The Eureka! experience: An observer’s perspective Amy Paradine Director of Academic Programs, University of Toronto Schools As a non-researcher participant in the first Eureka! project team, I was at times able to act as an observer, and could ruminate on the value of the endeavour. In so doing, I was afforded the opportunity to reflect on my own past experiences, however limited, doing educational research. In looking back, I would describe one personal experience with a major independent research task to be like a child tracing through a paper maze. When I started out I was fairly keen, I had a vague sense of a path ahead that I thought would take me through to the other side -- that final paper that would come of my work. I was hopeful, but had my trepidations. As I progressed though, my clear path became foggy. I hit dead-ends, I retraced my steps, I went in circles. I panicked, I persevered. Then I ran out of steam. In the end, I didn’t quite make it through the maze -- I never did write that final paper. I was also left with a series of “what ifs”. What if my research question had been better defined? What if my research tools had been more clearly developed? What if other things didn’t get in the way of completing my tasks? What if, what if? The trouble with “what ifs” of course is that we can’t always know whether the thing we are “what if-ing” was really a problem. And without knowing that, I was left feeling unsatisfied and a little disheartened. As the teacher-researchers in the Eureka! project shared their thoughts and feelings on their experiences throughout the process and as we debriefed at the end, I heard some of the thoughts and feelings I had personally experienced retold by them, but there was a difference: where I ended up with “what ifs”, they made it through their mazes. More importantly, they made it
through with the support of the team. When someone’s energy was flagging, the Eureka! meetings gave them a timeline and target. When someone needed to know where to turn, the group weighed in to provide encouragement and suggestions. This unconditional support was noted by all members of the group as one of the significant keys to the success of the project and of the satisfaction felt by all as the project came to a close. One of the areas that tripped me up in my own work, and is an area commented on by the Eureka! teacher-researchers, was confidence – or a lack of confidence at the beginning. The initial enthusiasm that led each individual to join the Eureka! project quickly evolved into moments of apprehension about the manageability of such a task while working full time, or unease about lack of experience undertaking such formal research tasks. One teacher-researcher revealed that 27