Support

This section is specially written for the more seasoned ALAR travellers who are armed with some first-hand experience of doing ALAR. Now, you would like to support your teachers to embark on their own ALAR journeys.

Preparing for the Journey

If I want to see ALAR taking place in my school, what must I
be prepared to do?

1. Be prepared to see change
2. Be prepared to model change
3. Be prepared to support change

The more layers of support, the more likely action research will succeed.

Checklists for the Journey

Providing Leadership

• Highlight the benefits of ALAR (e.g., explain how ALAR supports the professional growth of teachers)
• Help teachers find a meaningful context for ALAR (increase ownership by teachers)
• Model change (walk the talk; share personal experiences, including failures)
• Encourage team work/collaboration

Providing Support

• Organise sharing sessions between/within groups
• Acknowledge the increase in work load and the effort put into ALAR
• Relieve teacher-researchers of other duties where possible
• Provide expert knowledge/access to experts
• Provide training on ALAR
• Provide funds – for facilitators, etc
• Provide technical assistance (especially when ALAR has to do with ICT)

Critical Friending

You may play the role of a critical friend to support your teachers in their ALAR.

A critical friend is a person who can help us with our educational actions and decisions. He or she stretches us to articulate precisely our rationale for those decisions and helps us to see important information from a different perspective. Critical friends are careful to take the entire context into consideration before offering feedback. Yet, while their main purpose is to provide support, they are not afraid to confront us with issues in order to help us become more than we ever thought possible. (NCRTEC, 2001).

Roles of a Critical Friend

Critical	Friend
Analysing Raising issues Identifying problems Being ‘devil’s advocate’ Challenging	Supporting Recognising Enthusing Helping to maintain commitment Appreciating

(Tripp, 2004)

“The map is not the territory” –Alfred Korzybski

One cannot fully understand a country by studying its map. Similarly, it is through the actual experience of supporting your teachers in their ALAR that you will better appreciate your leadership role. Learn to be an Action Learning Coach by:

• Reading Dr Marquardt’s article and powerpoint on action learning (permission has been granted by Dr Marquardt to share this article online)
  

  al_harnessing_pwr.pdf

• Attending IPAM’s “Action Learning Coach” workshop