When organizational politic work within and against action research in a school community

For years, action research has been a tool teachers (and others) have used to address a wide variety of issues.  Whether addressing a school-wide curriculum concern,

addressing a problem of practice in their classroom, or struggling to connect with an individual student, teachers around the globe are using action research as a means to empower themselves and those around them to effect change.

Our article in the Action Research Journal looks at one principal’s attempt to mandate action research for all those in her school community.  Knowing the power of action research, the principal believed that this type of research would provide the teachers with a tool to enact change.  By empowering her teachers, she believed that she could ensure that ALL children receive the educations they deserve.

Interestingly (but not surprisingly according to the literature), this mandate—born out of her desire to empower teachers—caused a wide variety of tensions in the schools.  In our article, “Politics and Action Research: An Examination of One School’s Mandated Action Research Program,” we examine the ways that organizational politics worked within and against the action research program. 

While excellent work was produced by many of the teachers, the action research program uncovered historical tensions in the school and pitted factions of teachers against one another.  As researchers connected with the school and its teachers, we found these events fascinating.  Throughout our time with the school, we asked ourselves questions such as:

            • Why do some educators bristle at the thought of mandated professional development even when they are given the autonomy to enact their own agency?

            • What would it take to authentically engage an entire school in the action research process?

            • How do we encourage thoughtful administrators—who simply want to engage teachers in providing quality educational experiences for all children—to pursue action research as a viable option for professional development?

While our intent is not to support or reject mandated action research programs in schools, we believe the tale we tell in our article will give others pause as they design professional development opportunities for their schools.  

We truly believe in the power of action research, and we look forward to thinking through the questions above with you!

Ryan Flessner and Shanna Stuckey

You can access this article for FREE for the next 30 days by clicking HERE.

Ethics, Authenticity, and Teaching Action Research - Mary Brydon-Miller

In a meeting with a student today to discuss her comprehensive exam, I said that I had a new standard question I would ask every student to address.  That question is to describe your ethical stance and to discuss how your proposed research embodies that position.  But how do we help students to articulate their own values and to understand how those values might inform their practice?   This seems to me to provide an excellent opportunity for a first-person action research project, and this was in fact the focus of the first assignment the students in my own action research course worked on this year.  Ethics education often focuses on learning theory and, where it does engage ethical questions, these are often put to the students in the form of case studies.  While this can be an extremely useful mechanism for generating discussion and critical analysis, it often fails to engage students at a more personal emotional level—to challenge students to grapple with the ethical implications of their own decisions and their own actions.  To ask the difficult question—what do I believe and how does my research reflect those values? 

David Coghlan’s exploration of the relationship between first-person action research and the notion of authenticity provides a useful strategy for articulating and then acting upon our values.  In this article Coghlan discusses the key aspects of authenticity as outlined by Bernard Lonergan, i.e. that we should seek to be attentive, intelligent, responsible, and reasonable. (ARJ, 6 (3), 351-366). David’s description of his own response to a difficult moment during a consultation and how he draws upon these qualities reminds me of my admonition to students that action researchers must expect the unexpected, and must be prepared to act upon their own values in those moments.  David’s experience provides a wonderful exemplar of what it means to be true to our beliefs.  

Centering, pulling, shaping together---action researching together

I spend quite a bit of my free time covered in mud. Several times a week I head to a pottery studio where I make all manner of vessels for mostly practical purposes. Because I tend to think about things in images or pictures-- I've included a picture of me and one of my daughters working together at the wheel to create a cylinder that later became a tall, thin mug. Both of my children accompany me to the studio and will help me shape (as in this picture) as well as glaze pieces. I can't think of a better image for educational action research than this collective centering, pulling, and shaping of clay.


Nolen and Vander Putten state that "Educators see [action research] as a practical yet systematic research method to investigate their own teaching and their students’ learning in and outside the classroom."

The folks over at edchange.org have a nice definition for teacher action research and I'll include it here as well: Teacher action research (TAR) is a method for educational practitioners to engage in the assessment and improvement of their own practice. It can be an individual tool, helping classroom teachers reconsider their teaching methods or to adapt in order to solve a problem.


This clay that teacher researchers center and then pull and shape together--their practice as teachers and the learning of their students--can be difficult to work with. When seeking to make a change--as we do in our classrooms through educational action research--it often feels like an immovable lump of hard clay. However,  with a community of teachers and learners and family members as participants, the action researchers can center and really get a handle on what the real problems are. Potters add water and use their hands, ribs, and other tools to change the clay--to move it to a different position so that they can see what can be created from the initial lump. Teacher action researchers do much the same through the action and reflection cycle. 


It's only after several cycles of action and reflection by both the educational action researchers and the potter that the real possibilities can be seen and the real change can begin.


I'm interested to know what images or metaphors you use to describe educational action research. What projects are you contemplating, initiating, researching now? Would you share those with us? Please feel free to share your thoughts here. You are also welcome to email me at dusty.embury@uc.edu if you'd like to write a post about action research in education.


Peace, Dusty