Educational Psychology

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practical as action research. Or it may not, depending on whether you can find a way to observe and reflect on
students' social interactions, or lack thereof. Much depends on your circumstances—on the attention you can afford
to give to your research problem while teaching, in relation to the benefits that solutions to the problems will bring
students later. In general any action research project may require certain choices about how to teach, though it
should not interfere with basic instructional goals or prevent coverage of an important curriculum. The main point
to remember is that action research is more than passive observation of students and classrooms; it also includes
educational interventions, efforts to stimulate students to new thinking and new responses. Those are features of
regular teaching; the difference is primarily in how systematically and reflectively you do them.

Benefiting from all kinds of research...........................................................................................................

Although we authors both feel a degree of sympathy for the nature and purposes of action research, we are not
trying to advocate for it at the expense of other forms of educational research or at the expense of simply reading
and understanding professional publications in general. The challenge for you, as a classroom teacher, is to find the
value in all forms of professional development, whether it be participation in a professional association, reading
general articles about research, or engaging in your own action research. To the extent that you draw on them all,
your ways of learning about teaching will be enriched. You will acquire more ways to understand classroom life,
while at the same time acquiring perspective on that life. You will learn ways to grasp the individuality of particular
students, but also to see what they need in common. You will have more ways to interpret your own experiences as
a professional teacher, but also be able to learn from the professional experience of others. Realizing these benefits
fully is a challenge, because the very diversity of classrooms renders problems about teaching and learning complex
and diverse as well. But you will also gain good, professional company in searching for better understanding of your
work—company that includes both educational researchers, other professional teachers, and of course your
students.

Chapter summary

The complexities of teaching require teachers to continue learning throughout their teaching careers. To
become a lifelong reflective practitioner, teachers can rely on colleagues as a resource, on professional associations
and their activities, and on professional publications related to educational issues and needs. Understanding the
latter, in turn, requires understanding the purposes of the published material—whether it is offering a general
framework, recommending desirable teaching practices, or advocating for a particular educational policy or need.
Interpreting published material also requires understanding the assumptions that authors make about readers’
prior knowledge and beliefs.

An important additional strategy for becoming a reflective practitioner is action research—studies of teaching
and learning designed and carried out by teachers in order to improve their own practice. By nature, action
research studies are highly relevant to classroom practice, but there are also cautions about it to keep in mind, both
ethically and practically.

Key terms

action research

assumptions about readers’ prior knowledge

informed consent

insuring privacy of students

insuring freedom to participate

professional associations

purposes of educational research

reflective practitioner

Educational Psychology 373 A Global Text