Action research was for me a new term, but once I began learning what it entailed, I began to understand I had been doing this for much of my career. Even before I got into teaching, it was always important for me to be heard in my jobs, to be able to express my concerns. Also, when in leadership positions, I also felt it was important for the people working for me to have some say in what was going on. Many times, as they worked their positions, they would get ideas for improvement, both for themselves and for the jobs they did, so I always listened.
Traditional research, while utilizing much of the same methods, in my opinion is no longer the best was in the education field. Administrators and teachers have no say in the data collected, and are basically told what the findings are, and how things are to be implemented. I have often wondered how a person who has never taught a high school US history to a class made up predominately of children born to illegal immigrants can tell a teacher how to do it. To me, that is the problem with the traditional methods. Those people who actually do the job have no say in how they are supposed to do the job.
Now that I actually have a name for it, I plan to use action research even more than I have done in the past. It is most importantly collaborative, so that everyone has a part and stake in the outcome. It allows a principal to become aware of those things needed to improve, both in him/herself and the school, and when practiced, both by principals and teachers, creates the best possible environment for the education of students.
How educational leaders might use blogs
Blogs can be an extremely powerful tool for educational leaders. For instance, blogs can be used to share ideas between colleagues and teachers. Projects could be created, with different ideas posted on these blogs, with the information stored for easy recall. They can also be used as a storehouse for ideas that an educational leader might want to investigate, and easily keep track of data by appending the information in the comments under each distinct idea. It can be used as a diary as well, with information placed into the blog for safekeeping, and used to dessiminate information to others havig the same or similar problems.
