Action research general thoughts –
I had heard the term “action research” discussed before during my teaching. In fact, we had an administrator who was suggesting/pressuring us to participate in such a venture. However, I new nothing about it and now that I have done some readings – I can see how errant he was to be looking for participants in his venture.
The readings legitimized action research for me as a formal type of study. For some reason, I felt that action research was somewhat less legitimate given the fact that it was school based research and not conducted by an external researcher. Now I can see that it is actually much more applicable and legitimate due to it’s grass-roots nature and the affordances of a school, a teacher or a group of teachers having the ability to conduct their own study and develop action plans for areas of focus that directly concern them.
I can see that I had a slightly “two-tiered” mentality regarding this type of research. As if, because of the context, it is somehow not as genuine? And that is absolutely wrong. If conducted well, it can more then likely produce results that are equally relevant, if not more relevant, then other types of research. Especially when juxtaposed with the thought that it can bring about more immediate changes/influences of the practice of a teacher and the learning for students.