Week 2 Reflection

Week two had me examining and reviewing several knowledge scholars regarding action research. Dr. Kirk Lewis from Pasadena ISD really caught my attention. He said that if you are going to do research to make sure that it is going to help. That statement seems obvious, but so often we complete projects just because someone thinks that they need to be completed. I also found the readings from this week to be very interesting. We also looked at the 9 areas in which we could base our action research. Many of them appealed to me but the one that stood out the most was for the individual teacher. Initially I didn’t choose my topic in this area but on the other hand I did when I spoke with my site supervisor. He is the one who pursued this plan of action research. Action research is a great tool to provide supporting data for many of these leaders' decisions.

Action Research

When they signed me up for this course all I could think about was the amount of time and work I would have to do. I was pleasurably surprised to find that the research in this class came from me, an inquiry of my choosing. In this course, I enjoyed learning concrete steps to take to conduct an action research project. With the help of the readings from the Dana text (2009), videos, site supervisor’s suggestions and the discussion board interactions, I was able to focus my plan and begin my journey of action research. I learned that action research is a professional development approach for administrators to deliberately study, gain insight, collect data and analyze best practices in order to implement changes and take action to benefit their school community. The key concepts of inquiry research that make it so valuable are it is practical and it has immediate application. Another great thing about action research is that you get to pick the topic to suit your needs and interests. Each district and school has their own requirements, so those that live in that environment have a grasp on what needs to be reflected upon. Initially, the process starts with to discover what “wondering” or “inquiry” you would like to pursue. The first step in this process is to “Wonderings materialize at the nexuses of the real-world observations, dilemmas, felt difficulties, and passions that you develop in your work as an administrator.” (Dana, 2009, pg. 30) These wonderings can be in one of nine categories: staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, individual students, school culture/community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice.
The tools and resources provided in this course will be useful in implementing my Action Research plan. My new understanding and knowledge will guide me as I follow through with my current plan in hopes to improve student achievement on my campus. I also found the comments on the discussion board to be very helpful.

How Educational Leaders Might Use Blogs

Administrator and school officials should use blogs as their professional journals. By using blogs, educational leaders would bring a great resource for inquiry and reflection of their actions. As a superintendent, blogs could be useful to communicate with the district stakeholders. A blog could be one way to connect with the community while also allowing them to submit questions and concerns for the district leadership to consider. Blogs allows stakeholders to provide input without having a meeting in person which saves a lot of time and energy. It encourages teachers to utilize them in an effort to keep up with the learning styles of today's student.