According to John Elliott, action research is the course of action through which the teachers or educators are collaborating in evaluating their practice together; elevate awareness of their personal theory, express a shared conception of values, undertake new strategies to render the values articulated in their practice more consistent with the educational values they advocate, record their work in a form which is readily available to and comprehensible by other teachers; and consequently develop a shared theory of teaching by researching practice.
Action research is a process in which participants inspect their own educational practice systematically and carefully using the techniques of research. It is based on the following assumptions that teachers and principals work best on problems they have identified for themselves, teachers and principals become more effective when encouraged to examine and evaluate their own work and then consider ways of working in a different way, teachers and principals help each other by working collaboratively, working with colleagues helps teachers and principals in their professional development.
Action research is not the usual things teachers do when they reflect about their teaching. Action research is methodical and involves collecting facts on which to base thorough reflection. Also, it is not just problem-solving. Action research entails problem posing, not just problem-solving. It does not start from a view of problems as pathologies. It is motivated by a pursuit to develop and recognize the world by changing it and learning how to improve it from the effects of the changes made.
Action research is not a research on other people. It is research by a person on their own work to help them get better what they do, as well as how they work with and for others. It does not treat people as objects. It treats people as independent, dependable agents who contribute actively in making their own histories by knowing what they are doing.
Action research is not the scientific method applied to teaching. It is not just about hypothesis-testing or about using data to draw conclusions. It is about changing situations, not just interpreting them. It takes the researcher into view. Action research is a methodically developing process of changing both the researcher and the situations in which he or she works.
There are five phases of action research, the problem identification, plan of action, data collection, analysis of data, and the plan of future action. In problem identification, it is important that you want to do it and interested with it. The problem should also be significant and realistic, something worth your time and effort, something that could be favorable to you, your students and others. In planning, you should focus your study on existing practices. You should also consider the time needed to solve the problem. For data collection you should know what types of data should you try to collect in order to answer your question, the resources that are already existing and what information from others might be useful in helping you to frame your question. You should decide on the types of data to collect, or to help you in interpreting your findings. In analyzing the data, you should consider what can you learn from the data and what patterns, insights, and new understandings you can find, the meaning do these patterns, insights, and new understandings have for your practice and for your students. In conducting action research you should also plan for future actions like what will you do differently in your classroom as a result of this study, what might you entrust to others, or how will you write about what you have learned so that the findings will be useful to you and to others?
Action research therefore, may increase sharing and collaboration across departments, disciplines, and grade levels. It may also amplify dialogue about classroom instructional issues and student learning, enhance communication between teachers and students, and improve performance of the students.
By: Rosie L. Basilio | Teacher III | Mariveles National High School – Poblacion | Mariveles, Bataan
