Our Students, Our Solutions

IDEAS

Our students, our solutions

Educators can customize their learning through action research

By Craig Mertler

Categories: Continuous improvement, Data, Learning designs, Research

Vol. 40 No. 2

When I work with educators on the broad topic of job-embedded professional growth, I often ask: Why would you want to try to answer your questions or solve your problems about your students and your teaching by using someone else’s methods, data, and results? I have spent years studying and facilitating an alternative approach to traditional research that locates the inquiry process in teachers’ classrooms. Action research is any sort of systematic inquiry conducted by those with a direct, vested interest in the teaching and learning process in a particular setting. Action research is based on the premise that the best way to know if an innovative approach will work with your students or in your classroom is to try it out, collect and analyze

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Authors

Craig Mertler

Craig Mertler ([email protected]) is an associate professor of research methods and director of the doctor of education program in leadership and innovation in Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.

References

DuFour, R., DuFour, R., & Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Hord, S.M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.

Mertler, C.A. (2016). Leading and facilitating educational change through action research learning communities. Journal of Ethical Educational Leadership, 3(3), 1-11.

Mertler, C.A. (2017). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mertler, C.A. (2018). Action research communities: Professional learning, empowerment, and improvement through collaborative action research. New York, NY: Routledge.

Mertler, C.A., & Hartley, A.J. (2017). Classroom-based, teacher-led action research as a process for enhancing teaching and learning. Journal of Educational Leadership in Action, 4(2).

Oliver, B. (1980). Action research for inservice training. Educational Leadership, 37(5), 394-395.