The Many Facets of Action Research in Education

I recently had the opportunity to read Chapter 2 of Leading With Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher by Nancy Fichtman Dana.  Dana describes nine areas that are ripe for Action Research.  Dana describes those areas as, Staff Development, Curriculum Development, Individual Teachers, Individual Students, Community/Culture Building, Leadership Skills, Management, School Performance, and Social Justice.

I would have considered Staff Development, Curriculum Development, Individual Teachers, and School Performance as areas conducive to Action Research, however I would not have thought about the other areas.

Dana makes the case for Individual Students on the basis that some students do not fit the mold of the average student.  These students need to be served in the best way possible and Action Research should be done in order to find what ways these students are best served.

Community/Culture Building, before reading the text, I would have thought as being mostly directed by factors that were already present at the campus.  Factors that could not be influenced.  I now see how a positive culture can be encouraged and how to move away from a negative culture on campus.

I believed Leadership Skills and Management were skills that were more of a innate quality, but I now see how those qualities can also be fostered and learned.

The area of Social Justice was one that was never given much thought.  The text enlightened me to several ideas and processes that should be looked at closely as a principal.

All of these areas are important to administrators on campuses.  I look forward to moving on with my own action research ideas and seeing them through to fruition.