Open Access“Essentials” for a Successful School-Wide Action Research Project
Author(s) -
Kurt W. Clausen,
Dale R. Petruka
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
teaching and learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1703-2598
DOI - 10.26522/tl.v4i2.21
Subject(s) - privilege (computing) , action (physics) , action research , pedagogy , meaning (existential) , psychology , sociology , public relations , political science , physics , quantum mechanics , law , psychotherapist
Recently, we had the privilege of conducting a year-long case study at an elementary school in Ontario which was carrying out a school-wide action research project. As the year progressed it became clear that, if a school wanted to feel the full benefits of this technique, its implementation could not be undertaken like ten solitary research endeavours with ten separate participants. Instead, we concluded that visible changes had to be made to the traditional school behaviour for this innovation to succeed in the long term. From a literature review and our experiences with the case study school, we identified ten “essentials” that needed to be addressed for a school-wide action research project to prosper, ultimately changing the culture of a school and improving both teacher and student learning. Our findings fall in line with recent literature arguing that a school should be seen as a “learning community”. As a way to bring meaning, motivation and accessibility to professional development, an entire school should engage in peer collaboration, action research projects and collegial dialogue in an effort to improve teaching practices (Peery, 2004; Rosenholtz, 1989; Darling-Hammond, 1996; Barkley & Schwartz, 1989).