The Promise, Pitfalls, and Persistent Challenge of Action Research (original) (raw)

Cul-de-sac from diehard traditions: The demise of action research in teacher education

Educational Research and Reviews

Reflective practice has become the global prime educational trend expected of education practitioners but some teacher educators tend to stifle its development. It is strongly believed in critical pedagogy, the theoretical framework of action research theorists that reflective practice is inherent in an introspective disposition and is developed through participatory action research. Reflective practice is the contradistinction of routine practice and is focused on the interrogation and subsequent improvement of one's own practices. A qualitative research was carried out with nine lecturers at a teacher education college about their experiences in supervising students who embark on participatory action research. The interview participants were selected using the snowball sampling technique. The data generated were analyzed by employing the Johnson-Christenson method. The results point to that the teacher educators categorically denounce participatory action research and are not conversant with the techniques to develop reflective practice through action research. They tend to stifle reflective practice by being prescriptive on 'transactions' of research practice and work practice based on their own experiences which Dewey refers to as 'miseducative' experiences. It is recommended that the teacher educators should be conscientized about how action research has the potential to promote the development of reflective practice.

Does Action Research have a future? A reply to Higgins

Journal of Philosophy of Education , 2018

This paper presents a view of action research (AR) as a valuable way in which teachers can pose fertile questions and engage in inquiry with transformative possibilities. This counters claims of its being at best a sterile method of teacher research and at worst a perilous trap for teachers. Chris Higgins has argued that AR has lost its original intention of empowering teachers and sealing the theory practice divide. He claims that it has degenerated into a method devoid of thought. In its social science versions, it is harmful to the teacher–student relationship and teachers have been mislead into an impoverished idea of professional development. The impossible challenge for action research is to recover its original intention; impossible because the landscape of educational policy militates against it. The authors challenge Higgin’s deep pessimism, his versions of AR and his negative account of the intellectual capacity of teachers. We argue that AR does empower teachers, integrates theory and practice and is alive and well, even though conditions in schools are not optimum. This argument is exemplified with numerous illustrations of actual AR projects, which evidence teachers’ participatory and collaborative work, in which they engage in positive change. There is scope for teachers wishing to develop ‘customised’ AR projects of their own in current conditions which have transformative potential in changing the practice of the individual teacher. This in turn supports building and participating in a ‘community of practice’, which strengthens the communal endeavour to contribute to good teaching and good education.

The Meaning and Role of Action Research in Education

Multidisciplinary Journal of Language and Social Sciences Education (2664-083X, Online ISSN: Print ISSN: 2616-4736), 2021

Action research in education is known for improving the teachers and administrators' professional practice and deemed favourable by most educationists for solving problems in education. It is a formative study usually conducted by teachers and administrators in schools. Action research is a cyclical or spiral process that includes problem identification (by a teacher, a group of teachers or administrators) taking action and fact finding about the result of the action taken. Action research in education helps the teachers to adopt or craft the most appropriate strategies within teaching-learning environments. Teachers around the world employ action research in their classrooms and schools, as part of their teaching and research. In this article we discuss action research in education, show the differences between action research and traditional research and we have illustrated forms of action research in education. The paper has also made an attempt at describing the steps in action research. In the concluding section we have discussed the importance of action research to the teacher and all involved in education. All in all, we will labour to present a literature review of what action research is, its elements and the critical role it plays in perfecting the art of teaching.

Exploring teachers’ experiences of action research

London Review of Education, 2020

Through exploring the author’s experiences of working with five teachers who undertook an action research project for their master’s dissertations, this article establishes that it is possible for critical participatory action research to address issues around the perceived de-professionalization of teachers, and challenge the exploitative nature of education within English state schools. Semi-structured interviews with five teachers showed that this was an empowering experience, which provided a number of benefits, including an increased sense of professionalism, and that they would recommend action research to other teachers. Their experiences and insights have been used to discuss options for implementing action research more widely, identifying potential challenges and suggesting possible solutions. Based on both sets of experiences, I suggest that it would be valuable for action research to be implemented more widely within the English education system, as a method of addressin...

Improving educational practice: Action research as an appropriate methodology

2001

This article aims to explore action research as a suitable methodology for emancipated educators. An attempt will be made to formulate an acceptable definition of action research, and a classification of types of action research as found in the literature will be presented. Action research is presented as a methodology or research framework that assists educators in critically evaluating their practice and in systematically arriving at new rationales for and changes in such practice. Finally some help will be provided for those who want to engage in action research for the first time.

Philosophical Tenets of Action Research in Education.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education., 2020

The juxtaposition of action and research conveys a sense of the richness and complexity of action research, yet it does not entirely translate its nuanced and sophisticated philosophy. In turn, an understanding of this philosophy is crucial for grasping action research’s radical originality. In this context at least, it may be more accurate to define action research by drawing on the term practice, even though it does not form part of the basic conceptual pair. Not only does practice make it easier for us to trace the constellation of philosophical influences behind the theory and practice of action research—from pragmatism to postmodernism, including Greek philosophy and Marxist and psychoanalytic schools of thought—but also to identify where these influences end and action research emerges as the bearer of a nontransferable view. Beyond this, at the heart of action research lies a structural affinity with singular social practices, which are its key ontological sites—that is, the context where action research in each case fills its epistemological and ethical dimensions with meaning. What kind of knowledge does action research aim to produce? What behaviors do action researchers engage in? Compared to other research paradigms in the social sciences—the field of education included—the specific quality of action research has to do with how its epistemological and ethical dimensions are shaped not from without but from within any given social practice. This is the key to its specific ecology. In action research, the epistemological and ethical realms do not stand beyond or above the situated social practices, with their values, principles of procedure, knowledges, and discourses, including their own literacies and modalities—in short, their own internal cultures. Action research conceives and presents itself as a rational and systematic way for members of the different social practices to build and rebuild their own epistemologies and ethics precisely by drawing on, and selecting from, their own internal cultures. How does this ecological perspective translate itself in education? Education is one of the key areas in which action research is generally applied, together with welfare and healthcare. Yet apart from the specific use of action research by educators, action research carries within itself a specific educational philosophy (and a political philosophy as well) which underlies its application, regardless of the specific social practice in which it takes place. In the same way that action research is politically democratic, educationally speaking action research is participatory, meaning that learning, improvement, or development can only be realized through a self-determining process in which people act and research freely upon and among themselves. This is precisely what action research facilitates in the different social practices. Action research is always educational, whether one develops it in education, welfare, or healthcare. As a result, action research has contributed a clear-cut pedagogical model that some critical educators have already imported to their own educational institutions and practices: youth participatory action research.

A Review of Writing on Action Research (1944-Present)

Teacher research has emerged in the last decade as a potential source for improving education. Teachers, who work with students daily, have a unique perspective on educational problems. Practitioner, or action, research is defined as trying out ideas in practice to increase knowledge about curriculum, teaching, and learning. Unlike traditional research that has uniform, external guidelines, action research is frequently localized and has limited applicability. The results of action research usually are not published or shared widely. Reviewing literature on action research is complicated by its broad definition and by the variability of research. In the future, action research may become a viable tool for educational research, help transform teachers into political actors, and be quantitatively and qualitatively measured over time. This review of action-research literature uses three criteria to determine if documents are included: the term "action research" must be used, ...

Problems in Making Significant Changes in Teaching Practice through Action Research

There is a growing literature about conducting an action research that could help achieving significant changes in teachers' practices. Although an action research can contribute obtaining improvements, this process is not straight-line and without obstacles. The text elaborates three problems the author faced with while dealing with the action research in his practice. Firstly, he realized that teachers can hardly become the agents of change without the assistance of others. Actually, teachers who got used to working in a traditional school find it hard to make the first step towards professional emancipation without an experienced leader--be it school pedagogues, advisors, experienced teachers, or even university professors. However, their role is not only to teach teachers how to make changes, but also to be actively involved, as practitioners, in the process of change and in their own learning. Second presumption was that the learning communities can encourage teachers to change. However, the author realized that despite the positive influence the learning community can provide imaginary safe haven to those who are not ready for assuming an active role in the process, hoping that there will always be someone else who will take the initiative. In addition, the sequential process of change, which started with the professional development in learning communities, then continued by introducing changes through action research, and finished with the presentations of good-practice examples and publishing the research results, appeared to be insufficient for accomplishing significant changes. Instead, it is much better to start immediately with making changes through action research, and during the process to intensify the education and critical friendship. In this case, learning communities have much more impact. Finally, author inferred that it is not easy for the teachers to assume the role of a critical friend or an action researcher. The process of casting off the old roles and assuming the new ones takes time and patience and has to overcome the resistance within others, but primarily within ourselves. However, it would be wrong to expect that teachers develop all the necessary competences first and then begin with their research. On the contrary, the action research is an excellent opportunity for learning in different ways. In spite of the problems experienced, the new roles for teachers as critical friends and action researchers could be fruitful in making significant changes. This requires the active involvement of different social factors. Although assuming those new professional roles is not easily achievable, it is worth trying.

Initiating Teachers' Action Research: Empowering Teachers' Voices

The role of a teacher as an action researcher in Croatia is still insufficiently appreciated and promoted in initial teachers' training, school students learning and in the employed teachers' professional post-qualification development. In this country, teachers are most frequently perceived as mediators or technicians whose task is to prepare and implement the tuition based on instructions devised by out-of-school experts. Their role is more artisan-like, being less professional and creative. To change this situation in his context the author invited 18 teachers from several elementary schools to join and start an action research project with the main question: "How to help teachers to become reflective practitioners and action researchers?" The Project started in spring 2000 and officially finished in spring 2002. Unofficially they have never finished the project. The author divided the project into two parts. In the first part he organized ten workshops, the aim of which was teachers learning and practicing new skills. They dealt with themes such as confronting the risk of change, reflective teacher, multiple intelligences and the vision of future schools. The author's role during that period was predominant. This fact was in contradiction with his values (particularly with emancipation) but that was in tune with the expectation of a teacher. During that period teachers visited and discussed each other's lessons. The first part of the project was an easier and more appropriate way of professional development for more teachers, but they were less responsible for the preparation and realization of workshops. They participated in previously prepared activities. In the second part of the project they started with teachers' action research projects. While the role of the action researcher was impossible for most members of the community, some of them were able to conduct their action research and improve their practice.

The Nature Of Action Research And The Variety Of Uses To Which It Can Be Put In Teacher Education

1999

This article reviews literature on Action Research with the objective of establishing the rationale and purposes served by Action Research in Teacher Education Programmes. The major characteristics of Action Research are highlighted, as a means of sensitizing student-teachers, teachers and teacher educators in Zimbabwe to the need to exploit the opportunities for systematic self-study offered through Action Research In addition, the relevance of Action Research to project work in teacher preparation in Zimbabwe is brought to the fore.