Ashford 6: – Week 5 – Discussion 1

Ashford 6: – Week 5 – Discussion 1
Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
School Leaders – Engage!

Initial Post: Read the articles from Fitchman-Dana (n.d) and Eikeland (2003) and explain in your post how action research will benefit your setting/organization by granting teachers and other leaders the ability to identify and solve their own problems. Consider, too, the arguments opposing the use of action research as a validated research methodology. The second article is a controversial narrative where the author responds to a previous writing which has highlighted the reasons that action research is not a viable research method. Post your summary of the importance of action research as depicted in these articles and what points resonate during the implementation of your research.
Action research has long been the research method used in education and in many organizations for the purpose improving the art of teaching and leading. However, there are those that strongly criticize this research method. Proponents of traditional research methods argue that the data that is collected in action research is not reliable and does not yield valid results in part, because of possible research bias (Mckay& Marshall, 2001).

• Eikeland, O. (2003). Unmet challenges and unfulfilled promises in action research. Concepts & Transformation, 8(3), 265-273. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
• Fitchman-Dana, N. (n.d.). Top 5 reasons for school leaders to engage in action research. Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=12826

Guided Response: Respond to at least two peers. In your responses, consider asking questions of your peers about their responses to encourage further conversation. Responses will be most effective if they ask a question about your peer’s experiences and the benefits of your action research project. Your responses may offer additional resource for consideration that supports an alternative viewpoint and critical thinking skills. Again, though two responses is the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you including the instructor to further the conversation while also giving you opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences with this topic.