1. 7-1
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Action Research
Geoffrey E. Mills
Fifth Edition
© 2014, 2011, 2007, 2003, 2000
Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Guide for the Teacher Researcher

2. 7-2
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Action Planning
for Educational Change

3. 7-3
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
“No action without
research; no research
without action.”
—K. Lewin, cited in Adelman, 1993, p. 8

4. 7-4
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Developing Action Plans
 Reflect: “Based on what I have
learned from this investigation,
what should I do now?”

5. 7-5
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Steps to Action
 Summarizing findings
 Recommending action
 Determining responsibilities
 Sharing findings with colleagues
 Ongoing monitoring (data
collection)
 Creating timeline
 Developing resources

6. 7-6
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Steps-to-Action Chart

7. 7-7
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Levels of Action Planning
 Individual
 curriculum development, implementation
 instructional & assessment strategies
 classroom management strategies/plans
 community involvement
 Team
 teachers, administrators, parents
 Schoolwide

8. 7-8
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Action Should Be Ongoing
 Taking action is a regular part of
teaching
 based on formative feedback
 often intuitive and informal

9. 7-9
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Reflection
 What were the intended and
unintended effects of your actions?
 What educational issues arise from
what you have learned about your
practice?

10. 7-10
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Challenges Facing Teacher
Researchers
 Lack of resources
 Resistance to change
 Reluctance to interfere with others’
professional practices
 Reluctance to admit difficult truths
 Finding a forum to share what you
learned
 Making time for action research

11. 7-11
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Facilitating Educational
Change
 Restructure power and authority
relationships
 Use top-down and bottom-up
strategies
 Seek and gain support
 Consider every person to be an agent
of change

12. 7-12
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Facilitating Educational Change
 Remember change is not neat, linear,
or rational
 Attend to school culture
 Remember that outcomes must
benefit students
 Consider hope as a critical resource

13. 7-13
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Do Teachers Gain?
 New commitments to action
 New relationships with colleagues
 Freedom from accepting with blind
faith something that may have
been forced on you
 The belief and knowledge that
those who are the real
beneficiaries are the students in
your care