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to gather information about and subsequently improve the ways their particular school operates, how they teach and how well their students
learn. From the definitions above, it can be summarized that action
research is the systematic study of efforts to overcome educational problems for improvement which is done by practitioners or teachers, or in
collaboration of teacher and researcher by means of their own practical action and their own reflection upon the effect of those sections.
2. Features of Action Research
Somekh 1993 in Burns 1999: 34 suggests there are some features of action research as follows:
a. The research focuses on a social situation; b. In the situation participants collaborate with other and with outsiders to
decide upon a research focus and collect and analyze data; c. The process of data collection and analysis leads to the construction of
theories and knowledge; d. To evaluate these changes, further data are collected and analyzed, leading
to refinement of theories and knowledge, which are in their turn tested in practice;
e. At some point, through publication, these theories and knowledge are opened up to wider scrutiny and made available for others to use as
applicable to their situations. This interrupts the cyclical process of
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research and action, but is useful in bringing the research to a point of resolution, if only temporarily.
Burns 1999: 30 suggests a number of general features which characterize an action research. They are:
1. Action research is contextual, small scale and localized. It identifies and investigates problems within a specific situation.
2. It is evaluative and reflective as it aims to bring about change and improvement in practice.
3. It is participatory as it provides for collaborative investigation by teams of colleges, practitioners and researcher.
4. Changes in practice are based on the collection of information or data, which provides the impetus for changes.
3. The Model of Action Research
According to Kemmis and Mc Taggart 1998 in Burns 1999: 32, action research occurs through a dynamic and complementary process, which consists of
four essential ‘moments’: of planning, action, observation and reflection. These moments are the fundamental steps in a spiraling process through
which participants in an action research group undertake to: a. Planning
Develop a plan of critically informed action to improve what is already happening.
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b. Action Act to implement the plan.
c. Observation Observe the effects of the critically informed action in the context in
which it occurs. d. Reflection
Reflect on these effects as the basis for further planning, subsequent critically informed action and so on, through a succession of stages.
The Action Research in this context uses the model developed by Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns 1999: 32. According to the model, the implementation
of the action research includes four steps: 1 Identifying problems and planning the action, 2 Implementing the action and observing or monitoring the action,
3 Reflecting the result of observation, and 4 Revising the plan. The spiral model can be illustrated below:
Plan Reflection
Cycle 1
Action Observation
Revised plan Reflection
Cycle II
Action Observation
Revised plan
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4. The Procedure of Action Research
