Action Research Comes to a Close

“Action research is used by teachers as a process to facilitate change in their work as a professional. Not only does action research foster opportunities for teachers to make important evidence-based changes in their practice, but it also serves as validation of practices that work.”

       I whole-heartedly believe in the basic thinking of action research.  It is my hope that I never become a “stale” teacher because when you stop changing and improving to meet the needs of your students you should no longer be in the classroom.  My biggest fear with finishing my master’s degree is the idea that I will not have a constant incoming flow of new knowledge at my fingertips.  That scares me because I want to continue to stay on top of things and how I can always change and improve to get better and be better for my students. 

       Action research is what good teachers have to continually do to get better.  If something is not working for your students, then you must seek out an alternative and try that out.  Monitoring how students are doing and what is and is not working for them is essential to help student continue to grow.  This is exactly what is asked that teachers do in the RTI process as well.  They are asked to try things and give them a fair try. If they don’t work, then they are asked to change it and try something new until they find something that does work.  Action research is essential and I will continue to change and find new things to do in the future to help all of my students succeed.

       However, I do feel like some of the aspects of action research are not essential.  I don’t always think that teacher have to talk about whether what they are doing is working or not.  Teachers who know their kids and know them well immediately know when things are working or not most of the time.  I could tell instantly in other “mini” action research projects that things were going to work or if they weren’t going to work.  I do believe in giving things a fair try too.  Also, the written aspect of action research in my case felt a little unimportant because I wanted to know what worked best for my kids. But, what works best for my kids, may not be what is best for other kids in other classrooms.  I hope that the one thing that will others may take away from my action research is that the process of change and action research is essential.  While change is not always comfortable, it is necessary for students to be successful.  Overall, I am in support of action research and am happy to have had the opportunity to participate and experience it.