Edg 690 - Teacher as Researcher - Reflections on Action Research

Clarence Peterson

September 15, 2016

Professor DeFalco

EDG 690 Teacher as Researcher

Reflections on Action Research

        When reading chapter one of the Craig A. Mertler book Action Research I viewed the education proposals outlined in his book through the lens of a historian, since that is the subject that I plan to teach to junior high school and high school students. Therefore, when Mertler opens the chapter asking the reader to form opinions of what they imagine when the word “research” is brought up, I immediately thought of the discipline of historical research. The science of historical research has always fascinated me, because it results in changing interpretations of historical events and historical figures. One example is that for several centuries it was taught that the pyramids of Ancient Egypt were built by slaves. However, recent scholarship has indicated that the people who built the pyramids did so voluntarily, were fed three meals a day, and had great respect for the Pharaoh. This is an example of the importance of researchers in the discipline of history.

        In Action Research, Mertler takes the theory of research and applies it to teaching. Mertler describes this as “action research,” and is done by teachers who are looking for ways to improve student content understanding and form better assessments. Throughout the chapter, Mertler breaks down the method of educational research, which teachers are of course the beneficiaries of. He describes it in four parts; “identifying an area of focus,” “collecting data,” “analyzing and interpreting the data,” and “developing a plan of action.” These four components are necessary for teachers to address students who are unmotivated when it comes to learning, or who have difficulty focusing on their work. Educational research lets the teacher know when intervention is needed with regards to a student.

        What I found very interesting about the Mertler reading was how he compares the method of educational research with the classic scientific method. He notes that the two are not perfect comparisons, because the scientific method is an exact science, where educational research is a pseudoscience. In other words, an educational researcher must use that individual’s beliefs, opinions, and value judgements to determine reality, where the traditional scientific method is supposed to be value free. What I find to be so interesting about Mertler’s reasoning is that it demonstrates how significant the judgement of the teacher is in educational research. There are many times when a teacher needs to make a judgement call over whether a student is failing to focus on their work, whether a student might have a learning disability, or whether a student needs to be removed from the classroom because they are misbehaving and depriving the other students from learning. Depriving a student from the content because of misbehavior is a major decision. These are judgement calls that the educator has to make, and it has a profound impact on the learning of the students.