Action Research

Action research is a fairly new research methodology that allows an individual or team do further inquiry on essential questions or "wonderings" (Dana, 2010) about their everyday jobs and duties.  The plan lets the practitioner do research on a topic that is relevant to their specific job and their specific needs.  It follows a basic question, implement change, collect and analyze data, reflect on the data and then repeat set-up. So it is more of a cycle of inquiry and implementation with data collection and reflection mixed in rather than a cookbook set of plans.  The advantage of action research over traditional research it is makes the inquirer an integral part of the research process instead of an outside expert simply telling practitioners what to do without an in depth knowledge of the true problem the practitioner truly faces.

While the term action research is new to my vocabulary, its methodology is not.  “… [A]ction research is an extension of ‘good teaching’. In effect, this process validates teachers’ effective practices in the classroom.” (Ringler, 2007) Many teachers perform action research on a small scale everyday as they assess their students and work to create lesson plans that fit the needs of the students sitting in the class now and not present a previously prepared generic PowerPoint given out with a book adoption. From what I now understand about action research, it is merely working to improve an individual’s skill set through a process of inquiry, implementation and reflection and repeating as necessary. The old lather, rinse and repeat routine put to a more formal setting.

Dana, N. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as an Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ringler, M. (2007). Action Research an Effective Instructional Leadership Skill for Future Public School Leaders AASA Journal of Scholarship and Action, 4(1), 27-37.