THE GREAT PLEBEIAN COLLEGE

Alaminos City, Pangasinan

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION


VIRGNIA S. BERNABE DR. MIGUEL G. GELLADO, JR.
BEED-IV Professor


ST 3 ADDRESSING LEARNING GAPS
First Semester, 2014-2015


Home Task:
As a teacher, why is research important? Support your answer using related readings in
books or internet. Do not forget to write your references.


Research is important to teachers because

To satisfy mans (teachers) craving for more understanding, to improve his judgment,
to add to his power, to reduce the burden of work, to relieve suffering, and to increase
satisfactions in multitudinuous ways. (Good and Scrates, 1972)

According to Amy Anderson, it empowers teachers to thoughtfully examine and analyze
classroom practices in order to improve teaching, a tremendous outcome for teachers
and students.

In addition from Amy Andersons article that, as McLean and Mohr explain, it facilitates
an exploration of the implications for classroom practice that emerge from self-study. A
new practice or strategy may be embraced or rejected following the teacher research
process. Writing up findings can also facilitate greater collaboration among colleagues,
for a report of the research not only describes the process (the data collection and
analysis, for example) but also shares insights valuable to the larger school community
of educators.

According to Bryan Bardine, in his article Research to Practice: Teacher Research:
Getting Started it fulfills several different roles throughout their inquiries. First,
teachers act as researchers as they "build theory concerning the particulars of their
circumstances through reflection, inquiry, and action" (Patterson & Shannon, 1993, p.
10). Next, teachers act as curriculum designers based on the results of their research.
Finally, they again play the role of teacher as they "adjust their practice based on their
conclusions from the study" (p. 10). Obviously, these three roles are critical in the
development of the teacher as researcher and classroom practitioner. Without doing the
research, teachers may be inhibiting their own growth because of the myriad of
experiences they will not encounter. Moreover, research makes informed decision-
making possible--we know what changes to make in instruction, and we know how to
evaluate the impact of the changes.

According to UW Madison Education professor Kenneth Zeichner that it gains a new
sense of confidence from conducting research and their professional development. In
addition, it helps teachers become more flexible and open to new ideas, it narrows the
gap between teachers aspirations and realizations, and it heightens the quality of
student learning.

According to Gail Ritchie, it empowers teachers to make a positive difference in terms of
classroom practice; it enables us to provide relevant information about teaching and
learning in actual classrooms. Most importantly, by engaging in reflective practice, the
Teacher improves the lives of students by always seeking to discover better, more
effective ways of implementing teaching/learning.

According to Professor Kit Field, research can help teachers to understand what works
and why, what the short and long-term implications are, provide a justification and
rationale for decisions and actions, help to build a repertoire to help deal with the
unexpected, identify problems, inform improvement and so forth.

According to Jose F. Calderon and Expectacion C. Gonzales, it find answers to problems
which are only partially solved by existing methods and information. They added that it
improves existing techniques and develop new instruments or products. Lastly, it
improves educational practices for raising the quality of school products. Research
surveys often result in the revision of curricula and instructional innovations to maximize
the effectiveness of the learning process.

Resources:
Good, Carter V. & Douglas E. Scates, Methods of Research:Educational, Psychological,
Sociological, Manila:Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1972. (Reprinted by National Book Store).
Calderon, Jose F. & C Expectacion C. Gonzales, Methods of Research and Thesis Writing,
National Book Store, Mandaluyong City, 1993. Reprinted 2012.

World Wide Web
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/659
http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-20.html
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/news/coverStories/teaching_research_spurs_pro_dev.php
http://gse.gmu.edu/research/tr/tr-definition
http://www.expressandstar.com/education/2011/06/14/the-importance-of-research-for-educations-
future/