The Effectiveness of Teacher Resource Centre Strategy - Education research paper No. 34 (DFID, 1999, 257 p.): CHAPTER ONE : Purpose and Methodology of the Study: 2.0 Research Questions

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The Effectiveness of Teacher Resource Centre Strategy - Education research paper No. 34 (DFID, 1999, 257 p.)

CHAPTER ONE : Purpose and Methodology of the Study

		(introduction...)
		1.0 Purpose of the Study
		2.0 Research Questions
		3.0 Research Procedure

2.0 Research Questions

2.1 Summative evaluation

The basic question that drives the summative evaluation side of the study is,

'To what extent do TRCs help to improve the environment for learning in schools and the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms?''

This question is based on the ultimate goal of TRCs - to impact positively on classroom practice. There are other 'outcomes' that can be considered. Getting additional resources into schools, raising the level of awareness of new methods and materials, increasing levels of knowledge and skills which underpin curriculum and pedagogy, generating motivation and positive attitudes are among the potential outcomes of TRC programmes and activities. These, however, are outcomes which may or may not result in improved teaching and learning. We note them when we see them, and recognize that perhaps in the long run they may yield dividends. But, in this study our central focus is the classroom, i.e. the resources and teacher behaviours that appear to be in practice as a result of the work of the local TRC.

Subsidiary Summative Research Questions

Research questions subsidiary to the basic summative research question fall into two areas: (1) resources and materials and (2) school management and pedagogy.

(1) Resources and materials
To what extent does the TRCs make any significant contribution to improved resources for teaching and learning in schools - qualitative and/or quantitative?

(a) To what extent does the TRCs stimulate the creation and development of learning materials by teachers, pupils, anybody?
(b) To what extent does the TRCs play a significant role in the distribution of resources to schools?
(c) Are there other bodies supplying resources to schools and are they doing so effectively and efficiently?

(2) School management and pedagogical messages
To what extent are the methods put forward in TRCs courses and activities in regard to school management and classroom pedagogy being transferred to schools and classrooms?

(a) To what extent are schools incorporating suggested management strategies into their operations? (e.g. a new system of recording attendance; setting up a programme of demonstration teaching, establishing subject curriculum groups)
(b) To what extent are teachers incorporating suggested pedagogical methods into their teaching repertoire? (e.g. paired work in oral drills, use of number lines and other subject related methods; classroom management, blackboard skills, higher order questioning and other general pedagogical methods)
(c) To what extent are students becoming a part of these initiatives? (e.g. doing worksheets produced at TRCs; doing a science or social studies investigation; using textbooks as a resource for analyzing issues and problem solving.)

2.2 Formative evaluation

The study also attempts to examine possible reasons for success and failure of TRCs. The basic formative questions are,

'What are the issues surrounding TRCs; how are TRCs affected by them; and how do they react to them?'

Here we are looking for constraints, and indeed positive influences, that impose upon TRCs in attempting to achieve intended aims. Some influences are external to the TRCs. They are embodied in the culture, in the education system, in the conditions in schools. Others arise in relation to the particular project of which the TRC is a part, for example, the place of the TRC in a cascade system of in-service training. And, there are features within the TRC itself that bear on its effectiveness, for example, its management patterns and personality of its staff.

Certain major issues affecting the orientation and operation of TRCs began to emerge in the literature review. They were refined and the list added to during the course of our field studies. We offer them here as research questions in order to prime readers for the discussion to come. [The order of presenting them does not reflect priority.]

Subsidiary Formative Research Questions

· Relevance: How relevant is the content and methodologies embodied in the work of TRCs, through courses and activities, to existing realities in schools, e.g. facilities in schools and classrooms, the way teachers presently teach and underlying philosophies, factors affecting teachers and children outside of school and so on?
· Resource base: To what extent are resource inputs into TRCs programmes sufficient for meeting programme goals and expectations?
· In-service training: How do TRCs fit into the wider strategy of in-service teacher training, and to what extent do they play a useful, strategic role in the effective implementation of in-service programmes? For example, how do TRCs fit into such delivery models as institutional based in-service training; cascade systems; school-based training?
· Decentralization: What is the place of TRCs within a policy of decentralization?
· Sustainability: To what extent are TRCs sustainable after the life of the project that set them up? Does self-financing seem possible and desirable?