Action Research

1738 Words4 Pages

Action research is a journey of self-discovery, in which I learned about myself, my coping strategies, and how to create positive change in reference to a problem in my practice. The problem was addressed by reflecting on my attitudes, values, and beliefs. The journey originated from a multi-faceted question which depicts a change or an improvement that I would like to make in my classroom. By turning the gaze within, this process of research begins with an examination of self as an educator, then students or the classroom situation, and then of what might be done to address the problem. This method of problem-posing then action-taking to discover solutions stems from “Freire´s Popular Education principles, which emphasize that education should be guided by the needs and interests of the learners. Freire believed that education should be a process of dialogue, reflection, action, and transformation” (Pantoja, 2009, p.1). This philosophy is conducive to andragogy, and has practical applications which have helped to link the research on my problem to my practice in Adult Education. Action research, then, is a series actions that address the problem in a manner that is recursive and cyclic in that the results of one action determines the next, and then the next. It is a process which has helped to document my project results in a way that make sense of qualitative data. The emphasis of traditional research is to use quantitative data to document results of an experiment. This is not the focus of action research. My project is a journey which originates from the question, “How can I facilitate a healthy community at North West Regional College?” This project acknowledges a connection between my practice and the impact of the attitudes...

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...s on nutrition and the environment at the College after considering the information presented by Weins (2011). Students decided to host a Nutrition Fair, which would provide them with an opportunity for hands-on learning as well as to teach their fellow students. Nancie agreed that they could also use the project for credit in the Adult 12 Psychology class. One group of Adult Basic Education students wanted to present a dental project focusing on best practices of dental hygiene for children based on some personal experiences that they went through with their own children. Other students formed groups based on their interests and planned their presentations and displays.

Students worked in their respective classes to complete their projects, as well as gave of their own time after classes, to collect information for their displays and put the displays together.

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