Learning about Action Research is NEVER ENDING

I am learning more and more about action research everyday. In Leading With Passion and Knowledge, I learned about nine important action research topics. These topics include: Staff Development, Curriculum Development, Individual Teacher(s), Individual Student(s), School Culture/Community, Leadership, Management, School Performance, Social Justice or Equity Issues. These topics are all aligned because they all want to accomplish one thing; student success. Student success is why we (the teachers and administrators) chose this career. We want to make successful lifelong learners. We need to keep the students in mind when we are researching. I have chosen a topic that will focus on the students and that topic is Student Motivation. I want to make sure that all students are motivated to learn!! I will research the different procedures that other leaders or teachers are using and make it pertain to my own school or classroom. First, I will ask myself, "How much are my students motivated at this point in time?" "How are we (the teachers) motivating our students?" "How can we motivate our students even more?" These questions will help me better understand our issues with student motivation. After collecting the data, I will research the different ways I can motivate my students and make sure these procedures will meet the needs of my students. The readings for this week have helped me understand the researching process, so that I can make a more effective action research plan for next week.

Should Educational Leaders Use Blogs??

          Educational leaders should use blogs for many reasons!! It helps us organize our thoughts. We are able to look back on what we posted days, weeks, or months ago and we might have different opinions now than when we did when we created the blog. This helps us to reflect on our views and even modify them when needed. Educational leaders might use blogs to interact with one another and collaborate on certain ideas or discussions. It is important to get the opinions of others because they might be going through the same issues. Blogging is an effective way to develop and improve anyone's professional career (not just teachers or principals!).

Action Research

          Action research is a very important aspect in today's education. Through action research we can improve the learning environment for many students of many different grade levels. Everyone can participate in an action research project, including administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the whole community! It is helpful because it improves the professional development of administrators and teachers, which then improves the development of students. Administrators are ACTIVELY involved in action research projects and have ownership over the data collected and the results. There are eight steps to this action research process. These steps include:

          The first step in the in-depth action research process is Setting the Foundation. This chart shows the different steps needed to make a successful action research project. Administrators need to find an issue that effects the school, analyze the data collected, develop a deeper understanding of the issue and data, engage in self reflection, explore patterns, determine the direction they wish to take, take action in resolving the issue, and if there is improvement they need to sustain this improvement. The most important benefit of action research projects is the collaboration between colleagues. It is important to gain the insights of others and gain more knowledge from different points of views. Collaborating will give more ideas for resolving the issues at hand and then ultimately improving the students, teachers, and administrators.

          Having a better understanding of action research will help me to create an effective plan to improve myself, my students, and my school. My school needs to build a stronger relationship with parents and have more parent involvement. I will analyze the techniques we are using now, explore and research more effective techniques, and take action. Thanks to authors Sandra Harris and Nancy Dana, I have a better understanding of action research and will use the knowledge I have gained to create an effective action research project.

Resources:



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

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps From Analysis To Action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.