| Frequently Asked Questions |
| Why do teachers do Educational Action Research? There appear to be three main reasons why teachers choose educational action research 1. This methodology recognises the messiness that teachers experience in the classroom each day. Teaching is not only about information transfer in a neat clinical way. Teaching incorporates the multiple issues around individual humans working together as they teach and learn. Educational action research can include an eclectic range of research methods which can acknowledge what Mellor described as ‘New understandings of concepts such as analysis, data, theory, and writing began to evolve as he [the author] gradually embraced a positive view of the ‘mess’ ..I recall that I opened the project with a relatively unformed questioning, not with a wish to change, simply to understand what I was doing. However, as soon as I began to look, I wanted to improve some aspects of what I did, but by no means all’ (Mellor 2001, p. 465-466). 2. Through reflection teachers can identify the core personal ideas that inform their dedication to their profession. These core ideas inform how they teach. Educational action research offers a methodology commensurate with these ideas because it provides teachers with a way to research their practice with a view to making changes that are relevant to the particular circumstances in which they are working. ‘My voice of experience is silenced within the education system in which I work because the system is steeped in an epistemological tradition that prioritises abstract objective knowledge over personal experiential knowledge’, (McDonagh 2007 p.14) 3. Within an Educational action research methodology the core personal ideas that teachers hold can become the criteria by which their research claims can be judged. Teachers can test their evidence base in terms of their own learning and so claim with some confidence that they are achieving their values-based aims of contributing to improved learning and teaching as well as to professional development. ‘We are critiquing the dominant notion of teachers as implementers of others’ ideas and instead we create our own ideas and actively study them’ (Glenn et al. 2008).References McDonagh, C (2007) My Living Theory of Learning to Teach for Social JusticeHow do I enable primary school children with specific learning disability (dyslexia) and myself as their teacher to realise our learning potentials, PhD Thesis University of Limerick also available on www.eari.ie and www.jeanmcniff.comGlenn, M., McDonagh, C., Roche M., and Sullivan, B. (2008) ‘Exploring practitioner-based action research for the ongoing professional development of teachers as we create a new knowledge base for the teaching profession’, paper presented at the Educational Studies Association of Ireland Conference, Galway, March 6-8 2008.Mellor, N. (2001) ‘Messy Method: the unfolding story’, Educational Action Research, Volume 9, Number 3, 465-484 Who can do Educational Action Research? McDonagh, C. and Sullivan, B. (2003) ‘Making the invisible visible – giving a voice to the marginalised,’ paper presented at the Collaborative Action Research Network Conference, Manchester, September 2003. McNiff, J., Whitehead, J. (2004) ‘The Transformative Potentials of Individuals’ Collaborative Self-Studies for Sustainable Global Networks of Communication’, paper presented at an interactive symposium of the Self- Study of Teacher Education Practices Special Interest Group, The American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, 16 April 2004. Whitehead, J. and McNiff, J. (2006) Action Research Living Theory, London: Sage Publications.
How do I do Educational Action Research? References
© Caitriona McDonagh 2008 |
