Action Research Defined

Action research, according to Dana, is done by the practitioner to address issues or concerns relevant to them and is not done by outside researchers (Dana, 2009).  The intent of action research is to bring about change in the classroom, school, or district.  This approach to change is valuable, because each school has its own unique issues and those issues are identified and addressed by those who deal with them on a daily basis.  Outside research on a general issue does not always provide solutions that work in every school.  Action research is also beneficial because it involves all of the stakeholders, such as teachers, students, parents, administrators, and the community during the collection of data and formulating a plan to address the issues.  The involvement of all the stakeholders increases the level of buy-in for the plan of action and ensures more teachers will implement the changes.  The inquiry process also creates an environment of collaboration in a profession that has typically been done in isolation.  Finally, action research is a continual process of inquiring and evaluating outcomes of changes made and determining the need for other changes.

I believe action research can help address several issues at the campus I am at currently.  The push at my high school is for teachers to create classrooms that are engaging to the students.  This means the students need to be actively involved in the learning process and not just sitting quietly, taking notes as the teacher lectures.  The classroom becomes student-driven and the teacher becomes a facilitator as self-discovery takes place.  There are many teachers on campus that have not been able to change from the teacher-driven lessons to the student-driven activities.  Through action research, I would like to identify reasons teachers are not buying in to the student-driven classroom approach and also identify those teachers on campus who have successfully shifted to student-driven classrooms.  Once the reasons for not creating a more engaging classroom are identified then a plan of action can be devised that will help teachers successfully create a student-driven classroom that is engaging.