VILLAMANGCA, DINALYN ROSE C

BEED 4A
I.

July 1, 2016
STC

Introduction
Many teachers today experience different problems like frequent
absenteeism, the causes of misbehaviors of the students and etc. Because
of these issues, action research become part of the teachers and
instructional leaders in order to address different classroom problems.
Teachers need to analyze existing practices and identify elements for
immediate change.
An example of action research that we conducted in our classroom was
last summer, we was able to identify the significant difference between
teachers and parents perspective about their children. We are able to
conduct an action research, but how far our knowledge about it. However
doing such research, do we really know the basic definitions of action
research and the different types of it or do we have an idea why do
teachers need to know the action research?

Transition: Now that we have a little background about action research, let us
broaden our knowledge about it. But, first I will give some basic definitions of action
research.
II.

Body
A.

Action Research
1. Definition
a. According to Avelina Teston-Llagas (2013), a doctor of
education, and one of the authors of Special Topic Course,
action research is about teachers striving to understand and
to improve their practice (p. 68). The secret to be a
successful professional teacher is continuous learning. Action
research helps the teacher to grow and improve their
practices not only in the classroom but also real-world. Llgas
added that action research proceeds through a process of
planning, action and reflection upon action. Of course, just
like other types of research, action research is a systematic
study it just not undergoes in one phase but it involves a
critical stages or processes. In action research there is always
a place for people who need improvements
b. Richard Sagor (2010), stated that concise definition of action
research as being define in the field of Education, is a
disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those
taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action
research is to assist the actor in improving and/or refining
his or her actions (para. 2). For the word itself we can easily
get the meaning of action research, the main aim this is to
help the practitioner to improve himself by doing the right
actions.
2. Types of Action Research

Llgas (2013) enumerate the different types of action research

which have different characteristics. These are individual
teacher research, collaborative action research, school-wide
action research and district-wide action research.
a. Individual teacher research
Gul Shair (2014), a lecturer in Balochistan
University of Information and Technology Engineering
Management Sciences stated that individual teacher
research usually focuses on a single issue in the
classroom. The teacher may be seeking solutions to
problems of classroom management, instructional
strategies, use of materials, or student learning. For
example, the question, why do pupils making noise during
class hour. Individual teacher research involves working
independently on a project such as an elementary school
teacher conducting her own in-class research project
(McCallister, 2010).
b. Collaborative action research
Involves a group of teachers or researchers working
together to explore a problem that might be present
beyond a single classroom, perhaps at the departmental
level or an entire grade level (McCallister, 2010). For
example, the question, what is the underlying cause of
frequent absenteeism grade 4 pupils? This problem is
studied by group of teachers of grade 4 given that the
problem involves all grade for pupils.
c. School-wide research
Generally focuses on issues present throughout an
entire school or across the district. Teams of staff
members would work together using school-wide action
research (McCallister, 2010). It focuses on issues common
to all, for example, the lack of parental involvement in
activities. Schoolwide research not only involves
teachers but also other people in the community.
d. District-wide research
According to Hanna Repaz (2012), an educator,
district-wide research is, far more complex and utilizes
more resources, but the rewards can be great. Issues can
be organizational, community- based, performance-based
or processes for decision making.
B.
Action Research Cycle
According to Eileen Ferrance (2000) there are five (5) phases involve in
action research, which are Identification of problem area, collection
and organization of data, interpretation of data, action based on data
and reflection.
C.
Action Research as Professional Inquiry

1. Action research is viewed as a practical approach to professional

inquiry. There is a practical relevance to teachers engaged in their
daily contact (Llgas, 2013). According to Mills, cited in the article
Importance of action research in teacher education programs of
George Hine (2013), the main goal of the action research is to
enhance the lives of children. At the same time, action research can
enhance the lives of those professionals who work within
educational systems. To illustrate, action research has been directly
linked to the professional growth and development of teachers.
According to K.T. Hensen, action research (a) helps teachers
develop new knowledge directly related to their classrooms, (b)
promotes reflective teaching and thinking, (c) expands teachers
pedagogical repertoire, (d) puts teachers in charge of their craft, (e)
reinforces the link between practice and student achievement, (f)
fosters an openness toward new ideas and learning new things, and
(g) gives teachers ownership of effective practices. Studies confirm
that when action research becomes part of the school culture,
teachers learn themselves, their students, their colleagues
(Ferrance, 2000). Once a teacher learn to do action research he can
help himself and also others. Action research also gives the
teachers ways to continue develop and improve.
2. Action research is may be qualitative and quantitative (Llgas,
2013). Qualitative in nature because it involves opinions and
reasons from other people and quantitative because it needs
statistical, mathematical, and computational techniques.
For
example, you might carry out a quantitative survey or other
activity. These data might then be interpreted qualitatively by the
people within the system being analyzed.
3. Action research is associated with thesis, which is often a
misconception of teachers. Most of teachers are afraid to conduct
action research because they believe it is difficult as thesis.
According to Llgas (2013), action research is not about doing
research on or about people, or finding all available information on
a topic looking for the correct answers. Llgas added it is not about
learning why we do certain things rather how we can do things
better. It is like changing our approaches to make our students
improve.
III.

Conclusion
A. Reflection
I believe that action research has benefits to those teachers that
are committed in critical, investigative process of improving
schools practice, policy and culture. Doing action research not only
a fulfilling job for us teacher. Why? It is because where not only the
one benefited in this job, when we improve our practices in the
school we also help our students. A good example for this the
action research that we conducted last summer. The teachers

perceptions that we got on our action research can be the basis if

we need to improve our self in the front of our students or it helps
us teachers to view our self. Action research just like any other
kinds of research aims to improve the life of the teacher by helping
him to act right. I know most of us became tired or hopeless when
did our action research, but remember that teachers work is always
hard but no matter how hard it is the fruit of our success will be
sweet.
B. Quotation
Rabindranath Tagore an Indian educator and poet said Don't
limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time.
For today students have facing different problems that made them
weaker, especially inside the classroom. Absenteeism for instance
have many reasons, student are absent may be because of financial
reason/s, or students are force to work in order to earn as additional
income for their family. Discovering learners problem inside and
outside the school may help improve the students performance. To
date educators must consider the pressure every students have
met. Computer games, and or electronic gadgets for instance
where students become addicted to, are pressures that parents and
teacher should monitor. Let us assure that the modern world or
computer age is not a hindrance to education. Financial difficulties
is not a problem to reason why your students have failed to attend
the class. Teachers should discover a new way to convince students
that education is important. Teacher must adopt new ways of
teaching methods for a modern age students. Similarly as J. F.
Kennedy said The goal of education is the advancement of
knowledge and the dissemination of truth.
C. Video Clip
Now that we understand what is action research in teachers. Let us
watch a short video clip about essence of action research in the
lives of the teacher. The video is entitled Master of Education:
Action Research and the speaker is Susie Hughes, a facilitator in
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
IV.

Reference
Book
Andas, C. et.al. (2012). Special Topics in Education (Volume 4). Philippines:
Lorimar Publishing
Electronic Sources
Ferrence, E. (2000). Action research. Themes in Education. Retrieved June
27, 2016, from

https://www.brown.edu/academics/educationalliance/sites/brown
.edu.academ
ics.education-alliance/files/publications/act_research.pdf

Hines, H. S. C. (2013). Importance of action research in teacher education

programs. Issues in
Educational Research, 23(2). Retrieved June 27, 2013, from
http://www.iier.org.au/iier23/hine.pdf

Repaz, H. (2012). Action Research [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved June 27,

2016, from
http://www.slideshare.net/lady_han/action-research-14056026

McCallister, J. (2010). Action research in education: methods and examples.

Study.com. Retrieved
June 27, 2016, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/actionresearch-ineducation-examples-methods-quiz.html

Shair, G. (2014). Action Research [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved June 27,

2016, from
http://www.slideshare.net/GulShair1/action-research-43039701

Sagor, R. (2010). Guiding school improvement with action research. ASCD.

Retrieved June 27,
2016,
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/100047/chapters/What-

from,

Is-Action-Research.aspx

Uwlmastersteacherss channel. (2011). Master of education: action research

[Video file].
Retrieved
June
30,
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from

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