Action!

Action research is a course of action that involves collaborative inquisition, reflection and communication. It is a progression in which a principal engages in a study of his/her own administrative practices and as a result take action for change based on what was learned. Teachers can learn about their own instructional practices and collaborate on how to monitor and improve student performance and learning. Administrators can investigate and identify the action outside the classroom and school in research activities to address issues in a timely manner. A major part of action research as a practice involves posing the right questions, analyzing data, reading relevant literature for learning and school improvement and making necessary changes based on new findings. This creates a continuous course where teachers and administrators can reflect and collaborate on their new findings.  Action research can also be an effective tool for principal professional development as well as focus on the concerns of schoolhouse administrators and teachers to bring about change. This focus is on providing insight into administrators’ own practices in effort to make a change that will improve the school. The benefits of conducting action research first gives administrators like principals time to highlight one major course of action. This course of action will allow the principal adequate time to implement the best practices in an effort to change and improve the campus. In addition to providing administrators the opportunity of professional growth, action research also provides principals with collaborative professional circles out of professional isolation. Another benefit is that principals will become role models for teachers and students on their campuses. Through learning and leading principals possess the “do as I do” as well as “I say” portrayal that seems to work best.