How Can Teachers Use Action Research to Improve Teaching Practices?
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By considering one’s teaching style and how it affects student’motivation, Action Research can prove to be a vital tool for self-analysis and improvement…
What is Action Research?
Action research is a practical approach to professional inquiry in any social situation and has proved to be a vital tool of self-analysis and improvement in the educational domain as well.
Its primary purpose is to understand and improve one’s professional ‘actions’ from day to day. Here, the research is carried out by practitioners/teachers in their own practice, unlike other forms of research that are conducted by an outsider. Action research in education is grounded in the working lives of teachers, and their experiences on a daily basis, and can be used to understand:
- The intricacies of one’s own practice
- How to make one’s practice better
- How to accommodate outside change in one’s practice
- How to change the outside in order to make one’s practice better
How can teachers implement this?
Teachers are key to reform that positively impacts student learning.When it comes to practical implementation, here are a few important aspects that need to be understood and considered:
1. Leadership Holds the Key
Teacher leadership holds the key to educational reform. With Action Research, all teachers can increase their leadership capacity as part of their role as a teacher.Teacher-led development work can provide a step-by-step approach in which particular materials and techniques are used to model and guide a process such as reflecting on developmental needs, consulting with colleagues about development priorities and negotiating strategic action plans.
2. External Partnerships For Support
Support from external agencies is important, whether it is a local authority, professional association or national agencies for school improvement or quality assurance. For Action Research, teachers can mediate external support through genuine partnership arrangements, where all partners can come together with an open and flexible mindset and a willingness to change if necessary.
3. Deliberate Cultivation of Active Support
Teachers are unlikely to sustain their capacity for leadership or successfully undertake a development project unless they have active support from their colleagues and in particular from the senior leadership team. Teachers can seek the support of the necessary faculty and ensureadditional time is available to facilitate opportunities for collaboration.
Action Research can encourage teachers to better their instruction practices, build stronger relationships within the community and school and develop practices that enhance student learning.
Like this article for teachers?
Browse the Professional Learning Board COURSE CATALOG to find related online courses for teachers in your state. Professional Learning Board is a leading provider of online professional development classes that teachers use to renew a teaching license or renew a teaching certificate.
