Philosophies in Education specifically the Pragmatist point of view highlights the importance of doing scientific and systematic ways of studying diversified phenomena in order to give answers to existing questions. It also brings innovative changes and improve further the status quo. This educative and methodical endeavor is commonly called research. The term brings a lot of virtual images in mind and even to the extent of considering it as a burden. Doing research is not only for intellectual individuals, who are sharp in numbers, statistics and in methods of researches. It is everybody’s business in a system nowadays. With these misconceptions in mind about research, everybody tends to be destitute and anxious.
Our department encourages teachers to conduct action researches based on pressing problems that hamper us in the delivery of effective and efficient service to our clienteles. In short, this educative effort is not just a requirement or a substance for promotion, yet it is for sustainable development, efficiency, effectiveness and the achievement of our national thrusts as reflected in the department’s mission and vision.
What are then one’s advantages being gained in conducting action research? There are a hundred and one advantages actually. Action research allows everybody to mine available data for deep reflection, rather than making wild personal premonitions that are subjective in nature. Action research also permits to validate theories of teaching and learning process or create another framework of ideas which is not yet discovered. As we move forward, change is inevitable. Definitely the culture of teaching and learning has to blend with the changing times and will learn to dance with the existing music. Evidently, a lot of changes the way things are imparted in school as a result of action researches. Some of these changes are teaching through understanding by design, explicit instruction, integration of Information Communication Technology in teaching, teaching reading through singing, changing schedule of school months and even to the point of overhauling the old and congested curriculum to make it more responsive to the needs of new breed of learners. Action research is a very favorable tool, but it takes time and patience to wait for the results. In other words results are not that quick like a fast food chain does. It is very important to instill in mind that we cannot solve problems in school overnight.
How to start an action research? The most common answer is to think of a researchable problem that one could possibly solve. We might have a lot of questions in doing researches, thus I have here some tips for you which will serve as inputs. First, identify interesting researchable problems in school. Second, collect reliable information, data, and related literature. You may consult with theories, scholarly done articles, and books. Third, Strategize strategies in conducting the study depending on the research design. Available second hand data from reputable organizations may do, provided that data are acquired legally. Fifth, Make an in-depth reflection of the data with the use required statistical treatment. Lastly, list down findings of the study.
Your research is not your edge among others and a requirement for higher performance rating, but it is you share to change the world.