Week Two Reflection

After this Week Two, I have learned that research is a never ending process and I will continuously take place as the new situations or events happen in school. Now I can identify better what kind or issue we are talking about. Identifying the better the situation can help us to address it in a better way and find a feasible and practical solution according to our school settings.

I have listened interviews from prominent people that helped me to understand the leadership role and the importance or research made based on well supported foundations, the variety of sources available and strategies to approach them.

I could say that they talked about real situations, real and feasible solutions. We can see similarities to those found in our school.

Also, knowing about the nine areas where we leaders inquiry (Staff development, Curriculum development, Individual teacher(s), Individual student(s), School culture/community, Leadership

Management, School performance and Social justice or equity issues) helped me to make my wonderings in a focused way.

Blogs for Educational Leaders

In the busy day of the Educational Leaders –they could be attending a variety of different issues simultaneously and everywhere- blogging could be an excellent way to communicate thoughts or to disseminate certain information.

Another important feature is that blogs allow feedback from the stakeholders.

They could use this tool to keep in contact while they are in a little break during a meeting or while a phone call.

The technology is available right here. Why not try?

Learning about Action Research

What I have learned is that Action Research could be considered as a protocol to address a problem in schools. It is designed to be built or developed from “toe” to “head” and with a vision to the future.

It is important to understand who it works, because every step established impact to the next one in the structure or to the following in time. If they are not properly prepared, documented, researched and inquired, the whole structure could be weak or the process is going to be poor in results.

So, none of these Setting the Foundation, Analyzing Data, Developing Understanding, Engaging in Self Reflection, Exploring Patterns, Determining Direction, Taking Action or Sustaining Improvement is most important than other. They complement each other, and perhaps are different because some steps require different kind of skills.

I think that once I have defined my Action Research Plan, I can start organizing my ideas and stop trying to find the solution before even knowing completely every edge of the problem. Some benefits of this approach is that the project leader has control during the different stages of the development, acquires a wider –but, at the same time a more detailed- view of the problem. Hence, it results in a more measurable and accurate solution.

References:

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
 
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools: 8 Seps from Analysis to Action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.