Running head: TEACHER AS RESEARCHER 1

Teacher as Researcher

Tracey Brown Rice

George Mason University

Teacher as Researcher 2

In EDUC 606, I have developed a new set of lenses that allow me to better target and
address puzzlements about my learners. As a Title I teacher, I have gravitated towards the work
of Sato and Lensmire (2009). In Poverty and Payne: Support Teachers to Work with Children of
Poverty, Sato and Lensmire discussed three lens that should be used by change agents who work
in low social economic status (SES) environments: There should be a[n] emphasis on
childrens competency, a focus on the teachers cultural identity, and a professional development
model based on ongoing collaborative work among teachers. (Sato and Lensmire, 2009, p. 35).
In low SES environments, it is not uncommon for children to face several adversities at home. As
a result, student achievement is directly affected.
Jensen (2013) stated, One reason many students seem unmotivated is because of a lack
of hope and optimism (p. 26). Through research for my Cultural Inquiry Study, I learned just
how important it is to address social-emotional needs in conjunction with academic needs.
Students need to be drawn into the learning and feel a sense of connection before deep discourse
about the learning can take place. Huitt (2007) also emphasized the importance of Abraham
Maslows eight Hierarchy of Needs: Stage 1- Physiological Needs, Stage 2- Safety and Security,
Stage 3- Belongingness and Love, Stage 4- Esteem-Achieving, Stage 5- Cognitive-
Understanding, Stage 6- Aesthetic Needs, Stage 7- Self-Actualization, and Stage 8-
Transcendence. These stages scaffold a persons maturity level and per my action research
findings, helped me investigate the misconception of seeing my students need to create girl
drama as a sign of being nonchalant about school. Girl drama was actually used as an
avoidance tactic to draw in her friends closer to her in effort to feel a false sense of
belongingness and love. And through further investigation, it became evident that my student
was also unsure of how advocate for help, as she wanted to blend in with her friends, who all
knew how to initiate and discuss their thinking to complete in-class tasks.
In addition to building students competency, I learned about more about my own cultural
identity. As a member of the learning community, I enjoy being apart of groups that are
intellectually stimulating and challenging me to thinking about my thinking. Keeping this in
mind, I have been able to infuse my culture identity in my classroom, making it a place of rich,
student-led discourse. In addition, when researching the work of Villegas and Lucas (2007), I
was reminded that I must ensure that my students are vested in order to maintain the learning
environment. Delving deeper into their study, Villegas and Lucas investigated the life of an
Teacher as Researcher 3

eight-year-old girl, Belki Alvarez, who moved from the Dominican Republic to New York. In her
third grade learning environment, they noticed a big school and cultural mismatch in that Belkis
classroom teacher failed to connect her academic laziness with advertisers she was facing at
home (i.e. being a caretaker to her siblings). To keep the learning environment rich, I must
remain relatable.
To continue the work of managing and monitoring student learning, research findings
must be shared with others. A professional development model, as cited by Sato and Lensmire
(2009, p. 35) is needed. Ideas must be shared with my colleagues and other staff in the building
in effort to increase awareness, foster new understandings, make scaffolded instruction more
targeted, and create new puzzlements. It is then that myself and other teachers will continue our
work as researchers, finding out new ways to reach students and help them soar.
Teacher as Researcher 4

Resources

Huitt,W.(2007).Maslow'shierarchyofneeds.EducationalPsychologyInteractive.
Valdosta,GA:ValdostaStateUniversity.Retrievedfrom
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html.
Jensen,E.(2007).Howpovertyaffectsclassroomengagement.Educational
Leadership,70(8),2430.
Sato,M.&Lensmire,T.(2009).Retrievedfrom
http://www.wou.edu/~girodm/100/Poverty_and_Payne.pdf
Villegas,A.,&Lucas,T.(2007).Theculturallyresponsiveteacher.Educational
Leadership,64(6),2833.