Getting started with action
research in your classroom
Professor Anne Burns
Curtin University, Perth
University of New South Wales, Sydney

Why should teachers doaction research?

I'm a teacher not a researcher!!
 Teachers are trained to teach!
 Teachers are far too busy teaching students
 Teachers are interested in practical classroom
things...not theory!
 I don’t get paid to do research!
 Teachers shouldn’t be experimenting
on their students!
 Research? That’s scary!!!!!

Action research?
So, what’s in it for teachingpractitioners?

What teachers say about AR“AR encourages teachers to reach their own
solutions and conclusions and this is far more
attractive than being presented with ideals whichcannot be attained.” (Australia)“I will continue doing AR. I have no doubt about
the advantages of an AR approach for myteaching although it is also not easy to conduct itconsistently”.” (Indonesia)“The action research model gave me the courage
to cross the border from technician toprofessional.” (USA)What is action research?
What does action research mean?
What do you already know about it?
Have you tried it out before? On your own?
With others?

So what is action research?
AR involves a self-reflective, systematic and critical
approach to enquiry by participants who are at
the same time members of the researchcommunity.
The aim is to identify problematic situations or issues
considered by participants to be worthy ofinvestigation in order to bring about criticallyinformed changes in practice. Action research isunderpinned by democratic principles in that theownership of change is invested in those who
conduct the research.
(Burns, cited in Cornwell, 1999, p.5)

Locating action research(Adapted from Zeni, 1998)Quantitative

Qualitative‘Traditional’ research

Outsider: researcher investigating teachers’ practices
Classroom experimentClassroom ethnography/case study(Techniques of natural science/agriculture)(Techniques of anthopology)(control/experimental groups, inferential statistics)(observation, interview)

Goal: To analyse/measure

Goal: To document
someone else’s teaching/learning

Action research
Insider: researcher documenting their own practices
Classroom experimentation
Classroom ethnography(Techniques of descriptive statistics)(Techniques of case study, autobiography)(surveys, small-n statistics, test scores, word counts)(observation, interview, journals, self-reflection)

Goal: To understand/change/improve/develop
participants (teacher/students/others) teaching and learning

What AR does not typicallydo Set out to prove/disprove an experimental
hypothesis
 Establish control/experimental groups Draw on pre-test/post-test methods in theexperimental sense Emphasise inferential statistical analyses
 Produce generalisable findings
In other words, AR is exploratory research, notresearch in the positivist, experimental tradition

How does AR differ fromother research?
 It is research with people not on people Conducted in a specific social situation
 The teacher is a direct participant in the research (actor +researcher) It deliberately intervenes in the research situation to achieve
understanding/change
 It is “subjective” rather than “objective”
 It produces local theories for practice rather than generalisablefindings

So, how do we do AR?
Plan - develop a plan of action to improve
what is already happening
Act - act to implement the planObserve - observe the effects of the actionin the context in which it occursReflect - reflect on these effects to produce
further plans and actions, through asuccession of cycles.
(Based on Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988)

Finding a focus for AR
The first step is to find your general
focus or topic.
Have you had a teaching dilemma,
problem or puzzle in mind for sometime?

Finding a focus for AR
What topic(s) are you interested inresearching?
How did you identify these topics?
Why are they of interest to you?

Think about the scope ofyour research
Ask yourself:

 Am I interested in individuals or groups?
 What resources will I have? (time,materials, resources, funding?
 Who else do I need to include(managers, administrators, colleagues,students, former students)?
 What ethical issues must I consider?

Considering ethical issues
You should inform students and get
their permission to be involved
What happens if they refuse to beinvolved?
You can still conduct yourresearch, but should not include
those students or data from them.

Refining your focus anddeveloping questions
Questions should be: Clear: unambiguous and understandable
 Specific: can see how to answer them Answerable: can see what data areneeded Relevant: worthwhile for the context
 Interconnected: form a coherent wholeBut…not all AR has to start with fully developed questions!

Deciding on your data sources
Consider your AR focus and questions: What are the main actions you will put inplace?
 What data do you need to document theactions and answer your question(s)?
 What method(s) will you use for collecting
the data?

Develop your plan of action
and collect data
Two main sources of data collection:
Observational (what people do)
Non-observational (what people think)Collecting observational data observation (watching a social situation)
 observation notes (factual accounts ofevents)
 recordings (audio or video, MP3, Web 2.0tools)
 transcripts (documenting interactions) photographs (visual shots of context)
 maps/diagrams (layout/interactions) documents (materials, texts produced incontext)

Collecting non-observationaldata research journal/diary (recordingideas/thoughts)
 “jottings” (memory aids)
 surveys/questionnaires (closed, rank
option, open questions) interviews (structured, semi/unstructured) narratives (autobiography/life history)
 discussions (conversations/focus groups)

Teacher comments: The last word
22

[I have a]betterawareness ofstudents’needs andattitudes.

It’s broughthome to me
how important
it is that thestudents
decide.

I’ll keep the linesofcommunication
open withstudents tobetter informmy teaching.

Teacher comments: The last word!
It’s a wonderful
opportunity tolook at researchin a practical way.

[I ended up with] more
knowledge of learnerautonomy and goal settingtheories and research skills.

I’ve gained practical skills relating to
how to set up and run a researchstudy and I’m more familiar with AR
as a research methodology.
23

My personal observations on
how AR empowers teachers
 focuses on the participants in the social situation
 moves towards ‘a better world’ for Ts/Ss questions the status quo - greater awareness ofassumptions that our shape teaching/learning in thesocial situation
 provides greater awareness of your own subjective,
frames of reference encourages us to confront inequities in the system works to transform/improve thesocial situation

My favourite quote!

Being involved in action researchworks inside you like a vaccine. Onceyou have been vaccinated, you are[vaccinated] for life.
(Mariacarla - a teacher who worked
with my colleague Grazziella Pozzo inItaly).

A resource book for AR

To find out more

www.professoranneburns.com
There is a video on this website which explains the action
research process and which relates to many of theissues that will be covered in the project workshopsReferences
Burns, A. (1999). Collaborative action research for English language teachers.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A guide forpractitioners. New York: Routledge.
Burns, A., Edwards, E., & Ellis, N.J. (2023). Sustaining action research: A guide for
institutional engagement. Routledge.
Carr, W & Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming critical: Knowing through action research.
Geelong, Vic: Deakin University.
Cornwell, S. (1999). An interview with Anne Burns and Graham Crookes. The Language
Teacher, 23 (12), 7-9.
McPherson, P. (1997). Action research: Exploring learner diversity. Prospect: A Journalof Australian TESOL, 12 (1), 50-62.
McPherson, P. (2008). Exploring student responses in an immigrant language program.
In A. Burns & J. Burton (Eds.), Language teacher research in Australia and New
Zealand (pp. 117-132). Alexandria, VA.: TESOL.
Santana-Williamson, E. (2001). Early reflections: Journaling a way into teaching. In J.
Edge (Ed.), Action research. Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
Stringer, E. & William, G. (2004). Action research in health. Upper Sadle River, NJ.:Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.