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ACTION RESEARCH - WHAT IS IT IN BRIEF?
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“Action
Research
is an approach to improving education through
change, by encouraging teachers to be aware of their own practice, to
be critical of that practice, and to be prepared to change it. It is
participatory, in that it involves the teacher in his own enquiry, and
collaborative, in that it involves people as part of a shared
enquiry…It encourages teachers to become adventurous and critical in
their thinking, to develop theories and rationales for their practice,
and to give reasoned justification for their public claims to
professional knowledge.”
Jean
McNiff
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“Action
Research is planned inquiry – a deliberate search for truth,
information, or knowledge. It consists of both self-reflective
enquiry, which is internal and subjective, and inquiry-oriented
practice, which is external and data-based. Action research is a sort
of formal investigation into oneself or into one’s own social system
Action
research consists of planned, continuous, and systematic procedures
for reflecting on professional practice and for trying out alternative
practices to improve outcomes. It unfolds through a spiral of cycles:
reflecting, planning, acting, data-collecting, analyzing, reflecting,
planning, acting, data collecting, reflecting.
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The
differences between Action Research and Traditional Research
Educational research
can help educators reflect and inquire about their own practice;
however, it often does not. Action Research, helps educators reflect
on their practice, collect data about their practice, and create
alternative ways to improve their practice. Traditional research is
usually carried out by disinterested scientists – often with an
excessive concern for objectivity and a wish to establish generalized
truths. Advocates of action research aim to close the social distance
and culture gap between scientist and practitioner and to make
research methods useful on a daily basis in the classroom and in the
school.
Traditional
researchers look at what others are doing and strive not to become
personally involved within the study situation. Action Researchers
look at what they themselves are or should be doing, reflect on what
they are thinking and feeling, and seek creative ways to improve how
they are behaving. In other words, action research is reflection and
inquiry conducted by educators who want to improve their own practice.
Although comparisons
of action research and traditional research sound polemical, they are
not pitted against each other. Indeed, good synthesis of traditional
research can greatly benefit action researchers. Action researchers
can use reviews of traditional research along with data from
questionnaires, interviews and observations to guide efforts of
continuous improvements.
Richard Schmuck
“Practical Action Research for Change”, 1997
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Action
Research in ITE takes the form of the PEPP&ER Framework
that
enables teachers to
research into their practice. Teachers form Innovation and
Learning
Circles (ILCs) where they:
- •Believe
that they can take charge of their own professional development by
being in a collaborative and supportive relationship;
- •Value
their students and are concerned about their ability to achieve
the expected outcomes of education in ITE;
- •Find
innovative ways to address those concerns through sharing and
learning from each other, challenging assumptions, reflection and
action; and
- •Create
professional knowledge that is shared so that the knowledge can
benefit a wider community of teachers to improve teaching and
learning in ITE.
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