Resultados Focus Group Nº

As a teacher trainer, I train cohorts of teachers regularly for periods ranging from one to four months for each course. Although attendance is often optional in these courses, trainee teachers are at times requested by their schools to attend as part of their INSET requirements. Typically, teachers come from more than 10 schools in every cohort. Also, I deliver short training courses a few times a year as part of in- house INSET or when invited by schools and other institutions. At times, I take part in the design of these programmes. In this study’s first cycle, the participants came from more than 10 schools and attendance was required by their schools. The 60- hour course was a common training programme, which I and other fellow trainers designed. The participants were mixed gender and were all TESOL teachers, and because of the latter, English was used in the programme.

Often in AR, the pilot cycle is considered the first cycle. A pilot study refers to either a trial run of the major research or a pre-test of a research instrument or procedure (Salkind, 2010, p. 1033). Although this cycle was planned initially to be a pilot, it was later decided to be the first cycle, following several previous AR studies (Banegas, 2013; Flornes, 2007). The purpose of this chapter is to report on the trial run of the whole training programme rather than a pre-test of the multiple research tools, e.g. questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews, which were employed throughout this study. Nevertheless, a pre-test pilot was conducted for each instrument to check its accuracy, clarity, validity, objectivity, and format, as well as the administration time needed.

The first cycle is an important stage in AR. By planning, acting, observing, and reflecting in the first cycle, the process in next cycle can be modified (Gore, 1991). As the first cycle happens before other cycles, unknown phenomena can be

explored in this cycle before the main study. On a similar vein, Teijlingen and Hundley (2004) pointed out that a pilot study uncovers local politics or problems that may affect the research. Once the first cycle of action is activated off, any circumstance or issue is depicted more clearly (McKernan & McKernan, 2013).

In this section, an overview of the cycle structure is presented in Table 5.4,

followed by a description of the design, participants, data collection procedures, and results.

Table 6.2: Steps of the first cycle

Q

ues

tio

ns

-Will the trainees be more engaged in the training if they could influence or make a decision about the training?

-How can I break the ice with the trainees and encourage them to take an active role in the training?

-Can asking the trainees to share their experiences via microteaching make the training more engaging?

-How can I obtain reflective feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the training from the trainees?

P

la

n

A) Identify the trainees’ expectations of the current training:

- The trainees were asked to write reflective goodbye letters at the beginning of the training. (Trainees were asked to imagine as if it was the last day and write a letter about what they would have had gained from the INSET course).

- Informal interviews were conducted with the trainees. B) If necessary, modify the techniques accordingly:

- As a trainer, I had the liberty to make changes in the training content within the stated themes. However, no major changes in the content were deemed necessary at this point.

C) Formulate a plan for out-of-training follow-up:

- Personal emails were collected and shared among trainees, and teachers were encouraged to communicate with each other.

- Discussions were held at the beginning of each session to share feedback on the techniques discussed in the previous sessions. Teachers were encouraged to share their experience on what they did in their classrooms and how it went.

E) Attempt to visit some of the schools.

Act

Deliver the training and pay attention to the following outcomes of the needs analysis stage:

- Trainer-appreciated merits (e.g. active, collaborative, engaging, fair, and democratic; recognises the value of trainees’ experience).

- Preferred training methods (e.g. demonstrations, discussions, games, simulations, etc.).

- Success factors (e.g. suitable time, trainer-centred, good assessment, small numbers, etc.). O bs erv e/E v a lua te

An ongoing assessment and reflection was achieved through the following: - Discussing the findings with a supervisor, colleagues, and friends. - Keeping a research reflective diary.

- Making field notes during the school visits.

- Distributing a questionnaire at the end of each session. - Conducting regular informal interviews with the trainees.

- Giving a reflective assignment at the end of the training (a lesson plan with a reflective essay on its delivery).

- Asking the participants to keep reflective journal entries at the end of each session.

Ref

lect Reflect and amend the plan for the second cycle.

The design of the training programme in the first cycle was set by the Professional Development Office of the SEC (see Appendix 5). I was part of the team that developed the programme design. Although trainers had the liberty to modify the design according to their needs and cohort dynamics, there were no major changes made to the content of the programme in the first cycle because of the following:

- The current cycle served as a pilot study, and further data were required before undertaking substantial changes.

- At this stage, the focus was on the delivery rather than the content. - The main preferred topics identified in the needs analysis stage, i.e. reading, ICT, and writing, were already incorporated in the design.

- Most concerns and feedback from the needs analysis were related to trainer merits, delivery methods, and success factors rather than training themes. However, the following minimal changes were made to the programme owing to practicality:

- The paper test was discontinued at the end of the training, as it was not recommended by the participants in their survey answers and informal interviews.

- The goodbye letter was introduced in the first session to determine the participants’ expectations.

- Several games and activities were introduced to make the workshops more interactive.