Summaries action research

Now let us move on to action research. In this subtopic, you will be introduced to the definition, motive and concept of action research.

What can you say to define action research?

Action research is a qualitative research method that has become increasingly popular in education and can be used in any social organisation.

Why Action Research?

There are two main reasons for action research. One is to involve practitioners (such as teachers) in their work. The other is to encourage practitioners (or teachers) to be researchers with the purpose of bringing about improvement in what they are doing.

Action research means ACTION, both of the system under consideration and of the people involved in that system. Here, “system” could mean schools, factories, offices, airlines and so forth, while “people” refers to the teachers, managers, workers, supervisors, principals and so forth. For example, a teacher who discovered that when he adopted an alternative style of dealing with students with disciplinary problems, student attention in class greatly improved. He therefore recommends the alternative method to his colleagues and soon the whole school is seen practicing the method in all the classes.

The action of action research, whether on a small or large scale, implies change in people’s lives and consequently, the system in which they live. “Applied to classrooms, action research is an approach to improving education through change, by encouraging teachers to be aware of their own practice, to be critical of that practice and to be prepared to change it” (McNiff, 1994. p. 4).