Action Research in Education

     At the heart of Action Research is the idea that learning is deeply personal and that formulating new insights into one's practice involves engaging in purposeful inquiry before, during, and after the learning journey.  By involving the practitioner in the research cycle, he/she is authentically engaged in the improvement of teaching and learning.
     Action Research involves a cycle of planning, action, monitoring, and reflection.  A variety of methods can be used to collect data to research or refine theories of practice and therefore, improve teaching and learning.  Action Research can be approached individually, or collaboratively with groups of educators involved in the cycle.  Through collaboration, school improvement can become both personal and yet serve as a vehicle for creating true communities of learners.  Through this process schools can build both the personal and interpersonal capacity of educators as they work together to explore issues and improve practice.
     Collecting both qualitative and quantitative data is important to the process.  What data is collected; how data is collected; and the triangulation of data is essential to the reliability of the outcome.  First attempts at collaborative Action Research often lead to improved professional discourse as the monitoring of practice becomes the focus among the group.  This focus becomes professional development that is both job-embedded and results-oriented.

Creating and Using Blogs for Educational Leadership

          I am excited on the many possible leadership uses for Blogs in the education field.  Leaders can use Blogs as a quick way to model their thinking through reflective journaling- not only on issues that are important to the goals and vision of the district, but also for building leadership capacity inside a district.  In large districts, the job of many district leaders is massive.  Blogs would be a quick way to share thoughts and reinforce the vision in a very short time.
     Leaders can also use blogging to collect feedback from employees or stakeholders. This can assist them in setting direction, assessing needs, monitoring understanding of initiatives, and on keeping a finger on the pulse of the district and the community.   In my district, I have started a new middle school reading initiative this year where authentic, multi-cultural literature will be used to teach thinking through genre and at the same time to address the various reading levels of students.  It has been an exciting challenge for our middle school teachers who have enthusiastically embraced the concept.  I think that creating a Blog for this group would be a great way to answer implementation questions and concerns.  It would also be a great way for the 5 middle schools to share their success stories and solutions with each other.  I plan to put this new knowledge into action next week.