What I've Learned about Action Research & How I Can Use it!

I must admit, when I first saw that this was the next course up, I moaned and groaned. I associated this Research class with what I had done before. This consisted usually of English papers and research in Political Science, my undergrad major. I envisioned countless hours researching something that would be both boring and something I could never put into practice. After doing the assignments in week one, I am (as of now) upbeat about this course. I have this new attitude because I learned that action research is just that- Action! It is reflecting on an issue or something that needs improvement and finding (researching) possible solutions. It is not something that is for university research purposes. The intent of action research is to be able to put what you find into practice into your own classroom or school. I find this fascinating! As educators, we tend to do some of this instinctively. We reflect on things that do and do not work in our schools. In this course, we will take the next step forward and actually find things that strive to improve our situation.

I am excited about how I can put into action research into practice. I have already participated in action research through the professional learning community that I am a participant in. As a group we have looked at data and searched for ways to improve on the issues that we were having. Until this week one assignment, I did not realize that I was participating in action research. I also believe I can use time to really reflect on issues or problems. Whether I am a classroom teacher or an administrator, I will always be teaching. My audience and what I am teaching will be the things that are different.