Can complex ideas be communicated in 3 minutes?

As a PhD student in OZ  I have been encouraged to participate in a competition called the 3M thesis. This competition is for PhD students and consists of  a 3Minute presentation of your thesis  to a lay audience. This competition started in 2008 in Australia and it has become very popular. Most universities run internal competitions, and then  send their best representatives to the national finals.

The promoters of this competition say that the 3M thesis  is not a  ”an exercise in trivialising or ‘dumbing-down’ research but forces students to consolidate their ideas and crystalise their research discoveries.” Is that true? Well, I have been asked to do my 3MT twice, and that experience has made me wonder if it has really contributed to focus on my research and improve it. On one hand you have got the challenge to condensate an 80,000 word thesis into 3 minutes, and on the other, you have to be able to communicate it persuasively. Can you do it? How can you do it? What for?

I revised some of the videos of the finalists and winners of previous years, and  most of them belong to the natural sciences. Their presentations started with an anecdote or a general question attracting people’s attention, that lead to their research question, and the last minute was used to reveal their research discovery. Does that pattern work in social sciences as well? The 2011 winner was a  young criminologist talking about advanced techniques for identifying fingerprints. The runner up was a dietitian working in intensive-care units; the People’s Choice award went to a pharmacologist studying cannabinoid receptors. Of 10 finalists, only one was working in literature (she studies Australian women’s travel narratives as found in blogs). There was not a single one from education . Is it just a coincidence that the social sciences are underrepresented in the 3MT competition?

I don’t know if I am getting too cynical or what, but these competitions like the3 M thesis or Dance your PhD  feel a bit wrong. It makes me wonder if all the effort that PhD students put in trying to communicate complex ideas in 3 minutes is really worthy. I would be very interested to know  about how these experiences shape the Phd students learnings’, or how the 3 MT contributes  towards the completion of a PhD. And of course, I’d be very keen to ask PhD students in the social sciences what they think about the 3 M thesis.

52 weeks to submission!

My countdown has started! In 52 weeks I’ll be submitting my thesis!  So the time of pussy footing is over, and the real thing has started. Long hours of writing, editing and rewriting constitute my typical day and will be accentuated as the days pass.

As I became aware of the time left for my submission, I also realised that the process of the data analysis has been the most difficult of the PhD. It was a sort of a revelation. I was paralysed  because I was feeling so vulnerable and insecure, that I thought, well if I overcome this, everything will be easier. I guess, I’m not wrong since researchers in qualitative studies, as Sharan B. Merriam  describe the data analysis process as the most difficult and  crucial stage.

Why is data analysis in qualitative research so difficult?

Data analysis is the crucial stage of the research process when we make sense of the data  (Merriam, 2009), Researchers interpret the data after constructing and deconstructing bits and pieces . I concur with Merriam (2009) that making sense out of data “ involves consolidating, reducing, and interpreting what people have said and what the researcher has seen and read- it is the process of making meaning” ( p. 175-176).   Through the analysis of data researchers make meaning: we find  the answers to teh reearch questions. Data analysis is the stage in which we actually see what the research is about.

Data analysis in the qualitative tradition is usually an iterative, “ recursive and dynamic process” (Merriam p. 169). As the research design of qualitative studies is usually emergent, the data is collected in different stages, and the ana;ysis is done both at the moment of collecting data and after the collection. The analysis is done in different ways, findings are drawn, revisited , and restructured. Each qualitative study has its unique data analysis approach depending on the nature of the problem and the research design (Patton, 2002). Data analysis is not a fixed process that follows a strict set of procedures.

Data analysis is a continous inductive-deductive process.  One of the main characteristics of qualitative research is that allows us to see through the eyes of the participants. Thus, researchers listen and tell their stories. In the data analysis process, themes and categories usually emerge from the data, then some concepts are imposed to the data, and viceversa . Researchers interpret and reinterpret the data from what they can see , but also from the existing literature of the field of study and from the theoretical perspective adopted in the study.  Data analysis is a complex and challenging process. As Patton (2002) stated, “the ongoing challenge, paradox and dilemma of qualitative analysis engage us in constatly moving back and forth between the phenomenon of the program and our abstractions of that phenomenon, between the descriptions of what has occurred and our interpretations of those descriptions, between the complexity of reality and our simplifications of those complexities, between the circularities and interdependencies of human activity and our need for linear, ordered statements of cause- effect” (pp. 480-481).

My analytical approach: Cultural Historical Activity Theory

On top of the difficult nature of data analysis in qualitative research, I encountered the challenge of the application of Activity Theory on my analysis. As I have described in many other posts, my research has explored the activity of learning to teach in an EFL teacher education program in Chile. The data collected aimed at providing with the tools to understand the activity and answer the research question: How do EFL pre-service teachers learn to teach in this specific context? Therefore, the analysis process has focused on the activity of learning to teach considering both what participants think about the activity and how different sociocultural factors shaped their learning.  Thus, my study  adopted a CHAT perspective, thus an activity system analysis method has been used for the data analysis. This study used CHAT to seek for an understanding of the activity of learning to teach.

Why CHAT?

I adopted a CHAT perspective because this theory does not only contribute to understanding the activity of learning to teach, but also it illuminates its complexity and ultimately suggest changes for improvement.  CHAT is a relatively new theory in the west and is still developing. CHAT has been used in two different ways in the last 20 years. On one hand, especially North American researchers have used CHAT as an analytical tool, i.e., the aim of those studies has been to understand a complex learning environment.  Whereas in Europe, especially lead by Engestrom, CHAT has been used to transform social practices. In doing so, Engestrom et al have developed a methodology: Developmental work research (DWR) which aims at expansive learning. Participants get engaged in the analysis of the complex learning environment, work collaboratively, and develop ways to transform their daily practices.

Though my  PhD and the research itself was motivated by my personal engagement and commitment towards the improvement of teacher education, early on the research process, I decided to seek an understanding of the activity, rather than transforming it. Therefore, I chose to use CHAT as a heuristic justified on three main reasons. In first place, there are no previous studies that have documented the activity of learning to teach in the context studied. Therefore, problematising and understanding the activity was a priority. Second, institutional and organisational factors constrained a bigger participation of pre-service teachers in the decision making process. And third, this study was inserted into a research project that had a limited duration and funding.

In summary, I am writing my analysis chapter and when I am done with this, I guess the thesis would be closer. So it is high time to cult the cloth and  smash it!

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From a topic to a thesis. The return!

It is been more than a month that I wrote my last post about my struggle towards an argument for my thesis. Well, I still haven’t resolved the issue, but I am working on it.

This time I am doing one exercise proposed by Thesis Whisperer. I am presenting the topic of my research in different ways and I will see which way reflects best what my thesis is about.

• As a question: “How do EFL pre-service teachers learn to teach English?”
• As an exploration: EFL teacher education in Chile: a CHAT perspective
• As a statement:”Learning to be a teacher of English in a Chilean TEFL program”
• As an investigation: “EFL teacher education in Chile: Affordances and Constraints”
• As a hypothesis: “If learning to teach is a complex activity that goes beyond learning existing practices, it is  more likely that learning to teach has to do with understanding problems in a specific context and how to respond  to those problems “
• As a thesis: “learning to teach is a complex activity that needs examination not only to understand it, but to improve it “

So I have done the exercise, now what’s my thesis?

From a topic to a thesis?

It is mid February, time is flying and I am struggling with the argument of my thesis. I procrastinate reading more papers, and writing posts on my blogs. I go back to my data and it seems a never ending task. I need to write my findings, but it seems overwhelming…. where are you Chapul[in to save me?

As an attempt to clarify my ideas and focus,it is that I write this post. Can you give me your feedback? Does it sound logical enough?

What’s your topic?

EFL teacher education in Chile

What have you done ? 

This research project  has explored EFL teacher education in a particular context: a Chilean university program. This study is informed by Cultural Historical Activity theory. Activity theory will be used as a heuristic to analyse the activity of how pre-service teachers engage in learning  to teach EFL.

Why have you done it?

As a teacher of English and teacher educator in Chile, I have seen how pre-service teachers struggle learning to teach EFL and witnessed their becoming both at the school and at university contexts. It is in these settings that the questions emerged: What motivates pre-service teachers to engage in learning to teach EFL? How do curricula mediate their learning? How does the community shape their learning? In short, how do pre-service teachers of EFL engage in learning to teach? These questions motivated my exploration into EFL teacher education, specifically into the activity of learning to teach EFL at a university program in Santiago, Chile.

How did you do it? 

This thesis reports on the study that analysed how a group of pre-service teachers of EFL in a Chilean private university engage in learning to teach EFL.  The study examined pre-service teachers’ actions, their motives, mediating tools and contradictions within this activity.

This study used a varied set of data collection methods: interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis and observations. These different methods captured the collective activity system, in relationship with other activity systems and its multivoicedness with different viewpoints, interests and histories.

What have you found?

Learning to teach is a complex and ongoing activity in which teachers get engaged along their careers. Teachers are engaged in creating themselves as teachers according to on one hand their self image as teachers, and on the other according to the practices, rules and the community they belong to. Teachers construct and deconstruct a teacher identity shaped by the dialectical relationship of their own agency and the collective construction of the teacher identity (Ping, 2011).

This thesis argues that learning to teach is a complex social activity in which participants learn to be teachers. Pre-service teachers construct and deconstruct a teacher identity that is changing and dynamic according to the different learning contexts. Teacher identity is shaped by personal beliefs and motivations, but also by curricula, school based experiences, the community, and roles and tasks teachers have to adopt in their teaching practices. The construction of a teacher identity is conflicting and challenging and while teachers learn to teach, they learn to be teachers.

What are the implications of this?

Understanding how pre-service teachers learn to teach during FL teacher education provide insight and intervention into teacher education programs as a means to facilitate pre-service teachers’ transition into teacher career. This thesis sheds light on how pre-service teachers of EFL in Chile engage in the activity of learning to teach. This elucidation will ultimately contribute to the understanding of EFL teacher education and consequently it will provide a framework for the improvement of EFL teacher education in Chile.

 I’d better go back to my data and write. A successful PhD is a written thesis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What’s my thesis?

“A thesis for the PhD must form a distinctive contribution to the knowledge”

Here we are starting the year of the dragon and I have made the resolution to hand in my full draft by December this year.Yes, the time has come and no more fluffing, but serious work has to be done. What do I need to do to have my full draft ready by december?

• Finish my analysis
• Make sense of the analysis
• Write the discussion chapter
• Write the introduction and conclusion
• Putting up altogether

It seems a  straight forward process,but why does it feel that it is not that simple? Well, I guess because the most important thing that I need to resolve is to find my thesis. Yes, what’s my argument? what’s my claim? what’s my contribution?

I have been exploring EFL teacher education and specifically I have been analysing how  pre-service teachers get engaged in learning to teach, but what is my argument? This is the real thinking that I have to do: to develop my argument and create an argumentative line for my thesis, the rest is easy!

Why do I blog?

On Friday I was one panelist at  a seminar on blogging at CEDAM. It was a very interesting conversation about blogging, types of blogs, and various uses. I was asked my motivation to write blogs and as  a blogger this is my answer.

Why do I write blogs?  I started writing my blog The adventure to become a PhD Student in Australia two years ago, just before coming to Oz. This blog is a personal and reflective diary on my life experience in Australia. It is written in Spanish because my mother tongue allows me to express more genuinely  my views and feelings towards Australia, Chile and the daily turbulences I go through while I am doing my PhD. Writing about the PhD experience was not complete until I started  reflecting on the research process as well, and that’s why I decided to write another blog in English.  My research journey blog started as a need to put my ideas out about my research and confront my thinking. This blog is a reflective piece of writing about research focus, research questions, methodological concerns, data collection and more. Has writing blogs been useful for my doctoral studies? Of course, I believe that these blogs have mediated my learnings in all senses. First, writing about my life experience in Australia has given me insights of the PhD as an experience which goes further beyond the doctoral studies. Second, writing about what I have been doing and thinking on my research has helped to clarify ideas or develop them further. And last, but not least, writing blogs has given me an extra practice on actual writing.

I have also used blogs for my teaching. At home , I started using blogs to enhance my students’ experience in learning English and now at ANU I have used blogs for teaching Spanish. Last year in the Current Affairs Intermediate Spanish course we developed one class blog in which students posted a summary of a current affair in the Spanish speaking world. Students were also requested to comment on each other’s posts. This semester I am using a class blog as part of the Cuento Hispanoamericano  course in which students have had to write two posts: one about a latinoamerican writer and his/her context, and the other one is a a creative writing piece, a mini short story. Students also interact with each other making comments. Has the use of blogs enhanced my students’ learning ? I absolutely believe so. First, students are active learners.  They decide the content of their posts and they interact with their classmates making comments. Second,they develop their cognitive strategies to summarize and evaluate the content they write about on each post they write. Third, students are challenged with complex tasks immersing them into the spanish speaking world both into the language and the sociocultural context. And last, students improve their writing skills writing and writing.

And at last, I also write a blog to comment on fiction  I read. I love reading and I like writing about the things I read. Some posts are in English and others are in Spanish, it varies according to the language the book is written. Writing about books is fun!

Yes, I definitely advocate for the use of blogs for research, teaching, reflection and fun!

To be or not to be… a researcher?

To be or not to be… a researcher. That´s the question!

identity issues? Well, as part of the PhD experience I have definitively been crafting a new identity: an identity which represents the practices and self of being  a learner, an academic, and a researcher. In these almost two years as a PhD student I have struggled first to understand what it means to be a PhD student and then trying to be one. What do I have to do as a a PhD student? How do I have to be and behave as such?  Am I doing research? I have made these questions  to myself many times, and the answers have been different according to the specific moment in time.  But no matter what I have felt uneasy, insecure and uncertain about who I am or who I am becoming.

Today I see that I am in the process of becoming; I am learning to be a researcher; I am crafting a researcher’s identity. In this process from time to time I have felt miserable in this new being and I have wondered if being a researcher is “being miserable ” why I would  want such a thing for my life. I came to Australia to fulfill a long desired goal: to do research on EFL teacher education in Chile and contribute for improvement in my country. I knew that doing a PhD was not an easy thing, on the contrary, that it was a challenging experience and I was willing to face difficulties and overcome problems. But “suffering” was not in my plans.

I felt miserable before I left for Rome to attend the Iscar Conference Rome 2011 and present part of my research. When collecting data I felt so happy and useful doing my work that I was eager to go back to my office and analyse the data. I came back  and the field researcher became the PhD student again. I returned to my desktop PC and  started  looking at the interviews, documents and notes I  had. I wanted to make sense of all this, but everything seemed so obscure. Coding, decoding, going back to the theory, thinking, reflecting, reading, writing… all that and I felt that I didn’t know what I was doing. What was the data telling me? What was I looking at?  And on top of that I had to produce a conference paper in a couple of weeks. I started feeling bad, bitter and blue. I was suffering, and I didn’t want to.  A couple of days before I left for Rome I wished something happened and in the end I would not go to the conference.

On the plane I changed my mind and decided to stop suffering and start enjoying all the good and positive things  I wasn’t going through and all the ones which were about to come. I was the only one who could make my life happier and attending Iscar was the best that could happen to me, a dream come true! I was not mistaken when I thought so on the plane. Iscar Conference Rome 2011 has been one of the most inspiring experiences as a researcher to be. I experienced first hand that being a researcher is NOT being miserable and has nothing to do with suffering. On the contrary, I met happy researchers committed to make the world a better place. I could see collaboration in practice and a supportive atmosphere in which I could present my work and share ideas, receive criticism and suggestions gladly. I felt that I was a researcher. I belonged to that gang!

Now I am back at my office again and I have to continue analysing the data. I have  to continue doing my research. After two years as a PhD student and just now I have realised that I am in the process of becoming a researcher. I am in transit and accepting the transformation happily.

See my presentation at Iscar here

2011: the year of the code!

Here I am back in my office with  the Coding manual for qualitative researchers in one hand and my data on the other and I have got this feeling of what do I do now?

I collected heaps of data: interviews, documents, observations and artifacts. Now it is time to clean the data and get it ready to start the analysis. The first step is coding. But what the hell is Coding? “It  is a process for both categorizing qualitative data and for describing the implications and details of these categories. Initially one does open coding, considering the data in minute detail while developing some initial categories. Later, one moves to more selective coding where one systematically codes with respect to a core concept.”

Does it sound complicated for you as well? well, I’ll decode the meaning of coding and stop my procrastination and code my data.

This business of doing a PHD is easy peasy!

Data collection

I am about to finish my data collection process and the question arises: Is the data collected enough to answer my research questions?

I guess if I want to answer that I have to start from the beginning: my research question. How do pre-service teachers of English learn how to teach in the Chilean context? to answer that I designed my research study which included interviews to pre-service teachers, teacher educators, and teacher mentors, observation to pre-service teachers at schools and focus group discussions. I haven´t finished the observations yet and I haven´t done the focus group discussions. Hopefully I’ll finish with that in the coming weeks. Anyway, is the data I already have enough to answer all all these?

1. Who is engaged in the activity of learning how to teach English?
2. What is the object and outcome of the activity? “From a dialectical perspective, any learning activity is realized within multiple interconnected societal activities. In this vein, the object of activity (i.e. the purpose of learning) turns to become a “collectively meaningful object… [which is] jointly constructed” (Engestr0m, 2001, pp. 136), rather than a primarily mental state of the individual. (Barak 2011)
3. What tools do pre-service teachers use to learn how to teach English?
4. What rules affect the way pre-service teachers get engaged in the activity?
5. How does the division of labour influence the way pre-service teachers engage in the activity?
6. How does the tools’ use affect the way the community get engaged in the activity?
7. What rules affect the way the community get engaged in the activity?
8. How does division of labour affect the way the community get engaged into the activity?

Understanding a very complex activity!

I have been a teacher  of English for fifteen years. I have been a teacher educator for ten years. I have been engaged in the activities of learning how to teach, teaching English and teaching  how to teach for a long time.All this motivated myself to follow a PhD and study the activity of learning how to teach. This is not new for me, but  just now I am aware of how complex the activity of learning to teach really is.Listening to student teachers about their own experiences as learner teachers has not only broaden my understanding, but has challenged my previous conceptions.

Learning in EFL teacher education is not simply a matter of individual students acquiring knowledge of linguistic items, knowledge about language acquisition or teaching skills, but is rather, the development of specific cultural practices that rely on the rules, and tools present in the learning context. The nature of knowing in the socio-cultural sense is collective, situated and tentative. This is what I’m doing: exploring how the collective activity of learning how to teach EFL in Chile is conceived and subsequently conditioned by the social, material and intellectual resources to which they have access.

Delving into this activity, contradictions and tensions arise. Most of these teachers seem so engaged and  determined to make a difference. They go to schools eager to teach and they face reality. In some cases, they encounter a good learning atmosphere and they can teach, try and use the skills and knowledge they have acquired at university.However, in many other cases, student teachers face a conflicting and agressive environment which receives them as a threaten and look at them as naive novice teachers. In any case, the learner teachers have to do their work and make everybody happy: their students, their teacher mentors, and their tutors at schools. How can they do so?

As much as I get deeper I get more and more questions. What’s the goal of the teaching practicum? What kind of learnings does it mediate? How does this experience shape the activity of learning how to teach? Do learner teachers have a collective understanding of the practicum? The data I´m collecting will contribute to elucidate some of these enquiries and hopefully get an understanding of the activity.