Action research is a fancy way of saying that you're personally involved in finding a solution to the problem. According to Nancy Fichtman Dana's Book, Leading with Passion and Knowledge, action research refers to the process of a principal engaging in systematic, intentional study of his/her own administrative practice and taking action for change based on what he/she learns as a result of the inquiry (Dana, 2009).
When I read about action research, the idea brought me back to one of my english classes as a college freshman. The class, Composition 1302, required that the students produce a research paper on any chosen story from our text. The catch was that we weren't allowed to write about anything that had already been written. We had to produce our own answers to questions about the story that had not already been critically written. At the time, I found this assignment to be extremely challenging. After all, I figured "professional researchers" had already researched and explained all aspects of the story. I couldn't figure out why our professor had laid such a daunting task upon us. Eventually, I chose O'Connors "A Good Man is Hard to Find" and researched why the author chose the name "June Star" as one of the characters and did an analysis on the meaning of the character's name in relation to her personality. When I completed my research, I had an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction that I had actually researched something meaningful to the story, and that I may have answered someone's question about that story.
Performing action research is similar to the experience I had in my college freshman english class that I endured so many years ago. As an educational professional, I know that every school has room for improvement. Although two schools may have problems with tardiness, the reasons for tardiness may not be the same. Although two schools may have problems implementing technology into the classrooms, it doesn't mean that the reasons for the problem are the same. Neither are the solutions. By researching solutions that other schools have applied toward particular problems, an administrator isn't focusing on the main issue, which is THEIR school.
Using action research is essential to problem solving within a school. If I am an administrator and don't look into all aspects of a problem, my solution to that problem will likely be flawed. For example, if tardiness is an issue I can't assume that the problem lies on parents if buses are what is causing the delays. Likewise, I can't assume that technology isn't being used in classrooms because teachers don't know how to use it. I must ask questions to find out if the technology is working, whether or not the technology provided is beneficial to learning, and whether or not all teachers have access to the same technology.
Overall, action research is an integral part of the education system and should be implemented far more often for the benefit of the teachers, students, and schools as a whole.
Your comments about problems being unique to a school are so true. Individual schools have their own personalities and traits that are unique to them. What may work to solve a problem at one may not work at another. It is important to have a perspective from the inside out and to come up with solotions based on the individual school's needs.
ReplyDeleteYou also did a very nice in your comparrison of action research to freshman english. It actually helped provide some clarity for me. Thanks, Donna Gossett
Amen to the school focusing on themselves and not looking for the magic pill! It could almost be taken as a insult to assume that a problem, such as tardiness, all stems from the same central issue. Making such assumptions usually makes the person look foolish. Often times, the problem might have a simpler solution than we might think. With action research, the time that used to be spent looking at research findings from other schools or "outside" sources can now be used to find the solutions specific to your campus.
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