January 13th, 2008 Posted in Pete's Posts | No Comments »
Your action research project is done. You have finished the tasks of data analysis and interpretation. The cycle is now complete. Your job is over, and you are now ready to return to your normal teaching routine, right? Not so fast! It’s time to begin the process of reflecting about the actions your findings suggest. Rather than being finished, you have simply entered upon a new stage of action research - action planning.
Such planning tries to answer the important question what should I do now? The answer will depend on a number of things including what you’ve learned from your literature review, gleaned from reflecting on the findings of your study and what you now understand about the problem. You engage in this planning to decide on the necessary steps to action – all with an eye toward bringing all of your efforts to fruition.
Mills offers a helpful Steps to Action Chart to guide us through the various steps of the planning process. The chart reminds us of the steps that need to be taken to implement action and monitor its effects. Whether your project has focused on issues related to curriculum, instruction, assessment, classroom management, or community involvement, the chart is designed to help you discover what you’ve learned, recommend actions that target a given finding, identify who is responsible for specific actions, identify who needs to be consulted or informed about the findings of the study and the associated actions, identify who will monitor or collect the effects of actions, identify dates when the actions or monitoring will occur, and identify any resources that will be needed to carry out the action (p. 143).
Action planning can occur at a number of different levels: individual, team or school-wide. The type of the planning undertaken will depend on the nature and scope of the action planned. Whatever the level in question, it is important to work through the steps of the Chart and to continually remind ourselves of the steps needed to implement the action plan and monitor the effects of the action. Along the way, the author cautions us against the urge to go it alone. Instead he advises that we tap into support networks, including ones we can find at teacher education institutions, online action research listservs, chat rooms, etc. Each can offer support, comfort and the reinforcement needed to resist pressures operating on us from inside our own school communities. Such support can strengthen our resolve to continue the process through the action planning stage and into the next revolution of the cycle.
Mills reminds us that the action planning time is also a time for “taking stock” – that is, reflecting on where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, and where we’re heading. We can ask ourselves questions like: what were the intended and unintended effects of our actions; what educational issues arise from what we’ve learned about our practice? In undertaking such reflection, we are positioning ourselves to act responsively to the findings of our study. Such planning and reflection also has the added benefit of helping us identify our individual or collective continuing professional development needs. Be aware that such needs may have to be met before we can successfully respond to the findings of our study.
We would do well to remember that there may be challenges along the way. Such challenges are not uncommon when attempting to effect educational change based on the results of our inquiry. We must be prepared to address and overcome them. The author goes on to list a number of these challenges and offers some tips for addressing them.
Our first obstacle – and perhaps our biggest - may be a lack of resources and materials to use in the classroom. We are advised to get creative. Find grants to fund essential resources; use what we’ve learned to make a case for what we need before PTA’s, district-wide committees, school boards, granting agencies, etc. The key is to use our findings to make a compelling, persuasive case for these needed resources (including any professional development) we may need.
Another obstacle we are likely to confront is resistance to change. This may be unavoidable if we are willing to be self-reflecting practitioners who are open to working toward revitalize our school’s culture. We must be willing to be agents of change if we intend to help create a dynamic school culture and bring about positive change.
Another potential problem may be that of persuading others to experiment with or embrace new practices our research has shown to be positive ones. This reluctance to interfere with others’ professional practices can be a struggle, and it won’t be solved by alienating our colleagues by coming off as an enlightened elite. Instead, we are urged to nurture our own and our colleagues understanding of the problems we’ve investigated. The trick is to try and build a team-wide commitment to implementing action based on our findings. Collaboration can help break down stubborn professional barriers.
A surprising hurdle we may have to overcome is a reluctance to admit difficult truths. Perhaps, despite our best intentions, our interventions have not succeeded. If this happens then we must be prepared to look objectively at the data and make new recommendations for change in our quest to provide the best education possible for our students.
Another challenge may be that of finding a forum (local, national or even global) to share our change-oriented action research findings. We are encouraged to find ways to share our stories, the research-based actions we’ve taken, and the things we’ve learned in subsequent action research cycles. Such publishing is critical to the emerging teacher-as-researcher culture. We are urged to use whatever medium we can. In the end, it will be our stories of success that will help change this culture.
Last, but not least, is a hurdle that is a difficult one for any busy teacher - making time for action research endeavors. The idea is to evolve to the point where action and research become a part of our professional life, but not at the expense of the energy that we need to be vital, creative, and exciting in our daily teaching.
The author offers some additional insights into conditions that can help move the process along. To begin with, the author suggests that teachers and administrators need to restructure power and authority relationships. We need to view power as an investment in the quality of the educational experiences of our children/students….not as a way to control people. Such a view emphasizes a reflective practitioner culture that empowers rather than under-powers teachers.
Along these same lines, Mills advises both a top-down and bottom-up strategies of change. What is needed, he maintains, is a continuous discourse between administrators and teachers involved in collaborative action research projects. This model suggests a different two-way relationship of pressure, support and continuous negotiation…..all with an eye for what is ultimately in the best interest of our students.
The author next reminds us that teachers must be provided with support – from all quarters….students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the public. We must also keep in mind that all change begins with us. Each one of us has the responsibility to be a change agent. It is we teachers who have the responsibility to help create environments capable of individual and collective inquiry and continuous renewal.
It is also helpful to remember that change tends not to be neat, linear or rational. Getting answers that are untidy or even unwelcome are simply part of an action research cycle that tends to be recursive and cyclical. We must accept such answers as part of the process and learn from what they can teach us.
Mills also advises that as teacher researchers, we must pay attention to the culture of the school. Change efforts we undertake need to be viewed in the context of the culture of the school and classroom in which the change will happen. Choosing to ignore these cultures can doom our projects to failure.
Last, but not least, Mills reminds us that our final goal is not change for change’s sake. Rather, the outcome of any change effort must ultimately benefit the students we teach or it is not worth doing. He suggests that our greatest resource in this process may be a hopeful attitude. Hope is a powerful ally in the struggle against the pressure and negative emotions we may face as we try to stay the course for change. It will be easier if we keep in mind the goal of such change: a more meaningful educational experience for the students we teach.
When all is said and done, it is helpful to remember the rewards inherent in working for a type of change that is both meaningful and lasting. Undertaking an action research initiative can validate our work as professionals, contribute to a sense of self-efficacy and ultimately lead to a sense of professional self-renewal as we enliven our own practice while enriching the lives of the students we teach.
Pete Sar
