What were my aims in coming to this meeting? I am committed to bringing teachers into research and to generating a capacity, within the profession of teaching, for teachers to help others to research their practice with the intention of improving it. I am here to help you get an academic qualification - not to make getting it a hurdle. I hope that when the group moves on from Bitterne Park that they will start their own teacher enquiry groups to sustain systematic enquiry in their classrooms. My objectives were to: * help each member of the group to understand how to research their practice by developing a concise and evocative research question. * enable each individual to learn how to engage critically with appropriate literature. * understand that teacher research and action research are not necessarily the same but that action research leading to school improvement is a vital and integral approach to professional development. Action research is not research for it own sake ... * raise awareness that there are different approaches to action research - using web- based technology to assist us in developing our understandings.

What resources and references did I find helpful? Most of all, I found the human resources - the vitality and expertise of everyone at the session inspirational. Jo assisted us all in understanding the wide remit of Creative Partnerships and the enormous potential of building long term relationships with professionals beyond the classroom context to assist learning. I was grateful to Jo for reminding me that teachers are sometimes reticent to undertake research and that my role, as a research mentor, must be to make teacher research enjoyable and worthwhile. I found the interactive whiteboard invaluable though I am aware that I need to improve my own practice in using it! Being able to project various websites while linked into the Internet is an absolute boon to my work. The George Mason University website and Jean McNiff's offer invaluable resources for the action researcher and I hope that my own website can assist in supporting and sustaining teachers' action research. Keeping a video record of our sessions is not only a useful aide-memoire to a busy group, it is an unfolding narrative that will enable us to communicate how we have evolved our understandings. We are already talking about the possibility of a group presentation at the National Teacher Research Panel Conference in 2006 ... George Mason University: Action Research Jean McNiff's Guide to Action Research http://www.Creative-Partneships.com

How did I assist teachers to start talking about their research? After we looked at some websites devoted to action research each person, in discussion with colleagues, developed a short presentatoion, which we videoed. Each teacher responded to these questions: * Who are you? * What is your own definition of action research? * What is your chosen area of interest to research? The energy and excitement in sharing ideas as we listened was stunning! One of the techniques I find useful is to stress that as researchers we are not committed to preserving our original research question - our question can develop in a living way as we learn ...

What questions arose to frame our developing understandings of action research? * What is your own definition of action research? * What is collaborative research? * How does the model of action research promoted by Jean McNiff differ from the one suggested on the PowerPoint presentation on the George Mason website? * What do we mean by the 'generative' potential of action research mentoring? * What is the essential difference between data and evidence to support claims to know? * Why is it important to choose a research question that is very tightly focused? * What kinds of questions would you ask to assist another researcher in narrowing down their focus? * What questions might a research mentor ask to assist a colleague in defining and refining their action research research? * What do you think are the most important qualities for a research mentor to possess? * What distinguishes action research from more traditional kinds of scientific research?

What results have emerged? By the end of the meeting each teacher had a focused research question - albeit a provisional one - that is likely to change over time. There was growing understanding about different approaches to action research and how it leads to improved practice. We had looked at different aspects of research mentoring - how it is a balance of support and challenge and the skills, understandings and values that a research mentor needs - we will be returning to this focus next week. Teacher Reseachers cannot live by discussion and listening alone - they need fun as well as food to share! They need to feel valued and an integral part of this is the presence and active participation in the group by members of the senior management team.

What was my approach? I was seeking to stimulate conversation and offer mentoring support - rather than top transmit predetermined course content. I very much want the module to be tailored to the needs and strengths of this group and though I have a framework determined by this MA module - TT500MAR the content can be adapted to the contexts in which I am working. I am trying, with great deal of support from colleagues in Bath Spa and at Bitterne Park, to pilot a module that develops as we engage with it. I want the sessions to become increasingly interactve as the group finds its identity and for my role to become one of mentor - a critical friend - bringing expertise in research methodology and resources.

What are my objectives for the next session on Wednesday 18 May? * share ideas and offer critical friendship as a form of personal and professional development as each individual in the group focuses on an action research project. * explore creative ways to collect data - especially the use of video. * share ideas on how a research report can be brought to life by web-based technology. * discuss the generative impact of research mentoring. * explore some different models of mentoring. * relate mentoring to the model of professional development prevalent in Scotland. * encourage everyone to start creating their on-line portfolios like this Snapshot!

Examples of colleagues' work Simon Riding generously shared ideas and perspectives about his doctoral enquiry which he is undertaking at the University of Bath. He explained that this is an action research enquiry into his own practice as he seeks to understand - and improve - why he does what he does as a teacher at Bitterne Park School. He is exploring his value base - how he comes to be the teacher he is and why he acts in certain ways, as he takes increasing responsibility for his own professional development. Bringing together the Teacher Research Group at Bitterne Park is an integral part of Simon's doctoral study as he investigates how he 'lives through others' as a teacher.