Week 2 Reflection

Chapter 2 in the book Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher gave many examples of read action research projects completed in schools. In the assignment, I looked at the nine passions that help educators to find an initial wondering for their action research project. The nine passions include: Staff Development, Curriculum Development, Individual teachers, Individual students, Community/Culture Building, Leadership skills, Management, School performance, and Social Justice. In developing my own wondering, I learned that the question must be something you are passionate about, it must be clear, concise, and specific, it must be a question that you do not already know the answer to, it must be free of judgemental language, it must be phrased as an open-ended question, and it must be doable (Dana, 2009, p.67). I also found pages 65 and 66 in the Dana text to be beneficial. It includes a list of sample wonderings organized by each of the nine passions. I also learned that it is important that the researcher let the original wondering evolve and change over time. This is exactly what has already happened to me. My original idea was to research the impact of blogs on student motivation in reading and writing. I have decided to change this to the impact of blogs on the achievement of students in reading and writing. After discussing my idea with my mentor, we decided that motivation is a hard thing to measure quantitatively.

Dana, N. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

How Can YOU Use A Blog??

According to the text, School Leadership Internship, “expertise comes from a combination of action and reflection" (Martin, 2005). Educational leaders can use the weblog as a way to reflect on their current practice or on their action research project. Blogs provide a way for educational leaders to reflect on their own thought process and capture their thinking as they are researching. The great thing about blogs is that you have the ability to combine text, images, videos, and even links to other blogs. Paper and pencil reflections and journals to not allow for this kind of flexibility. "The comment feature of blogs allows principal-researchers to receive feedback from anyone in the world (in an open blog community) or other practitioner-researchers (in a closed community)" (Dana, 2009). Educational leaders can also use the blog as a way for a professional learning community to communicate in an easy and instant way.

Dana, N. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Martin, G. E., Wright, W. F., Danzig, A. B., Flanary, R. A., & Brown, F. (2005). School leadership handbook (2nd ed.). Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.

Action Research Description

Administrative inquiry or action research is the process of a principal engaging in “systematic, intentional” study of his/her own practice and taking action for change because of what he/she learns during the course of the inquiry/research. In traditional research, outsiders research teaching and learning. With action research, the practitioner (not an outsider!) is engaged in the design, data collection, and interpretation of the data around their particular question (Dana, 2009). I have learned that this approach to research has many benefits. First, the theories and knowledge are generated from research grounded in the realities of educational practice. The research is done by the administrators or teachers who work in the "trenches of the school building" on a daily basis. In addition, the practitioners actually become collaborators in educational research by investigating their own problems. Last, action research is very beneficial because the practitioners are playing a part in the research which makes follow-through much more likely.
An important part of action research is the area of reflection. Early in the twentieth century, John Dewey called for teachers to engage in "reflective action." Later in the twentieth century, scholar Donald Schon called attention to the role of reflection in improving the learning and performance of schools. Reflection became an important part of administrator preparation programs. Action research is a great way to make reflection purposeful and meaningful. Since the question is developed by the teacher/administrator, it is far more relevant to their current situation.
I plan to use action research in my professional career. After reading the reflections that real administrators gave about using action research, I can see just how beneficial it can be. Mike Delucas, Principal at Williston High School states that principal inquiry (action research) allows him to do three very important things at once, "be a reflective practitioner, work with a true professional learning community, and model instructional leadership" (Dana, 2009). Donnan Stoicovy, Principal at Park Forest Elementary School says that inquiry is at the core of everything he does. It is the "nagging questions that stir me to take action based on data, investigations, instincts, and more questions." I love that he states that it is a "never-ending process." I think this is an important thing to note. There are always more questions!

Dana, N. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.