BLOG POST #7: What does this RESTLER chapter raise for you? How does it help you think about yourself and others? Then, spend a little time writing about what YOU do that can’t be measured.
Restler's chapter certainly left me not knowing where it was going. While I tried to capture what was being said, in some ways I felt lost with words while at the same time trying to picture where things were going and what where the end results going to be. At the same time it raised curiosity and made me want to read more chapters in her book to see if I could get answers.
I think that it made me realize the different approaches one can take when conducting research, and how perhaps sometimes gathering data doesn't always need to have a final result. However, I don't know how that sits with me, as I particularly am someone that wants answers. I think in this particular research it was important to get to know the teachers to understand the things they were doing in their respective classrooms that were not being measured in the way the standardized test was. I was surprised by the table on page 11 and the results of how teachers were being measure and the language that was being used to describe them. Rather than taking an individual approach, the table categorize all teachers within the same categories, not looking beyond the testing.
When I think of research I realize that it is important to get to know your audience and appreciate what they can offer to your research regardless of results. It also makes me think about the program that I work for and how the day to day work we do cannot be measure regardless of how many forms, evaluations and surveys are completed. I believe that it is not always about the numbers, but the quality of what you do are those things that cannot be measured. You can tell me how many students to serve, and provide resources for them, but that does not mean that every resource will function for every student, and that the approach I take with each individual is the same. One thing that I feel cannot be measure is the relationships I have built with my students that have lead to good and sometimes not so good results.
I really appreciate your point at the beginning about trying to make sense of how Restler's research process works... what does she do that can't be measured? How does she present her work in ways that are counter to our dominant expectations?
ReplyDeleteI like you vulnerability in admitting to not know where things were going as you were reading and being lost at the same time. I can admit I had the same feelings. I Ould not agree more with the way tho whole language around the metrics that was displayed on the teachers. It was disgusting to say the least.
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