What I learned about Administrative Inquiry/Action Research

Going into this week I had never heard of the term action research. Through this week's readings I discovered that I have taken part in action research many times throughout my career. One can describe action research as a planned inquiry in search of information and knowledge. As an educator we often try to find new ways to improve our teaching. This is also true of administrators. We are always identifying problems in the educationl process and trying to find ways to fix them. Action research makes this a more formal process. It can be broken down into 4 phases. In phase 1 you define an issue to study. This is followed up by phase 2, reviewing professional literature. In phase 3 the individual takes acion. Finally phase 4 involves using and sharing your results. Action research is very important to the educational process. As a teacher you can use it to improve teaching methods. This is obtained by identifying a problem that you recognize in your teaching strategy, then researching solutions, apply what you have learned, and then share your results with your peers. Action research can also be used in a group effort between administrators and teachers by developing Leadership Teams. These teams provide an opportunity for teachers and administrators to share the responsibility of improving their campus. Together they can identify problems on campus and once again follow up with the action research model.

Educational Leaders and Blogs:
Blogs provide educational leaders with an easy way to share and research ideas to improve their individual campuses. Through a blog you can give daily thought about what is working on your campus and what is not. Other administrators can read your blog to get information about similar problems they are facing.