A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

C. Teachers didn’t do anything to solve or understand
the situation. 
Commentary
Acting quickly is an essential teacher skill, but it might also 
be important to consider whether you’re acting ‘right’, 
especially for the most important decisions. In example 1 
above, the teacher decided to use videos, probably in the 
belief that videos would be motivating in themselves. But 
what if students’ lack of motivation was more related to the 
fact that they weren’t allowed to be active in class rather 
than the type of materials? The teacher didn’t ask the 
students about this before deciding on using videos. 
In fact, one teacher in the Champion Teachers programme 
in Chile was also interested in increasing students’ 
motivation but the data she gathered made her realise that 
her focus should change to how to give her students more 
opportunities to speak English in class: “The information I 
collected told me that I was not giving them enough time to 
practice. I was only giving one speaking activity per class or 
once a week.” So in her case, an intervention related to 
technology would not have solved the situation. 
In example 2, the teacher asked students to work in groups 
to increase speaking in class but what if students were not 
speaking out because they didn’t have the language 
needed to communicate or weren’t interested in the topics 
being discussed in class? The teacher didn’t check their 
speaking abilities or interests before asking them to work
in groups, or whether they would feel comfortable with this 
new format. 
Read the following dialogue, which has been adapted from
a real conversation between two teachers talking about
a solving a puzzling situation.
A: Last year, I had to choose the titles for my class graded 
readers and I didn’t know which ones to choose.