Implementing Action Research and the Benefits

There are many hot topics worth researching through action including stopping bullying, consequences of cell phone usage during school, new and improved professional development opportunities, increasing technology through integration, and positive effects of after school clubs in elementary schools. The benefits of using an inquiry based system are essential for inevitable and necessary changes in educating our learners today. By using a practical and focused program such as the action research model, collaboration along with practice constitute relevant ideas for individual schools and are situation specific. The goal is to work towards a better understanding of the issue so that a positive change results and then sustaining the improvements for continued success.

Research through Action

Action research may be considered a 21st century administrator’s learner-centered model. The term, coined by Carr and Kemmis (1986), refers to a methodology whereby the administrator conducts a specific inquiry with the intention of actively seeking change for improvement. In essence, according to Dana (2009), the school administrator is the leading learner. Dana also described the process as starting with a wondering situation, collecting data on that wonder, then analyzing the data and finally operating proactively on it for change. She added that it is a component of the overall professional development of the school principal. As John Elliott says, action research is “the study of a social situation with a view to improving the quality of action within it.” Harris et al. (2009) defined inquiry as an investigation which is done in a systematic way.
Unlike in times past, the focus of an inquiry is more specific to a need rather than a universal problem that needs further study. Not that universal issues lack importance, but rather the inquiry would focus on a need, presumably a need that constitutes change or at least improvement at a specific location, or campus. Also action research or administrative inquiry is a collaborative undertaking by the stakeholders who hold a vested interest, and therefore it is not done by outside sources who have conducted a general study, for example, who then pass on the findings expecting the recipient to take action.
PLCs, or Professional Learning Communities, come to mind as an example teachers use after an inquiry has been conducted and instructional needs have been identified. By meeting collaboratively with a focus on instructional improvement, these groups together can devise plans of action under the leadership of their principal who has also drawn conclusions based on data analyses.

Carr, W., & Kemmis, S. (1986) Becoming critical. Lewes: Falmer Press.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Elliott, J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 9 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.

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