James Bury
About
James Bury is an associate professor and researcher based in Chiba, Japan. He has a PhD in Education and his research interests include developing communicative competence, enhancing lexical retrieval, and improving students' self-perceptions of ability and levels of confidence when using English.Sessions
Synchronous (Onsite) Conducting, Collaborating, Sharing: Three Tenets of Practitioner-Research more
Sat, Apr 29, 13:30-13:55 Asia/Seoul
Engaging in practitioner-research has a range of benefits for teachers, educational institutes, students, and the overall field of TESOL. Teachers can move toward becoming “holistic TESOL professionals” (McKinley, 2019), new approaches can be experimented with, effective teaching practice can be identified and promoted, and focusing on the real-life issues that affect teachers enables the linking of theory and practice. In this presentation, three of the central tenets of practitioner-research (conducting, collaborating, and sharing) are identified and their importance to the wider educational community is discussed. Practical steps that can be taken by educators to promote the effective development of those tenets are then highlighted. It is hoped that this presentation will encourage engagement in practice-based investigations, the sharing of research findings with others, and the development of collectivities or communities of practice, leading to a range of positive outcomes for multiple stakeholders throughout the educational environment.
Asynchronous (Online) Practical Steps to Conducting Practitioner-Research more
Fri, Apr 28, 12:00-Thu, Jun 1, 00:05 Asia/Seoul
One of the most impactful questions I have ever heard at a conference came in the form of two simple words: ‘So what?’ The question perfectly illustrated the position of many educators who feel that a lot of research is decontextualized and detached from the problems and realities of their practice (Rose & McKinley, 2017). One way of bridging this perceived gap between research and practice is for in-service teachers to conduct their own practitioner-research. Despite the benefits associated with engaging in practitioner-research, there are numerous factors that prevent teachers from doing so, including the perceived difficulty. In order to address these issues, this presentation outlines a 13-step cycle (adapted from Bury, 2023) that can be followed to actively conduct research in classroom contexts. It is hoped that the procedure introduced in this cycle will enable teachers’ confidence in conducting research and sharing their findings to grow, leading to valuable, practical insights being gained.