Beginning the Journey

Action research can be facilitated through blogging. Celebrities who don't tweet often blog. (Perhaps they have more to say?) Educators should utilize the blogging format because their constituents, or students, are digital natives and more likely to pay attention to this format. What is action research and why is it relevant? A departure from traditional research methods, AR focuses on the actual practitioners, or teachers, and their concerns and issues. Outside researchers traditionally brought in reforms and methods that may or may not have been relevant to the classroom. AR leaves behind the traditional, linear methods and incorporates a more cyclical approach. Inquiry is the beginning. What "wonderings" (Dana 2009) will lead to positive changes in the school environment? What questions, sometimes nagging ones, can be studied through inquiry and reflection, that might bring about these positive changes? I have chosen the social issue of bullying for the focus of my action research. There are plenty of nagging questions associated with this issue. Issues such as teacher motivation, student apathy, and professional development are also areas where AR can be beneficial, but I selected bullying because it is an issue that has not wavered in my twenty-plus years in the classroom. Bullies have found new methods, such as social networking and texting, but the foundations of bullying have remained consistent. I have been forced to sit through inservices related to the topic which have served no one but the presenter. A video featuring cartoon ants and no dialogue has made the rounds and received accolades from school counselors and administrators, but it merely baffles the real stakeholders, the students. I believe that inquiry and continual dialogue are the only ways to truly reveal the roots of bullying, and blogging is an effective route to begin this journey. Dana, Nancy Fichtman (2009). Leading With Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA; Corwin Press.