Teach Action Research, You Decided, Because It Will Be Something New and You Will Grow From It

I found this image of a group of researchers on a boat about to be overcome with a wave of data. That's about right, except sometimes we're on a kayak of one, with only one researcher, or in my case this semester, I'm leading a team of 16 graduate students as they think about action research methodologies in their own professional training.

Whether solo or with a full-blown crew, research is always a lot more difficult than anyone realizes. Why? Because it is another lens for naming truth - but one that must connect to reviewed literature, name the question being pursued, explore contexts and subjectivities around the research interest, and create a data plan for accessing information to help one to answer the original question. This, of course, arrives after scrutiny of the literature reviewed and the data collected to name findings that can lead a discussion for all researchers to follow.

Perhaps that is a pathetic summation of the research process, but it is what I am thinking about this morning as I tap my K-12 best practices for teaching with the hands-on necessities of conducting an Action Research course. The legwork is up front, before class, so that in-class instruction can occur to give graduate students hands-on experiences to help them with their own inquiry projects.

Funny, this is a variation of the research and culminating projects seniors used to do at the Brown School. Alas, in graduate school the methodologies and literature reviewed need to be scrutinized a lot more (but I'm proud that I led the high school charges for as long as I did).

But yesterday, I was up at 6 a.m. writing on my own research and before I knew it 4 p.m. hit. I was still in pajamas (okay underwear) where I first plopped down with a cup of coffee. Frustrated, I went for a run, then walked the dog, only to begin planning tonight's theme of data collection: observations and interviews. Knowing what I know about teaching, I needed to create interactive lessons, rather than squawk about my own projects for two hours - I wish, sometimes, I had that ability within me. Instead, I carry my student-centered mission from the J. Graham Brown School in Kentucky.

Tonight, I'm tapping a few activities learned from Dr. Elizabeth Payne when she taught Qualitative Research I at Syracuse University. No, our graduate students aren't working on Ph.Ds and won't take part in a string of 3 research courses, but they will have opportunity to create a mini-research project of their own. The major goal for the course is for teachers to have a better understanding of how research is conducted and journal articles/books get written.

I can only reflect on my own work, and for the rest of the semester hope to bring in guest speakers to reflect on theirs with my students.

This morning, however, I woke up feeling the wave is about to drench me.  It's all good, though. It's part of riding the research seas.