After reading about action research this week, I found myself thinking that, if all the research projects I had to do over the course of high school and college had been personally relevant to me, I might have enjoyed doing them more. To me, I think that this is the key to the success and importance of action research. It is research being carried out by the very people who will benefit from the research. A principal and their leadership who carry out an action research project will not only have a unique insight into the issues they are studying that an outsider will not have, but they will also be able to see first hands the results of their work. Another benefit is that it forces administrators to truly focus on a problem. Although I am not a campus principal, as a district administrator I understand just how chaotic and stressful it can be to work in an administrative role. I find myself writing little notes to remind myself to research this issue or program. Often times, this research never happens because other fires need to be put out. In my position, I think I could benefit from performing action research. In technology, so often we implement new hardware or software and there is little research done afterwards to judge its success. The whole point of action research is to gather data over time, analyze the data and make adjustments to processes and plans based on this data. This is beneficial at a campus level for instruction, and is also beneficial at a district level. In my case, its beneficial because I would have real data to either support the continued use of certain technology, or to show that we need to change what we are doing in relations to technology in the district. I found the comparison of action inquiry to a doctor searching for a diagnosis enlightening. The description of how a doctor works towards a diagnosis in comparison to a principal using numerous data sources to reach a solution really helped clarify what action research and inquiry is all about needed (Harris, Edmonson & Combs, 2010). I can clearly see how action research is a step by step process, where some steps may be revisited time and again as we search for a positive solution.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 9 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.
Blogging as an Educational Leader
One thing I have found as an administrator is that I rarely have time to myself to really reflect upon my day and what I did or did not accomplish. If I were to set aside time each week to blog about my work, even if no one else reads the post, it would be a great opportunity to basically do a "brain dump" of all those things running around in my head. It would allow me to visually see what I have been working on, prioritize my responsibilities and work through lingering problems. An even better scenario is to have colleagues read my blog and post comments. While Information Technology is a separate department, we cannot be successful without keeping close communication ties with the campuses. On the flip side, if the campus principals and Superintendent wrote blogs that I could access and comment on, I would have an insight into the problems they are facing and perhaps even situations where I might be able to provide assistance. Often times as administrators we get so bogged down in our duties that we forget to come up for air and ask for help. A simple solution may only be a phone call away, but sometimes we forget to make it. If all district administrators participated in blogging, it would be another way to open the lines of communication and perhaps strengthen us as a team.
