 8th Annual Conference of the Action Research Network of the Americas, June 2-5, 2020, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The conference will be co-sponsored by a consortium of local community agencies, including the Fundacion Punta de Mita, and La Red de Asociaciones Altruistas de Puerto Vallarta y Bahia de Banderas. Website: ARNA Conferences