5301 Research for Teachers Final Reflections

5301 Research for Teachers Final Reflections

When 5301 research for teacher began, I had no idea what to expect.  I thought that the class would just teach me how to search for data and write a research paper.  Then the idea of action research/inquire was presented to me.  To be honest I did not know much more about research or inquire then to put an adjective in front of it like action.  I really was wondering what I had gotten myself into.  Once the class began, I developed a greater insight as to what action research really is.  The Dana text describes action research as, “Elliot (1988) describes action research as a continual set of spirals consisting of reflection and action.”  (Dana, 2009)  As I reflect on this course, I will reflect on the weeks throughout this course.  I will discuss the struggles and the successes that I had throughout the course.

When the course began, I watched the Dr. Arterbury and Dr. Jenkins video.  The video provided me with base line knowledge of what action research is.  Once I reflected on the videos, I thought to myself that action research occurs every day no matter what you are doing.  As I read the readings, I developed an understanding of how much more complicated it is than it originally sounds.  The readings helped me understand how action research is different than traditional research.  As I worked on my assignments for week 1, I began to develop a better understanding for action research.  I acquired this understanding through assignments that help us understand why action research is important, how action research works in an educational setting, and showing us action research in action.  The blog that we developed gave us a new avenue n which to share our action research.  The blog will be utilized later in the course.

Week two brought on several educational leader interviews to view.  As I reflected on the interview, which was part of my assignment of that week, I began to develop a better understanding of what action research is.  This is due to hearing about success from leaders who have used action research.  After reflecting on the leadership interviews, we developed a wondering for each action research topic for a school setting.  This helped me gain an understanding on how to develop a wondering for an action research topic.  Dana text says, “Wonderings materialize at the nexuses of the real-world observation, dilemmas, felt difficulties, and passions that you develop in your work as an administrator.”  (Dana, 2009)  Once we developed the wonderings in the nine areas, we had to generate three of our own action research topics.  This was a great activity because you had an opportunity to use your own creativity to help improve your campus/school district.

The rest of the class (weeks three, four, and five) involved developing my action research plan and a strategy to implement my plan.  Of the last three weeks, week three was the most difficult. It took a lot of preparation and thinking to try and develop original ideas to include in my action research plan.  Once the ideas had been developed, I could just go with it.  The last few weeks have been very beneficial through advice from my site-supervisor and colleagues comments on the discussion boards.  The advice I received through the readings and the discussion board is on how to maintain my action research project once it has been developed.  During the final two weeks, the videos alleviated much of my anxiety about the action research plan.  This is because the videos explained that the action research plan is not concrete, it can be adjusted and you can delete things that won’t work for your campus.  I then began to understand how important action research is, but it isn’t worth much if you do not get the research out to colleagues.  The Dana text says, “Principals sometimes prepare different ways and forms of sharing the same inquiry, depending upon which audience he/she will share it with.  However one prepares his/her inquiry, there are two basic forms of sharing: oral and written.”  (Dana,   2009)  One way that I have learned to share on a broad spectrum is through blogs.  This was used during the course, and I have learned how to set up and post on a blog.  I did enjoy the reflection time on my blogs, but I had a concern because I didn’t receive many comments on my blog throughout the course. Hopefully I will receive more comments the longer my blog is available and as I make more posts throughout my action research project.

As I conclude this course reflection, I look back and realize how beneficial this course is going to be for the entire program.  The knowledge that I have acquired provides me an avenue of becoming a lifelong learn.  As I use action research throughout my educational leadership career, the strategies and knowledge that I have gained will allow me to be an effective educational leader that my stakeholders can trust and rely on.

Reference

Dana, F. Nancy (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action

researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.