What I've learned about Action Research

Today, I have been reading a lot about using inquiry or action research as an administrator to help solve problems, or improve upon the different policies and processes of a campus, or district. After reading just a few pages, I realized that I already utilize action research as a classroom teacher! Action research is simply reflecting on the issues that pertain to your particular situation or classroom, and utilizing the data collected from that same situation or classroom to make a plan of action.  Many times, simply sharing information amongst other teachers facing the same issues as you, could be a method of collecting good data.  Action research doesn't have to be scientific; it simply has to be real, observable or explainable situations.  I could simply survey a group of teachers asking what they have found to work best when dealing with a specific situation, and the average out the responses to come up with the best "proven" solution. Action research promotes communication between administrators, administrators and teachers, teachers and teachers, teachers and parents, teachers and students, administrators and parents, and the list goes on and on. What I love about it the most is that it is relevant to YOUR specific situation, and it certainly requires the administrator to seek out EVERY viewpoint pertaining to an issue. 

I plan to use action research immediately for my classroom, but from the perspective of a future administrator, I plan to utilize action research to help design professional development activities, as well as problem solve for employees who need direction.