Reflections on active research

During my short time in this course, I have learned much about conducting research and asking questions as an administrator rather than as an academic.  As an action researcher, I would be basically studying myself and my own practices.  Action research is very involved and very important, because it is based on posing questions to the people around you, gathering their responses, gathering data to further understand those answers and then reflecting on those findings and making changes if necessary.  Basically, action research allows for administrators to gain insight into what is going on and allows for personal reflection.

Action research is also important for improvement due to the unique challenges faced every year, every semester, even every day, by administrators.  These challenges are faced every day not just by the administrators, but by classroom educators, who seem to see them much more often than do the administrators.  By involving those who work most closely with the students in research, not only is unit cohesion built throughout the staff, but the administrator can gain new insight into educational theories and their own issues, which is a critical part of action research. 

I feel that I could use action research in a number of ways.  The most significant way, which popped into my mind almost as soon as I saw the question, is using this type of research to get to know a new school that I have just taken over as head principal.  I would ask the entire staff to answer five questions anonymously: What is our job, how well are we doing it, what practices should we stop, what should we start doing, and what should we continue to do?  Upon receiving their responses, I would categorize them, read some recent articles which fit closely to the majority of their answers, and then reflect on my own practice.  This research and process would allow me not only to gain an understanding of how my new school functions, it would also allow me to become a part of the process to make the school and, to a lesser extent my own practices, as strong as possible.  This action research process is important on so many levels, not the least of which is the allowance for constant professional self-improvement based on the opinions and needs of the people in the trenches: the teachers.