Action Research

Action research is a means to undertake staff and curriculum development while building school culture and nurturing leadership skills that have the potential to improve school outcomes and performances. The components of action research are wondering (question) development, data collection, data analysis, synthesis/sharing, and action. This differs from traditional research because traditional research is normally conducted by university research and provides connection between theory and practice, and is defined by “outsiders to the classroom”. It is a “process-product” investigation and does not include the voice of the people who work in the trenches of the school on a daily basis who would better understand the educational experience. Action research focuses the concerns of practitioners; not outside researchers, and engages practitioners in the design, data collection, and interpretation of data around their question.

Because finding time to tackle problems in our school seems to be a big problem, action research may just be the way to remedy that problem. By identifying research interests, principals can take necessary steps needed to come up with critical solutions. Benefits of action research are theories and knowledge are generated from research grounded in the realities of educational practice, practitioners become collaborators in educational research by investigating their own problems, and practitioners play a part in the research process, which makes them more likely to facilitate change based on the knowledge they generate. Based on the Dana text, action research holds much promise and should be a universal tool to solving school problems and tackling educational practice and development.