action research

Action Research is a process of profound investigation into one's practices with the intent of moving towards a specific goal, aligned with values. Action Research is the organized, reflective study of one's actions, and the effects of these actions, in our workplace context. As such, it involves deep inquiry into one's professional practice. The researchers inspect their work and search for opportunities for improvement. As educators and stakeholders, we work with colleagues to recommend new courses of action that help our community improve work practices. As researchers, we would seek data from several sources to help analyze reactions to the action taken. We would recognize our own view as subjective, and seek to develop understanding of the events from multiple perspectives. We would use data collected to characterize their strength in ways that can be shared with stakeholders. This would in turn lead to a reflective phase in which the we would formulate new plans for action during the next cycle. Looking into what action research is was an eye opening experience. In the past, I felt that reflecting on our methods was enough to do effective changes, however; action research is a much more organized and methodological way to problem solve. I feel that by doing reflective and organized investigations of our methods in education we can stop putting band-aids in our gaps and finally correct our flaws.