I have learned that action research is a systematic approach in understanding and improving how a person learns and teaches. It is a career long process that challenges both teachers and leaders to reflect on their practices and to find what areas need adjustments. Action research empowers the individual to make decisions based on data and past experiences. An effective leader will challenge teachers to implement this type of practical theory to enhance the learning experience for individual students and the class as a whole. Systematically, teachers must collaborate with each other to reflect on how students learn in each other’s classrooms. Many schools are beginning to implement this model by including an official collaboration period for core teachers. The result is that teachers form a community among each other and present a stronger unified front when dealing with students with adverse attitudes and/or circumstances. Action research does not stop there. Administrators must also require teachers to include parental support as part of the action plan equation. Effectively implemented, administrators provide a forum and a model for teachers to follow. In turn, teachers then model to their students how to take ownership of their own learning. Thus, rather than relying on research that leaves out the actual practitioner, action research focuses on how all stakeholders can focus in on specific problem areas to achieve overall campus and community goals.
Educational leaders should use blogs to share how action research has improved academic achievement at their campuses. By sharing such positive experiences, apathetic leaders at other campuses my feel more inclined to implement such practical theory if their campuses are not performing to state standards.
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