Creating a better world one action research project at a time

In 1998, 20 years into my career as a primary teacher, I began researching my practice. I was looking for a teaching method that would provide my students with opportunities to talk and think for themselves and that would allow me to adhere more closely to my educational values of justice and freedom. Critically examining my practice for my Master's thesis ‘How can I improve my practice so as to help my pupils to philosophise?’  gave me the affirmation I needed to convince inspectors I was working within curricular and policy guidelines, while developing my dialogical pedagogy.

Reflective practice

I continued reflecting deeply on my practice for my PhD Thesis, ‘Towards a Living Theory of Caring Pedagogy: interrogating my practice to nurture a critical, emancipatory, and just community of enquiry’. Reflection was a key component of my studies. Through reflection, I learned more about teaching than I had done during my previous decades of practice. I enhanced my ability to think and work in ways that honour my educational values. I became more accountable for my professional actions – which honed my professional identity. My study will probably never be complete, however, it can always be developed further.

The positives of critical reflection have been documented in Stephen D. Brookfield´s Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher and Maxine Greene´s Toward Wide-Awakeness: An Argument for the Arts and Humanities in Education, while in 1910, John Dewey spoke about how it ‘enables us to direct our actions with foresight’ and ‘enables us to know what we are about when we act’.

A collaborative approach to research

I deliberately chose a form of action research where I was the focus of the enquiry. The research was based on working collaboratively with others, rather than carrying out research on them. This was explained in my ethics statements to all the stakeholders. I embraced an educational action research approach because I considered it an inclusive approach that could include aspects of other kinds of action research. The educational theory that I’m generating is ongoing and is worked out dialogically from within my practice through processes of communication with my own critical reflection on action, and with others who were invited to participate.

Advice for teachers who wish to research their practice

Think about your work as a teacher. What are you proud of? What might you wish to improve? What are the values that underpin your work? Are you living these fully in your practice? If not, what might be preventing you from doing so? When you identify and articulate your educational values like this, you can then begin to plan a course of actions that might help you to improve or enhance what you are doing so that you achieve your values in action. It will not be easy. Critical reflection is not for wimps – it is not a passive armchair activity. Improving what you do may enhance your wellbeing, benefit your students and your institution, and contribute to making the world a better place.

Outcomes

Based on my research, I wrote a book ‘Developing Children’s Critical Thinking through Picturebooks: A guide for primary and early years students and teachers’. My research also led me to co-authoring several books, and myself and three of my colleagues have convened Network for Educational Action Research Ireland to actively support new and experienced action researchers. We hope we are creating a better world – one action research project at a time. 

Mary Roche is a former primary teacher. She has lectured in teacher education, primary and post-primary, is a co-convenor of Network Educational Action Research Ireland (NEARI), and co-author of several books on action research. You can follow Mary on Twitter @marygtroche.