Research

Research Statement

Throughout the doctoral journey so far, the importance of research has been foregrounded from the very beginning. The acceptance of education as a social science is dependent on our willingness to employ the scientific method, and to provide high levels of authentication for educational ideas, directions, and eventually policies. Delivering validity and reliability in our quantitative research, and thoroughness and academic rigour in our qualitative studies, raises the bar for educative decisions and practices, and gives us credibility in our field. 

As a teacher and leader, research now guides my questions and journey as an educator to new extents, and my understanding of myself as both an educator and a researcher has added to my understanding of my daily school context. 

I now have a sense of belonging to a greater whole within the field of education, as someone who is learning from those who have gone before, and as someone who will be contributing to research in the field. This is exciting: each of us as doctoral students inhabits a context rich in possibility for learning, no matter where it is, and how large or small it is. The voice that this program is giving us to share our learning, and the opportunity to explore the systems in place in BC at a local, regional, and provincial level, demonstrates the importance of research as the catalyst for examination and potential change. 

My conceptual framework for my research allows me to look at education as taking place at the intersection of collaborative educators, engaged families, and agentic and self-determined students, in a context where educators seek to promote engagement through a learning design that incorporates flexible elements of time and space, strong and foregrounded intra-school connection and communication, and a fundamental inclusivity that seeks to remove barriers to learning and a sense of ‘otherness’. 

Four Artifacts of Learning and Research