Taking Action as a Researcher or Acting as a Researcher

Excerpt

Action research has become a common component of preservice and inservice teacher education programs (Gore & Zeichener, 1991; Sagor, 1992). The primary rationale for its inclusion is the belief that any systematic reflection by teachers on teaching, learning, and curriculum facilitates teachers’ professional growth. Although many believe that action research is a relatively new research approach or design, it has a long history stemming from the field theory work of sociologist Lewin (1939). In its original manifestation, which continues today, the focus of action research was to make changes to better society. In the case of educational studies, the focus is usually to enhance or improve curriculum or one’s teaching. That is, the concern is on change related to a local concern. Owing to its roots in cognitive field psychology, action research was/is often associated with qualitative research, which historically lead to concerns about the quality and validity of the data collected (Capobianco & Feldman, 2010; Feldman, 1994). More about this later. However, recent examples of action research follow both quantitative and qualitative research designs. …