Action research: What Is It and What Can It Do?

by Alison Kelly
Source: Robert G. Burgress (ed.), Issues in Qualitative research: Qualitative Methods (Lewes:
Falmer Press, 1985).

A) Educational action research in Britain has two main strands. Both of these trace their origins
to Kurt Lewins pioneering work on social disadvantage p201
one of the main advantages of action research over more conventional methodologies, is that it
goes a long way towards breaking down the traditional hostility of teachers and researchersthe
relevance of the research to teachers practical concerns is obvious. Teachers are far more likely
to cooperate in a research project when they can see that its purpose is to improve a situation
which is worrying them. P211
one of the advantages of action research is that it is more acceptable to teachers and this can
make it easier for researchers to gain access to school.
B) Action Research
1. simultaneously assists in practical problem solving and expands scientific knowledge;
2. as well as enhances the competencies of the respective actors;
3. being performed collaboratively;
4. in an immediate situation;
5. using data feedback in a cyclical process;
6. aiming at increased understanding of a given social situation;
7. primarily applicable for ht understanding of change processes in social systems;
8. and undertaken within a mutually acceptable ethical framework. P204
Clearly, action research is only applicable to systems which can change. But this applies to the
great majority of the educational field. Action research is a way of trying out changes and seeing
what happens. As such it has a particular appeal to researchers motivated by a philosophy of
social change such as feminism, multi-culturalism or socialism p209

C) Educational action research in Britain has two main strandsOne strand is that of
experimental social administration exemplified by the Educational Priority Areas, and having
close links to compensatory education programmes in the United States. The other strand is the
teacher-researcher model, stemming from the curriculum development work of Lawrence
Stenhouse and his colleagues in East Angliap201
Experimental Social Administration Halsey (1972), writing about Educational Priority
Areas (EPAs) describes action research as an experimental or quasi-experimental version of

futurology as design[with the] EPAs, the problem (educational under-achievement) was

identified by an official body (the Plowden Committee) outside of the school system.
Suggestions for tackling it were derived from the research literature, and were implemented by
project teams consisting of action workers and research workers. The aim was to bring together
two professions, social research and administrationPowley and Evans (1979), argue that the
project must start with a clear plan based on hypotheses derived from research and that action
research is not itself a method of research the term refers to a setting for research where it
operates in close proximity to a setting for actionThe common features of these projects are
that research and action have separate functions, which are clearly planned form the start of the
project, and that the research workers maintain their role of outsiders to the situation under
study p202 In contrast, Elliott (1983) argues that [action research] should be practitionerbased and characterized by an absence of a division of labour between practitioners and
researchers and Dave Ebbutt (Burgress, 1985) suggests that educational action research is the
systematic study of attempts to improve educational practice by groups of participants by means
of their own practical actions and by means of their own reflections upon the effects of those
actions. The teachers perspective is central and s/he defined the problem as s/he sees it. P202
Whereas teacher-researcher action research takes teachers problems as its subject matter,
simultaneous-integrated action research starts by making a social issueproblematic for
teachers. Once this is done the initiative passes to the teachers as they begin to examine and
change their own practice p210
D)
E) Elliott (1982) says problem definition in action research should not be controlled by an
external agency. The crucial step is for teachers to become reflective about their own practice
Elliott defines action research simply as reflection related to diagnosis p203
Teacher research action research does not typically start with hypothesis derived from the
research literature, and is not usually concerned to contribute to the corpus of social science
knowledge and theory [as in experimental social administration]. Sharples (1983) suggests that
action research should concentrate on the evidencing of practice and that it is an integral part of
good teaching p203
F) Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) Research Project starts on page 204 and continues

throughout the paper. This is an Integrated Action Research where the problem (low rate of girls
taking physical science and technological subjects when they became optional) was identified by
sources outside of the teachers involved. The researchers used questionnaires, classroom
observations, discussions with teachers and curriculum innovation. Throughout the process some
of the interventions used were: visits from women working in scientific and technical jobs (role
models), development of curriculum materials utilizing girls interests, attitude changing session
with teachers, and providing materials on famous women scientistsThe project team did not in
general take classes; the teachers did not in general analyze and write research reports. Both
groups were involved in evaluating the Project and the success of the various interventions, but
not necessarily by the same criteria
G)
H) Dave Ebbutt maintains that there is a distinction between good teaching and action research.
He suggests that teachers reflections on their own practice must be made public in the form of a
report if they are to be labeled research. P203
Lees (1975) from the experimental social administration school suggests that the researchers
commitment to rigorous procedures may run counter to the practitioners need for flexibility and
intuition in dealing with practical situations and research neutrally poses a problem with
practitioners, who typically consider a strong value commitment to their projects important. In
his view, the danger of an integrated approach is that research could give way to advocacy
p210
Halsey (1972), Powley and Evans (1979) and Smith and Barnes (1970) [feel] the conflict of
interests and of loyalties felt by teacher-researchers, whether they are researching their own or
their colleagues behaviour, raises issues such as should the teacher/researcher insist on tape
recording the lesson if it clearly embarrasses and inhibits the pupils?p211
Both action and research are greedy activities and will expand endlessly if not checkedp212
We (GIST research team) have frequently been asked, both by teachers and researchers, how we
are going to prove which is the best intervention As Smith (1975) has argued, we need to
reduce our expectations. Research will not tell us the best way to achieve some desired end; but
it may be able to point us a few steps up the path and describe how we got there p212

Taking field notes as an involved researcher can be difficult. A neutral observer can sit quietly
in a classroom noting what going on around her/him. Even a participant observer can [leave]
frequently to record observations. Notes can be taken after the fact trying to remember as much
as possible p213
With the GIST integrated action research many of the suggestions and records of areas needed to
be improved are from the researchers point of view. This may cause a problem with trust
between the collaborating teachers and the researchers.
I)
J)