I have always been interested in the motivation of fellow instructors, particularly those who shared a "political" perspective with me.... I knew that my motivation or perspective was what shaped my choices of strategies and the way I related with students. I have always noticed and wondered about instructors who seemed to be motivated by a nurturing attitude, one of taking care of students, and that they seemed to be equally effective as those of us with political perspectives. (Evelyn Battell, 2004, p. 70)
Evelyn's interest in practicitioners' perspectives and how they influence practice was one of the reasons she joined other researchers to do a study of effective ABE and literacy instructors (Battell, Gesser, Rose, Sawyer, & Twiss, 2004). Naming motivations and perspectives about practice is an important starting point for research in practice about any topic. Doing so can help us be mindful about how our perspectives influence our research-from asking questions to drawing conclusions. Writing about our perspectives in our research reports will also help our readers know where we are coming from.
The following questions might help you start to describe your perspectives. You could freewrite your responses, brainstorm words related to each question, or create a collage of pictures and words.
Reading about others' perspectives can also prompt us to reflect on and clarify our own views. In writing about her research project, Rebecca Still (2002) recalls being introduced to
philophies, beliefs and theories in the field of literacy. This was such a significant learning...for me that it formed the basis of my research question. The articles I read really made me think about my own beliefs and perceptions. (p. 1)
As prompts for reflecting about beliefs, you might read one or more of the following: