Research is not exactly what I thought it was

With school now back in session for the fall, the seemingly unending round of reading and class discussions have restarted as well. One of my classes uses The Craft of Research (see full citation below) as the required text, but I have to say that for required reading this is turning out to be an extremely helpful book. Reading just the first chunk has resulted in some interesting introspection on my research "process" and what I think about the topic. I thought that I would post what I wrote on the class discussion board in response to the first part of the book we were assigned to read.

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I'm finding this book very interesting, namely because it challenges some of my dearly-held preconceived notions and assumptions about research. On the very first page of the preface, the authors introduce the idea of the research project as anything but linear: "Experienced researchers loop back and forth, move forward a step or two before going back in order to move ahead again, [and] change direction..." (Booth, Colomb, & Joseph, 2008, p. xi). All throughout my academic career, I had viewed research (the action) as a process with a definite beginning, middle, and end that followed a straight path and process. The authors of this book are describing something that is fluid, almost with a life of its own. The path from concept (research idea) to product (the final draft) cannot be definitively defined as I had thought, and I understand the logic behind the idea of research as a cycle, rather than a linear path.

A line from Chapter 1 also caught my eye: "Research reported by others, in writing, is the source of most of what we believe" (Booth et al., 2008, p. 9). A common-sense line, but still profound because it's something we don't think about (at least I don't). It also helps to emphasize how important it is that research be accurate, factual, and unbiased. We have a duty to each other when we write; we rely on the written word for information about everything one could possibly imagine. Such information must not be misleading if we are to learn by it and use it to further expand our knowledge. As Booth et al (2008) notes, we must "think for others" when we write (p. 14), meaning we must think of those who would read/use our work--the "audience." This is something I know that I will have to work on.

I guess what this first chunk of the book has taught me is that research is so much bigger than one person. One person may be gathering the information and reporting it, but the benefit is for everyone. Past research affects the present, and current research will affect the future. Research is not the dry, dead thing I saw it as, but a living idea that is fluid and changing.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M. (2008). The Craft of Research (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

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To anyone who is trying to teach the concept of research--why it's done, what one needs, how to do it--I would definitely recommend including this book as part of the curriculum. The language and writing style would probably appeal to a younger crowd and to those who are not necessarily required to conduct research as a part of their career. I think it would also provide a useful perspective to those in various academic communities who perform and report research on a regular basis.

"A Blueprint For Great Schools"

I am a member of several professional organizations, including the CLA, or California Library Association. Today, through this network, I saw a message posted regarding a California Department of Education News Release about a report that was released on Tuesday that addresses the many challenges currently in California public schools and the recommended strategies to address them. The report is called A Blueprint For Great Schools. The person that posted the report noted that nothing is mentioned about improvement in the libraries of the public schools. I read through the report to find that this seems to indeed be the case.

While the report provides recommendations to solve many problems and issues that certainly have helped to create the dire situation many of our public schools are in, I feel that it ignores the huge benefit school libraries can provide if time, effort, and money is invested in these bodies as well. I couldn't leave my thoughts unspoken, so I responded to the report by sending a message to the email provided in the news release. My response is below:

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To Whom It May Concern:

I was very interested to see the outcome of the "Blueprint for Great Schools Report" and related plans for impovement in California schools. Having previously been a teacher in the California public school system, I've had first-hand experience with the extreme challenges faced both by the students and by the teachers and administrators who provide their education. I was pleased to note a lot of my own observations being addressed in the report, including the high percentage of ELs in our classrooms and the instructional challenges this poses; a need for changes in student and school accountability that currently doesn't consider challenges caused by the student's background or the local community's resources; and a need for a partnership between schools, parents, and the community to support each student's education. I truly think that recognizing these and other issues our state schools face is an important step towards re-establishing California as a leader in education in the nation.

However, I was disappointed to see no mention made of improving the schools' libraries and media centers. According to the report, the principles these strategies follow "take into account the changing demands of a 21st century knowledge-based, technology-driven economy and society."[1] If you are serious about creating an environment that truly prepares students for a 21st-century world, you will not discount the resources and support that a school library can provide, and I hope that you will consider amending your strategies to include school libraries. The report notes that "With the adoption of new standards and assessments, there is urgency in ensuring that schools have more rapid and ready access to appropriate instructional materials — including digital materials — to support learning."[2] Librarians have a lot of expertise on resources of all types and on finding out which ones are perfect for any topic. Taking a class to the library is not all about story time. Librarians often are creating their own "lessons" that use library resources to support material that is a part of classroom curriculum. While it may seem like teachers would be able to do the same thing, librarians have an uncanny ability to find and combine resources that teachers don't know about simply because they were not trained in the same way.

Teachers and school librarians are working towards the same goal: to educate California's youth. However, they go about it in different ways. Classroom teachers must focus on the curriculum they teach; there is a lot of subject matter they must expose their students to in order to explain the world around us and show their students the why and how of things. Librarians explain information--how to find good information; how to tell if information is false, misleading, or biased; what resources are available to students wanting to find information (and getting them to think of other, more effective resources than Google!); how to collect pieces of information from various resources to build a whole picture; the list goes on. There are so many sources of information and so many traps and pitfalls in the world of information--including keeping your privacy intact--and classroom teachers lack the training and the knowledge to show this to their students. We live in a digital age where information is infinite and everywhere. In this "technology-driven...society" as it is classified in the report, we have to teach our students how to effectively navigate the vast wealth of information there is without being overwhelmed or becoming victim to those who use the digital world to prey upon others. You will find that librarians are the best teachers of this lesson--it is, after all, what we are trained to do.

I'm in no way trying to degrade what teachers do; I'm only trying to make you aware of what librarians do as well. Librarians and teachers are part of the solution. Bringing our schools back to life and creating strong learning environments will require not only strengthening our teachers, but also strengthening the libraries that provide such valuable classroom support. You can't build a bridge without making sure it has the necessary support to stand, or the bridge will collapse. Education is the bridge between our students and the world they live in; make sure the bridge is sound enough not to fail them.

Thank you for considering my position. I look forward to the revival of our state's education.

[1] "Strategies for a New System of Education." Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/bp/bpstrategies.asp

[2] "Curriculum and Assessment." Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/in/bp/bpstrategy2.asp
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If I get a response, I will make sure to add it to another post.