What I Learned About Action Research

What I learned is administrative inquiry or action research is the process of intentional study or reflection which leads to change. It is a powerful tool and an important vehicle for making better choices because it helps us gain deeper insights into our practice and understand why we do and behave as we do. Administrative inquiry involves posing questions or “wonderings”, collecting data, analyzing this data, making changes based on what we gained from data analysis and sharing the findings with.

Action research varies in many ways from traditional educational research. First, traditional educational research is a linear activity which views principals and teachers as technicians. Principals are not expected to be problem solvers or even problem posers, they are instead expected to use the findings or solutions posed by “outside” experts far removed from the everyday needs of a school. In contrast, action research focuses on on the concerns of the practitioner by guiding them to investigate their own problems and make them an integral part of the solution process.

By reflecting on what I learned is a crucial piece within action research and in order to be an effective leader I believe one must engage in action research therefore, reflection is highly needed in order to improve our current schools. Reflection allows for self analysis, looking at our own practices and making changes that will lead to student success and teacher and faculty growth. Reflection allows us to grow professionally in a meaningful way. Without reflection all would be stagnate and improvements, if any, would by accidental in nature and difficult to replicate. With reflection,however, we can take charge of our own learning and truly act as we believe so that our actions speak louder than our words and we become leaders among a community of learners.