Participating in Research 5301 has been an eye opening experience for me. As I entered the course titled “Research for Teachers,” I expected the class would consist of writing research papers. It did not take long for me to figure out that this research class was different from the others I had previously taken. It is a class that teaches leaders how to perform their own “action research” in order to transform the educational environment by constantly investigating the practices that are occurring among a district to create a constant improvement in student achievement.
The new term “action research” gives educators permission to investigate problems. This new tool that we studied involves using a systematic approach to collecting and analyzing data. Action research allows the principal himself to work collaboratively with those who hold a vested interest in improving the school. As data about a particular problem is collected, the principal and his inquiry team are able to implement new action plans to solve the problem, observe the changes and then make decisions based on all observations. Administrative inquiry allows a principal to take the actual time needed in making valuable decisions to help the campus. As stated by Dana, “Administrator inquiry refers to the process of a principal engaging in systematic, intentional study of his/her own administrative practice and taking action for change based on what he/she learns as a result of the inquiry” (Dana, 2009, p. 2).
I found this new action research tool rather intriguing and a tool that I can immediately put into practice. Over the past few years, I have had several questions regarding technology practices at specific schools in my district. Presenting a problem does not always receive a warm welcome in the education system. Problems are usually dismissed because they are seen as personal opinions and no one wants to hurt anyone’s feelings. What caught my interest about action research is the fact that the research allows me to ask questions and gather my own answers with data to back up the knowledge that I have gained. I would like to learn more in the area of teaching others to implement their own action research. I can see meeting with campus technology teams for short intervals at a time to relay the knowledge that I have learned from this course. Teaching others about action research will lead to increased teamwork and the desire to solve problems.
From the very beginning of the class, we were given the assignment to formulate our own action research. This was a very challenging project as I many thoughts for my project. For my action research project, I decided to research the use of student response systems in the classroom and investigate whether or not they improve student involvement and comprehension. Our district just purchased several sets of student response systems and I am very interested to see how they are improving student involvement and comprehension. As Mark Prensky states about students, “They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to serious work” (2001, p. 4). I look forward to learning and collecting data on our student response systems. Action research on this topic will help investigate whether or not the district is making wise purchases that are the best decisions for the students and teachers to improve learning.
It is clear to me that administrators that implement action research to make improvements to their campus, will be able to make significant changes because they are involved in the actual learning process of collecting data, implementing new procedures and making changes as needed. When administrators or action researchers participate directly in solving their own problems, the entire staff will be able to see that the leader is concerned with making the best decisions and improvements to the school. “Transforming the profession is really the capstone of the principal inquiry story” (Dana, 2009, p. 2).
I enjoyed the readings, videos and discussion boards. They reinforced to me that there are reasons behind the problems we are seeing in the classroom. By collecting data, and becoming more connected with students in the classroom, their story will unfold as to why their learning environment is affected by what is going on in the student’s life. As educators, the success of the student is in our hands.
I have also learned that I can apply action research in our district technology department. I must constantly obtain data to determine if our department is providing the technology equipment and training needed to successfully teach the students.
References
Dana, N. (2009). Administrator Inquiry Defined. Leading With
Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher
(p. 7-10). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining what
we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action.
Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants: Part 1.
On the Horizon, 9(5), 1-6.
