Action Research Planning Process

How to Get Started on a Project

Borrowing heavily from Hollingsworth (1994) and Hopkins (1985) I offer the following practical suggestions for the teacher research process:

1. Decide on a focus
   • Start with autobiographical data by locating your best professional self. Some questions you might ask - What are your broad interests in teaching and learning? What are your specific interests? What are manageable questions? Choose something you feel passionate about.
     
     
   • Justify that the project is your best solution to the problem.
   
   
   
2. Develop a plan to gain insights
   • Develop a time-line to gather evidence or data to examine what you are trying to accomplish/resolve/do in light of "what you do not know yet".
     
     
   • Decide what evidence you want to collect. Evidence includes such things as questionnaires/surveys, observations (video or written notes), collaborations ( i.e. video or audio tape of meetings, peer coaching) interviews, tests and records, student work, video and audio tape transcripts, personal journal, library readings, etc.
   
   
   
3. Analyze the data by looking for patterns, or themes across the evidence
   • keep logs and journals, periodically read over the evidence, code data from themes and patterns, draw or chart patterns, try to summarize what you have learned as you go, by noting images, metaphors, and any new questions.
     
     
   • check out your understandings by triangulating evidence (same theme, code, pattern appears in more than two types of data), and by talking to peers, students, friends.
   
   
   
4. Report on what you have learned
   • to your colleagues, to parents, at conferences, in journals.
     
     
   • summarize what you learned -- in an essay, narrative, poster, video, . . . poetry.
     
     
   • tell how the problem changed, didn't change, or became worse because of changes in your practice.

A key component of Action Research is sharing what you have learned. A number of techniques ranging from videos to formal presentations have already been suggested, but consider the following as potential audiences as well:

1. Colleagues at a staff development day
2. Parents and students
3. Email discussion groups (see On-line Resources)
4. Publications from professional organizations
5. Journals such as "Teacher Research: The Journal of Classroom Inquiry" - a journal by teachers, for teachers. Brenda Power

Once teacher research is shared it allows for further action on the part of the teacher, or the broader educational community to continue. The educational community has become increasing supportive of teacher research. At a recent meeting on science education in California that I attended Bob Polkinghorn, the Director of the Statewide Subject Matter Projects in California called for the documentation of evidence of change in practice at the classroom level by teachers. If you have not undertaken teacher research in your classroom now is the time to try!

This is directly taken from http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/AR/
9/03/10

Action Research- Long but great!

This is a very good explanation on Action Research. What it means and where to from here. Its 10 minutes long, but well worth watching if your feeling a little lost about what it is and what is involved :-)

Richard Sagor- Action Research

Action Research- USA

Model of Action research (Wikipeida)

Action Research Definition

Action research is a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. Action research can also be undertaken by larger organizations or institutions, assisted or guided by professional researchers, with the aim of improving their strategies, practices, and knowledge of the environments within which they practice. As designers and stakeholders, researchers work with others to propose a new course of action to help their community improve its work practices (Center for Collaborative Action Research). Kurt Lewin, then a professor at MIT, first coined the term “action research” in about 1944. In his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems” he described action research as “a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action” that uses “a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_research
9/3/10

Working in ICT

ICT at BDS has become very busy. It seems that many items decide to stop working at the same time! We have our phone system out of use, our server kept playing up and to add icing to the cake the internet seems to be getting slower!
On a positive note... we have been gifted 3 extra mimios from the PTA! Its very exciting :-) Our "huge "to do" list seems to be heading in the right direction.
Anna and I are presenting on Tuesday following our ICT conference in Rotorua, so i'll let you know how we get on.
We have our first ICT lead teacher day at Elm Park... more blogging then I see!!
See you soon, enjoy your weekend
B-)