Description of Action Research

At first glance of this course, I was overwhelmed with the notion of “action research”. It sounded unapproachable and meaningless to the realities of the classroom. After reading a few pages, in my Dana text, I realized that my premonitions were wrong. As the text states, it is for professionals to “seek out change and reflect on their practice by posing questions or “wonderings,” collecting data to gain insights into their wonderings, analyzing the data along with reading relevant literature, making changes in practice based on new understandings developed during inquiry and sharing findings with others” (Dana, 2009, p. 2). Active research is not the same as traditional educational research, but action research does use traditional research to assist with collecting data.
The administrator (or teacher) decides what to focus on depending on the needs that exist on their campus. Whereas in the traditional research, an outsider is the one doing the research and it is more about focusing on a process, in action research the administrator is focused on their own school and what ways one can make change and effort to create a better learning environment for teachers and students. Using action research “is one vehicle for making reflection purposeful and visible” (Dana, 2009, p. 7). There are many benefits of action research including modeling the behavior of lifelong learning. Many times the question that is being used in the action research plan changes as the researcher delves into data collecting on campus.
On my particular campus, using technology to ensure our students are 21st century learners is a goal that is strongly encouraged. As I read the first chapter of Leading With Passion and Knowledge, I began to brainstorm about how to incorporate technology with an action research plan. By using technology as a piece of an action research plan, maybe others on staff that are reserved about using technology would see technology in a different light. Hopefully they would be more apt for change, as they would hopefully realize that we all are learners by collaborating and sharing ideas instead of feeling isolated and alone in this quest for the advancement of technology in the classroom.


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