Reflections on What I Learned in Action Research

I learned many things from this course, especially in the beginning when I learned what action research WAS and WAS NOT.  From the Dana text, I learned that that action research differed from traditional educational research in that action research empowers principal-researchers to pose problems and then formulate inquiries intended to problem solve those issues whereas traditional research is something that educational leaders would implement from outside sources to solve an issue (Dana 2009).  The role of a principal has changed so much from that of a rather detached manager to that of a truly integrated and involved instructional leader.  Action research allows school staff to seek out answers to their wonderings and inquiries and utilize a wide variety of data, both qualitative and quantitative, to apply to the inquiry. 

Action research also does not stop with one inquiry.  It is something that is ongoing and ever-changing.  I realized from my own assignment in week 3, as I posted my inquiry on my blog, that coming to the end of this initial action research cycle would more than likely lead me to another and then another.  As I collaborated with my colleagues in my cohort and discussion group, I found that they were learning the same thing—essentially coming to the same realization about the continuous nature of action research.  When you find that one thing works, you continue trying to improve it or move onto another area of need.  When you find that something did not work in your action research, you take another path and try to improve it or find something better to apply to an area of need.

From the web conferences, I was able to dismiss my initial idea for an action research topic which was to investigate our school configuration (elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school) and compare it to schools with similar demographics that had a more traditional configuration (elementary, middle, and high school).  Through Dr. Abshire’s clarifications, I knew that my topic lent itself to a more traditional research model because once our district made the decision to change models or stay the same, I had nothing but data and no action to take.  Meetings with my site supervisor helped solidify this conclusion.  He guided me to conduct my action research on something that had more immediate implications for our school improvement plan and our student population.  Because of these things, I changed my action research inquiry to finding out if our district-purchased online reading intervention program significantly helped improve our LEP students’ reading scores.  This will provide a more natural path in action research that will lead to more inquiries and wonderings.

This course was incredibly challenging for me, but I felt that I really benefited from all of the collaboration required with my colleagues.  I never thought I would ever forge such great professional relationships with people in an online course!  However, we started a Facebook page in our last class (EDLD 5311) and my colleagues have been an invaluable resource in feedback through that page, our blogs, and our discussion boards.  We really utilized the technology we had learned to create and use in EDLD 5311 for this class and it has shown me how many ways school leaders can create multiple avenues of communication for all stakeholders . 

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I learned numerous techniques for improving my action research plan as well as for evaluating my research.  The Harris text provided me with clear diagrams that helped me understand everything from the action research cycle to clear methods for sustaining school improvement such as the Nominal Group Technique, the Delphi Method, and Force Field Analysis (Harris 2010).  These techniques provided multiple opportunities for collaborative decision-making and reflective processes in a thoughtful, well planned way that I think would be simple to implement with PLC time.  These truly had an impact on my action research itself as well as how I see myself as a future principal-researcher.

References

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press, a Joint Publication with the American Association of School Administrators.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. P. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.