Reflection - Week 5

I approached this course I bit hesitant because of the very nature of the course – action research.  Prior to taking it, I had very little knowledge about what an action research entails, even though I was aware of the term. I have learned a lot in this course; the books, lectures, blogs, and discussion forums have been very helpful and excellent sources of information concerning how to conduct my action research.

The two books we used, “Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher” by Nancy Dana Fichtman and “Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools: 8 Steps from Analysis to Action” by Sandra Harris, Stacey Edmonson, and Julie Combs both contain a wealth of information on everything about conducting action research. However, I must say that I preferred reading the Dana text as it provided extremely useful information when I was trying to decide which area to pursue for my action research and how to formulate the wonderings.  For the principal or aspiring principal, this book will open your eyes on how to be a cut above. It encourages you to be open, to wonder, and to research effectively to maintain a trajectory of excellence in your school.

Another area which I truly enjoyed was creating my blog; something I have never cared to do before. Reading the blogs of my online colleagues and sharing comments has invariably led to a great exchange of ideas, suggestions, recommendations,  and has also served as a regular source for support and motivation. The discussion boards for this course also contributed to the exchange of relevant ideas. It also helped that the discussion prompts were of a reflective nature. These discussions provided yet another opportunity throughout the course to have some reflective time – something this graduate program emphasizes we must do to be successful administrators. As part of these interactions, there were at least two suggestions from the blogs and the discussion boards that I decided to apply to my own action research.

At this point, I no longer feel the hesitation I felt at the beginning of the course. Although there is much I have to learn about the process itself, I believed this course has changed my original perception about action research. I have found this course to be very helpful and relevant to my professional career.