As I went through this week's study and learning of action research, I felt like there were two main themes about the topic that kept coming up. The first one that I noticed was, when choosing what to do as a study, make sure that it is something that is applicable or needed for your current situation. Unlike most research papers you did in high school or your undergrad, action research is meant to make a difference now in what you are doing. For example, researching how the education of students characterized as having a low socioeconomic status is affected by their adverse living conditions, is a great and noble topic for action research. However, it would not really be practical for you to embark on that study if you worked in a school that serviced students who come primarily from middle to high class families. With how much is already required of educators, doing research on something that cannot immediately have a positive impact on the students that you are currently working with, is of little help to anyone other than yourself. There is nothing wrong with learning for the sake of learning, but that is not the purpose of doing these types of inquiries. There should always be one primary purpose in your mind, and that is to positively impact the learning of the students you are working with.
The second recurring theme that I noticed was that you should choose something that intrigues you. The main reason that I can see for doing this is so that you put your full effort into it. If you are not interested in what you are researching, you will likely only do the bare minimum of what you need to. We want action research to be effective and helpful to our schools, so we need 100% put into the topic. Along with this same idea, while you want to choose something interesting, you also should not choose something that you already know the answer to or are very familiar with. Doing a full action research on something you already know seems like a big waste of time. The only reason I can see someone doing this would be to take the easy way out on something they were asked to do by a superior. Once again, we need to remember that action research is not meant to be busy work, to impress someone, or to be punishment. Do it to help your students and help them now.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Why Use Blogs?
Blogs are awesome and have so many uses, regardless of your position in life. As an educational leader, there are many purposes, uses, and reasons to be a blogger. Here are just 5 of those reasons that I think blogs are great for educational leaders:
1.) You get your thoughts out shortly after you have them. Too often we think of something and then forget about it. We have a flash of brilliance, and then it goes away just as quickly as it struck us. My last principal always carried around a pad and pen, and was frequently jotting things down. I wonder if he was doing something similar. By writing those things down and then blogging them, we put our thoughts out in written form. From there you can look at them and either expand upon and develop them, or decide that your formerly considered flash of brilliance was more likely the result of a lack of sleep or dehydration.
2.) Your blog can serve as your electronic journal. I hate writing lengthy entries by hand. I do not mind typing at all. I do it all the time anyway, why not put it to good use? By creating an online journal, you forge a virtually permanent database of your thoughts and ideas. In "Leading With Passion and Knowledge" (Dana, 2009), the author references the "pensieve" idea from the Harry Potter books. This basically means you can see your thoughts and ideas afterward and consider them from a different angle and perspective. I bet that Albus Dumbledore would have been an excellent blogger.
3.) Be an example. As the supposed "head learners" of your school organization, principals can demonstrate their willingness to also learn and develop themselves by doing two of the main things that we expect our teachers and students to do in the classroom: write and use technology.
4.) Collaboration and networking. By blogging and sharing your thoughts and ideas with the educational world, you can connect yourself with other educational leaders and authorities that you probably never would have met or spoken to otherwise. Blogs, and the internet in general, give us the ability to collaborate with anyone else who is also willing to use the internet and share with others. Make sure you choose wisely who to collaborate with though.
5.) You can help someone. You never know who will read your blog and potentially benefit from your ideas and thoughts. How many times have you or I benefited from the research, brilliance, and thoughts of someone's online posting without their knowing it? I estimate that I am on the receiving end of this on an almost daily basis. By blogging, not only can you help yourself and those you are collaborating with, but you could very well unknowingly aid someone else in their time of need. In a profession where we are encouraged to take what people are willing to give to make ourselves better, we also need to be willing to give.
1.) You get your thoughts out shortly after you have them. Too often we think of something and then forget about it. We have a flash of brilliance, and then it goes away just as quickly as it struck us. My last principal always carried around a pad and pen, and was frequently jotting things down. I wonder if he was doing something similar. By writing those things down and then blogging them, we put our thoughts out in written form. From there you can look at them and either expand upon and develop them, or decide that your formerly considered flash of brilliance was more likely the result of a lack of sleep or dehydration.
2.) Your blog can serve as your electronic journal. I hate writing lengthy entries by hand. I do not mind typing at all. I do it all the time anyway, why not put it to good use? By creating an online journal, you forge a virtually permanent database of your thoughts and ideas. In "Leading With Passion and Knowledge" (Dana, 2009), the author references the "pensieve" idea from the Harry Potter books. This basically means you can see your thoughts and ideas afterward and consider them from a different angle and perspective. I bet that Albus Dumbledore would have been an excellent blogger.
3.) Be an example. As the supposed "head learners" of your school organization, principals can demonstrate their willingness to also learn and develop themselves by doing two of the main things that we expect our teachers and students to do in the classroom: write and use technology.4.) Collaboration and networking. By blogging and sharing your thoughts and ideas with the educational world, you can connect yourself with other educational leaders and authorities that you probably never would have met or spoken to otherwise. Blogs, and the internet in general, give us the ability to collaborate with anyone else who is also willing to use the internet and share with others. Make sure you choose wisely who to collaborate with though.
5.) You can help someone. You never know who will read your blog and potentially benefit from your ideas and thoughts. How many times have you or I benefited from the research, brilliance, and thoughts of someone's online posting without their knowing it? I estimate that I am on the receiving end of this on an almost daily basis. By blogging, not only can you help yourself and those you are collaborating with, but you could very well unknowingly aid someone else in their time of need. In a profession where we are encouraged to take what people are willing to give to make ourselves better, we also need to be willing to give.
What I Have Learned (so far) About Action Research
As a newcomer to the concept of action research, I have learned many new things concerning the topic. However, what I like most in regard to what I have learned about action research is that it is an excellent alternative to the less attractive model of traditional research. For anyone who has spent countless hours in a university library, thumbing through tomes of antiquated data and findings, the more current and ongoing approach of action research should also be attractive to them as well. Hopefully that does not sound like I do not value old-fashioned research, for it certainly has its uses and effectiveness. If we do not learn from the past, we are dooming ourselves to repeat those same mistakes as well. No need to reinvent the wheel. However, as a prospective educational leader in a world and time of seemingly instant changes, one hardly has time to sit around and read all day. Nor are we provided the funds to hire someone to do so for us. In addition, I am looking to learn from more recent history. I want to learn from my own history and the choices that I (we) will have recently made at my own campus. By partnering this kind of introspection with a bit of traditional research (data, applicable scholarly articles, etc.), I can develop up-to-date insights and make ongoing decisions concerning my current practices. Action research can help me see that I need to change what I am currently doing, adopt something new, or even further develop or expand upon something that really does work. In addition to using this process as a form of self-diagnostic, action research also has many other benefits and educational applications: professional development, team building, problem solving and troubleshooting, establishing consensus, and others. This is what I like and have learned so far about action research and individual inquiry.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)