To have a meaningful and successful accomplishment in this FS episode, be

sure to read through the whole episode before participating and assisting in your FS 2
Resource Teacher’s class. Note all the information you will need and tasks you will
need to do before working on this episode.

Target Your Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this Learning Episode, I must be able to:

 be familiar about action research as a reflective teacher.

 underscore the importance of doing action research.

Clarify Your Task

Doing Action Research: An Overview

Every teacher is an action researcher. Everyone can do it. Teachers and

students can do it together.
This episode focuses on doing action research as one of the roles of the teacher.
Every teacher should take interest to know how students learn, wants to make
innovations in the curriculum and desires to improve teaching practice. In order to
achieve these, a teacher has to do action research on the everyday practical problems.
These problematic situations and observed discrepancies emerge between what is
intended and what actually occurs in the classroom.

So
urce: Kate Herbert-Smith IRIS connect
 There is a general agreement among action research community that action
research is about ACTION: taking action to improve practice and RESEARCH: finding
things out and coming to a new understanding that create new knowledge.

Action research is not new. It dates back to the time of John Dewey in 1920
when he introduced the idea of inquiry. This was followed by Collier, 1945; Lewin, 1949;
Corey, 1953 and many others who came later. Schon introduced the notion of action
research as a habit of continuing inquiry. Inquiry begins with situations that are
problematic, confusing, uncertain and conflicting, and so does Action Research.

It was Stephen Corey (1953) who defined Action Research as the process
through which practitioners like teachers, study their own practice to solve their personal
or professional practical problems. Further on, John Illiot in 1993 clarified that action
research is concerned with everyday practical problems experienced by the teachers,
rather than the theoretical problems defined by pure researchers.

Action research is grounded on the reality of the school, classroom, teachers and
students. Sometime it is labelled as a Teacher Action Research (TAR) but is popularly
known simply as Action Research (AR).

Action Research is a process that allows teachers to study their own classrooms,
schools and educational setting in order to understand them better and to improve their
quality and effectiveness. The Process of observation, reflection and inquiry lead to
action that makes a difference in teaching and learning. It bridges doing (practice) and
learning (study) and reflection (inquiry).

Participate and Assist

You must have experienced in your past subjects, doing some activities or
accomplishing tasks similar to action research. These are activities that required you to
do Reflection and Make Action or the other way around. Schon (1987) distinguishes
Reflection in Action or Reflection on Action as two different things.
Perhaps your mentor teacher has already done an Action Research. Now is the
opportunity for you to participate and assist in ways that you are capable of doing.
Here is what you will do.
Making a List of Completed Action Research Titles by Teachers in the Field
1. Make a library or on-line search of the different Completed Action Research
Titles Conducted by Teachers.
2. Enter the list in the matrix similar to the one below.
3. Submit your list of five (5) Titles of Completed Action Research Studies to your
mentor as reference.
Inventory of Sample Action Research Conducted by Teachers

List of Completed Action Research Titles Author/Authors

Ex. Differentiated Instruction in Teaching

Mary Joy Olicia
English for Grade Four Classes
 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Congratulations!!! You have done a good job. By doing so, you have assisted
your mentor and together you will journey towards becoming an action researcher.
Notice
Based on your activity on Making a List of Completed Action Research Titles,
let’s find out what you have noticed by answering the following questions.
Questions My Answer
1. What have you noticed about the 1. Identified problem to be solved in title no.
action research titles? Do the action 1
research (AR) titles imply problems
to be solved? Yes _____
No_____ 2. Identified problem to be solved in title no.
2

If YES, identify the problems from 3. Identified problem to be solved in title no.
the title you have given. Answer in 3
the space provided.

4. Identified problem to be solved in title no.

4

5. Identified problem to be solved in title no.

5

2. What interpretation about action Title of the Action Research:

research can you make out of your ______________________________________
answer in Question No. 1? ______________________________________
______________________________________

3. Write the Title and your From the title, I think, the study
interpretation of the study from the
title.
4. What do you think did the author/s I think the author/s
do with the identified problem as
presented in their titles?

Analyze
Action research seems easy and familiar. Since teaching seems to be full of
problematic situations and that the teacher has a responsibility of finding solution for
everyday problems school, hence teachers should do action research. This is an
exciting part of being a teacher, a problem solver!
Let us continue to examine and analyze what you have noticed and interpreted in
previous activity.
My Answer
Key Questions Choose from the options given. You may check more
than one answer
1. From what source do you Choices:
think, did the authors identify ____ Copied from research books
the problems of their action ____ From daily observation of their teaching practice
research? ____ From difficulties they observed of their learners
____ From their own personal experience
____ From the told experiences of their co-teachers

2. What do you think is the Choices:

teacher’s intention in ____ To find a solution to the problematic situation
conducting the action ____ To comply with the requirement of the principal
research? ____ To improve teaching practice
____ To try out something, if it works
____ To prove oneself as better than the others

3. What benefit do you get as a Choices:

student in FS 2 in ____ Prepare me for my future job
understanding and doing action ____ Get good grades in the course
research? ____ Learn and practice being an action researcher
____ Improve my teaching practice
____ Exposure to the realities in the teaching profession
____ Become a better teacher everyday

4. In what ways, can you assist ____ By co-researching with my mentor

your mentor in his/her Action ____ By assisting in the design of the intervention
Research activity? ____ By assisting in the implementation of the AR
____ By jus watching what is being done

Reflect
Based on the readings you made and the previous activities that you have done,
1. What significant ideas or concepts have you learned about action research?
I learned that ___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. Have you realized that there is a need to be an action researcher as a future
teacher?
 Yes _____ No_____. If yes, complete the sentence below.
I realized that __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Write Action Research Prompts

OBSERVE

From what teaching principles of theories can this problem be anchored?

 I have observed and notice that Action Research begins with a problem or a
problematic situation.
Write an example of a problematic situation that you have observed and noticed
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

REFLECT

What have I realized? What do I hope to achieve?

I realized that for every teaching learning problem, there is a solution.
Write a probable solution to the problematic situation above _____________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

PLAN

What strategies, activities, innovations can I employ to improve the situation or

solve the problem?
 As a future action researcher, I can plan for an appropriate intervention
like________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

ACT

If I conduct or implement my plan, what can be its title?

 If I will implement my doable plan in the future, my title would be
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Work on my Artifacts
Your artifact will be an Abstract of a completed action research.