Action Research

The assignment for the first week of the research class has introduced me to the concept of action reseach. I have found this very interesting because it shows you how to grow as an administrator and learner by constantly questioning the practices or methods you have used in the past. This questioning allows you to determine whether or not your what you've been doing is actually effective. I also learned about how this type of research differs from what is usually termed as "traditional" research. Traditional research is conducted by university studies and by people that don't have actual experience with the implementation of these practices. Action research provides data from hands on experience, collected while actually "doing" the job - not from reading spreadsheets, charts and graphs and making assumptions of what if right for every situation. Traditional research is great for advancement in studies for teachers and administrators, but action research is more beneficial at the campus level. There are a multitude of circumstances that can't be taken into account when implementing a practice or model that is completly based on university studies. Not every school or learning environment is the same. I feel that the action research concept allows for administrators/teachers to use information from traditional research and develop their own practices after evalutating the effectiveness of those actions within their own schools.

I have also been introduced to blogging. I can definitely see the advantages of this as a way for educators to collaborate on many topics. Blogging can also be used as a type of journal, in which one could post thoughts and later use those postings as a way to reflect on what practices you may have used in the past. Blogging allows you to post your thoughts and concerns about many different issues. This can be greatly beneficial because you might gain insight from others with prior experiences in the areas in which you have concerns. .