What is Actiona Research to Me?

Although it does not sound interesting or mind-blowing, the idea of action research, or administrative inquiry, is a concept worth knowing to educators, especially administrators. Traditional research at universities are always being conducted to improve our students learning outcomes, but by who? These researchers usually do not know what is being dealt with or how it is being dealt with; they are usually “outsiders”, as mentioned in the Dana text (2009, p. 5). Every day is a different day in our schools, and our teachers and our administrators are the ones who know it best and know it first-hand. Although traditional research tries to differentiate between the theories and what is being practiced, action research will tests theories made by traditional researchers by putting them into play. Action research is research done in one’s own campus by the educators our students work with day to day. It is used by principals in a systematic way to improve their/our schools. It is conducted based off of experience and action is implemented based on the results of that particular school for the best results. To me, it is the difference between having a suit tailored to you and you having to fit a suit.