Action research helps teachers achieve the goal of upgradation and evaluation of their own teaching practices. To reiterate the relatively less complex nature of this type of action research compared to a strictly academic one, teachers can avoid the researcher-like rigour while still pursuing a systematic examination of their own teaching methods for better learning outcomes
There were times when one acquired a university degree to pursue a teaching career with little to no opportunity for professional development. The gradual development overtime could indeed have occurred without one being aware of it. The degree largely sufficed with the teacher expected to learn on the job and from the experienced senior colleagues.
Becoming better at what you do today than what you were yesterday could be a simple way of understanding professional development. In teaching, better learning outcome in the classroom resulting from better teaching practices by a teacher is seen as an overriding marker of his/her professional development. This though runs the risk of overlooking the teacher's effort, which could be mitigated by a self-driven and systematic inquiry by the teachers of their own teaching practices called 'action research'.
It would be prudent to set out a working definition of the term at this point.
Brown and Parsons in their 2002 publication Teacher as reflective practitioner and action researcher define action research as "a form of investigation designed for use by teachers to attempt to solve problems and improve professional practices in their own classrooms. It involves systematic observations and data collection which can then be used by the practitioner-researcher in reflection, decision-making and the development of more effective classroom strategies." It is still very common for the term 'research' to evoke images of people with expertise working assiduously in their labs. Social science research would have one think of research professionals as being well versed in research practices investigating a social phenomenon using tried and tested tools and methodologies of the field.
How do teachers, who by the very nature of their profession are laden with the daily pedagogical duties, carry out something as complex and time-consuming as this is an obvious question. However, action research, unless a rigorous academic pursuit, can be done by the teachers to improve their own pedagogical practices while also hoping to find classroom-specific or contextual solutions.
The effectiveness of teaching and learning inside the classroom is contingent upon and a combination of various factors like students' attention span, teachers' skill and experience, lesson plans and even those completely out of the teachers' control like the number of students, infrastructure or even the class setting and time of the day. The one thing that teachers are under control of and can alter and adjust if the teaching scenario so necessities is his/her classroom practice. In other words, the delivery or the overall class activity from the introduction of the unit, the degree of students' engagement to the way assessments are carried out requires periodic reflection and adjustment if not a complete overhaul at times.
Action research helps teachers achieve this very goal of upgradation and evaluation of their own teaching practices. To reiterate the relatively less complex nature of this type of action research compared to a strictly academic one, teachers can avoid the researcher-like rigour while still pursuing a systematic examination of their own teaching methods for better learning outcomes.
To understand and assess the workings of an educational action research and its potential to inform teaching practices, a visit to the classroom where it is being undertaken is instructive.
The classroom would look no different than the usual to a visitor.
Only the concerned practitioner of the class though would be knowledgeable of the entire process until a written report of it is also made available towards the end.
Let's say this is a 6th grade ELA class. The English language teacher here perceives students' general disregard for self-reading or reading literature books independently. The primacy placed on data collection is precisely why this practice, though carried out with limited resources and time, becomes credible and can be relied upon akin to more advanced research practices.
The teacher, upon verifying the issue facing his classroom with the help of the collected data, now moves towards finding and implementing a workable solution tailored to the needs of his classroom and students. A simple yet effective strategy, in this teacher's view, is devised, which is handing out reading logs to students which they would fillup after every read at home. This log is checked every week with verbal and written appreciation for regular readers and a short pep talk and suggestions for those making only limited progress.
This is the 'action' or the 'therapeutic' phase of this research process. A few pertinent questions at this point could be 'Does it guarantee success?' and 'Have the teachers not been doing it already?' Action research doesn't always inevitably lead to solutions. Even if the solution doesn't bring about the desired change, no one can take away the time, effort and reflection put forth by the teacher in his/her bid to effect change while leading self-driven professional growth. In that case, the reflection could initiate an altogether new pathway and new plan of action.
The answer is in the negative for the latter question as teachers do take things for granted and use routine strategies and lesson plans even when they call for change.
Introducing and promoting action research among those very teachers who are resistant to making any changes in their classroom could prove effective. It might not be easy, but the 'find your own solution' part of action research can attract their support rather than a top down and prescriptive solution. For those who regularly try and find solutions to their classroom problems, action research can be more instrumental in systematising all their efforts, find research-based solutions and allow others to emulate some of their successful practices via the eventual report they prepare.
Neupane is with Kathmandu World School
A version of this article appears in the print on January 7, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
