Action Research week 1

Action research is more than just having a topic and finding information to prove what you already knew. With action research you consider a topic of interest that will benefit further study that will have an impact on your school community. Action research is not a passive form of research. You can find and utilize different types of action research. Four types of action research for principals in an educational setting are through university coursework, superintendent/district meetings, leadership teams, and professional learning communities.

I find myself actively involved in at least two of the four types of action research. Through my Lamar coursework, I am actively involved in university coursework. At my school level, I am involved in leadership teams. I find myself in the budding forms of professional leadership communities. I am sure with the correct protocols they would be much more beneficial.

Blogging can be utilized by educational leaders to not only address their own learning bu to share their learning with others. Blogs are a wonderful resource for reflection. If a leader wrote their reflection only a few others could benefit from their journal, whereas on a blog, anyone with internet connection can benefit from the leaders perspective. We must think more globally in education and even in our own reflections.

In the Leading with passion and knowledge written by Nancy Fitchman Dana she interview a principal who commented on action research by saying, "Rather than someone else telling me what I should be doing to my teachers and to my students, through engagement in inquiry I'm learning with my teachers and with the students in my building by closely taking a really hard look at what I’m doing and what I need to do to change it."