Evolution

I am evolving in my understanding of action research. And I think that the word "evolution" is a good choice to characterize the process itself. 

As I read the example inquiries in our text, Leading with Passion and Knowledge by Nancy Fichtman Dana, I found that none were a "check-offable" task. It seemed that each topic continued to evolve - bringing up more questions and more explorations, rather than pat answers. It seemed, actually, that the work was unending. 

And in many ways, the work of improvement is endless. But this brought one foundational understanding home. With all of the tremendous pressures facing our schools and administrators, a clear focus is key. We read about nine rich areas ripe for research, each with the potential of dozens of inquiry questions for schools. But an administrator could never hope to be successful in researching all of them, and her faculty would be hopelessly lost and frustrated. The administrator has to have to foresight and insight to determine what the key issues are, the issues that may lead to open doors for change in other arenas as well. 

Along those same lines, the other thing I've realized is the value in each member of the faculty asking inquiry questions and making explorations into his/her own practices and students. Collaborative grade-level or content teams could accomplish this together as well. The teacher-research topic is a new one for me, but one I think I would have been very open to as a teacher. When I was in the classroom, I continually "wondered," but I had no defined process or really any encouragement to find answers to my wonderings. This would have been a powerful tool in my growth, and I'm sure in the growth of my students as well.