Action Research

Questions;

All tasks should be presented in a professional written format of your choice and include evidence of your
research with references. This includes linking research coherently to your writing and using referencing,
such as a bibliography, citing and quotes.
Task A Literature review
Carry out research into action research. Produce a literature review which:
a) explains the purpose of action research (ref. 1.1)
b) analyses key features of the action research process (ref. 1.2)
c) analyses the implications of a model of action research (ref. 1.3)
d) evaluates methods of collecting qualitative and quantitative data (ref. 3.2)
e) evaluates methods for action research. (ref. 3.1)
Task B Proposal
Using your research and literature review, select an area of practice for action research and prepare a
project proposal that:
a) draws on selected literature relating to an area of practice for action research (re
92 Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (6502)
Assignment 505 Action research
Tasks (continued)
Task C Research report
Using your literature review and proposal, carry out action research in your selected area of practice.
Produce a report on the action research in your area of practice, which summarises:
a) the implementation of a clear intervention strategy (ref. 2.5)
b) how the data was collected and presented (ref. 4.3, 4.5)
c) the analysis of the data collected from the action research (ref. 4.4, 4.5)
d) the conclusions drawn, based on your findings from the action research. (ref. 4.6)
Your report should include an executive summary that:
e) reports your findings and conclusions from the action research (ref. 5.1)
f) justifies your recommendations for action to be taken based on the conclusions from the action
research. (ref. 5.2)
Task D Reflective account and plan
Provide a reflective account in which you:
a) analyse the effectiveness of your own practice in relation to action research (ref. 6.1)
b) identify your own strengths and areas for improvement in relation to action research. (ref. 6.2)
Produce a plan which identifies opportunities to improve your own skills in action research. (ref. 6.3)
Your reflective account and plan may be presented in professional written format.
Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (6502) 93
Assignment 505 Action research
Assessor guidance
Candidates are being judged on whether they have met the assessment criteria and not solely on
presentation, spelling, grammar etc. However a Level 5 qualification requires good presentation and
coherent written skills, evidence of a planned autonomous approach to reading and research, clear evidence
of substantial reading including professional publication and the ability to analyse, interpret and evaluate
relevant information, concepts and ideas. Candidates must demonstrate academic referencing and citing to
essential sources including the use of appropriate quotes. Writing must show critical analysis that links
theory and principles to their own practice in accordance with professional values and there must be clear
evidence of reflection.
Tutors may guide candidates by using the word counts identified with each task, but please note that this is
guidance only and not a requirement of the assessment. Candidates should also be reminded that it is the
quality of their work that is being judged and not the quantity.
Please refer to the Answer Pack for the grading criteria for this assignment.
Task A Literature review
Candidates should produce the literature review in a professional written format.
It is envisaged that the literature review would have an estimated word count of 800 – 1000 words,
equivalent to 3-4 pages. However please note that this is guidance only and not a requirement of the
assessment. The word count does not include the bibliography.
Task B Proposal
Candidates should produce the proposal in a professional written format and may include tables and
diagrams where appropriate. They are expected to draw on their literature review for their project proposal
and for selecting an area of practice for action research. It is essential that the action research project
proposed by candidates is small scale and manageable, and can be completed within a set time frame.
It is envisaged that the proposal would have an estimated word count of 800 – 1000 words, equivalent to 3-4
pages. However please note that this is guidance only and not a requirement of the assessment. The word
count does not include the bibliography.
Task C Research report
Candidates should produce the report in a professional written format and may include tables and diagrams
where appropriate. They are expected to draw on their literature review and proposal to carry out their
action research and produce the report with an executive summary.
It is envisaged that the research report would have an estimated word count of 800 – 1000 words,
equivalent to 3-4 pages. However please note that this is guidance only and not a requirement of the
assessment. The word count does not include the bibliography.
94 Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (6502)
Assignment 505 Action research
Assessor guidance (continued)
Task D Reflective account and plan
Candidates may produce the reflective account in a professional written format. The plan could be in the
form of a CPD plan (REfLECT), action plan, PDP etc.
It is envisaged that the reflective account would have an estimated word count of 500 –750 words,
equivalent to 2-3 pages. However please note that this is guidance only and not a requirement of the assessment.

Answers:

Task A

The term research design refers to the conceptual framework the function of which is to ensure that the evidence that is elicited enables in effectively addressing the research problem that is coherent s well as cogent. In the light of social science research, it has been found that obtaining information that is pertinent to the research problem involves the specification of the type of evidence that is needed to test the theory (Noffke and Somekh 2009). Researchers make the common mistake to commence their investigations before they can engage with the information in a critical manner that would be important to address the given research problem. A researcher needs to address these issues at the outset of the research. Depending on the nature of the research, there is the selection of appropriate research design that can address the specific research problem. Without critically engaging with the issues and problematizing the research, it would not lead to desired results. According to Petersson and Lundberg (2016), the conceptual design, generation of the concept and the selection of methods that can be deployed for the facilitation of the generation of the new ideas and thereby coming up with the most appropriate suggestions. There are different kinds of research design out of which action research design is deemed to be appropriate for conducting a research that is meant to bring in the transformation in the society. Action design research is understood be an enquiry that demands rigour and needs to constantly refine the practise (Koul 2009). There is emerging evidence on the outcomes that would contribute to the researcher’s practitioner’s continuous professional development. In United Kingdom, the origin of action research can be traced back to the Schools Council’s Humanities Curriculum Project there was initially an emphasis on the reconceptualization of the curriculum development (Stringer 2008). In United Kingdom, the most important for action design research is Lawrence Stenhouse who discussed about the importance of action research that is concerned with the emancipation and intellectual, moral and the spiritual autonomy of the people. In the United States action research has gained widespread popularity in the universities. Zeichner emphasizes that action research carries forward the action research with teachers and it is representative. Action design research is more of a method of enquiry that are deployed for the undergraduate and the postgraduate students who are in the field of higher education or other accredited courses. Students who are in their Phd courses are adopting for practical aspects offered by action design research (McAteer 2013). Scholars who are carrying out action design research believe that the act of knowing through the observation, listening and through the analysis and questioning of the data. This is concerned with the knowledge that is involved in the production of data. The new knowledge that is generated and the experiences that inform the future of the researchers direction and influence their action. Action design research is understood to be an enquiry that is adopted with rigour and insightful understanding to refine the research and the practise. The evidence based outcomes that is generated through the research contributes to the researching practitioner’s continuing development.

Task B

Introduction

The inclusivity in education is one of the major ways to understand the ways in which the society is functioning in providing the education and the related factors to the children in the society. The education of the children is one of the tenets of the development of the society and the inclusiveness in the education should ensure the equal imparting of the education to the people in the society keeping in mind the development of the overall society. the education should be an opportunity available to the students in society irrespective of their color caste creed religion and the ethnicity.

Background of the Study

 It is seen that there is a relative exclusion present in the schools and the students are not getting proper education in the society due to the social exclusion. This practice is not conducive for the development of the balanced and a developed society leading to number of issues ranging from the rise of the stereotype and prejudice in a multicultural. The improper balance in the imparting of the education will lead to the increase in the educational balance in the society leading to the economic divide and improper economy due to lack of specialized workforce.

Problem Statement

The inclusiveness of the education in the society needs the inclusion of a number of different factors in the society leading to the incorporation of a number of different factors in the society. The research should focus on the inclusion and the training of the different parts of the society in the frame of education for the better development of the popelation. Tha lack of inclusion is majorly seen in the downtrodden areas due intersectional seclusion and ususally they consist of the racial and ethnic minorities. The major issue is that this lack of education affects their ability as a workforce thereby affecting their performance and job credibility. The lack of occupation also leads to the rise of crime in the society.

Research Question

How does the inclusive in the field of education affect the life of the people in the society?

How the inclusive in education affect the society in general?

Research methodology

The research methodology takes into account the different methods that are to be employed in the formulation of the different social and ideological aspects in the society (Choy 2014). The different methods that are to be used and incorporated in the completion of the action research are to be paid attention to in making the society more inclusive of the different types of the people.

Research Philosophy

The research philosophy that is to be taken into account in this study is positivism as it substantializes the different aspects into quantifiable amounts for the proper understanding and analysis in the research (Padilla-Díaz 2015). Being a study of the society and the social issue then positivism philosophy will also help in the descriptive method of analysis  that is being used in the research. The different social and the cultural aspects of the research can be well explained.

Research Approach

            The research approach in the research will be deductive taking into account the different factors relating to the overall development of the social and the cultural thesis in the society. The deductive approach will help in the overall analysis of the development of the social context of the inclusiveness of the education in the society and the way they affect the society (Bell 2014). The deductive approach will help in the analysis of the issues relating to development in the society about the overall constructs in the society.

Research Design

The research design of the research will be descriptive taking into consideration the overall detailed structure of the research taking into mind the overall social and cultural aspects in the topic of research. The descriptive design helps the in detailed analysis of the different variables in the research (Hancock and Algozzine 2016).

Data Collection Procedure

The data collection procedure consists of the different ways of the data that is to be collected for the research. In the given research the data collection procedure will be mixed of the primary and the secondary data. The primary data will be collected from the different sources consisting of the schools and the places of education where the different processes of education process have an inclusive approach (Hewson and Stewart 2016).

Ethical Consideration

The ethical consideration in the research help in the assertion of the different ethical issues that are to be heeded in the overall collection of the data for the conducting of an ethical research.

Honor and Respect: The participant of the research should be respected and the interviewee should be made comfortable with the research.

Consensual Participation: The participation in the participants should be consensual in the case of the different research is as they have a very important role in the overall ethical and the moral issue regarding the research. In case of children the due permission should be taken from the parents for their inclusion in the research.

Ethical Data Collection: The data collection should be unbiased and should be collected from the chosen population pool without bias or discrimination. Any personal views should not also hinder the data that is being presented

No Plagiarism: The data that is being collected should not be copied from any source without giving the author or the source the due credit for the work that is to be done in the case.

Task C

As discussed in the previous section, the research was conducted in the natural settings of the classroom , playground and the school, corridor where children are mostly visible. After seeking permission from the school authorities I observed the children in these location for a period of 1 month in both the separate school and the inclusive school. Therefore, the collection of field data took a period of 2 months. During the course of fieldwork, it was observed that children who are studying in the inclusive schools participate in the everyday school activities in much more meaningful ways and it has been helpful in their learning. The support they receive from the teachers or the peer group whether in terms of their class work or the day-to-day classroom activities have contributed to their confidence and participation in the class. They are found to be participating in the everyday activities just like they should. Socializing with the able-bodied students help them in looking at themselves in a better way. In the context of the separate school, I observed that children do not feel as confident as the children who are associated with the inclusive schools. The parents who have been interviewed for the study provided prolific insights that has strengthened the understanding about inclusive education. The parents whose children are studying in the inclusive schools are of the opinion that it is the right of the children to be included and it is not their privilege. The Disabilities Education Act states that the children with disabilities nee to be educated along with the non-disabled who are of their own age and they should have access to the general educational curriculum (Kemmis, McTaggart and Nixon 2013). Children with disabilities who are part of inclusive education have been found to be better at building friendship and seeking opportunities. However, there is an another side to the findings. Parents who children are studying in the separate schools are of the view that studying with the non-disabled children may wreck their confidence as they would feel inferior considering they would not be ale to participate in the activities as that of their able-bodied cohorts. Similarly, the non-disabled children may bully the disabled children and make them feel an alien in the classroom. They are further of the view that separate schools have specially trained teachers who are in a better position to cater to the needs of the disabled pupils. Considering that the disabled children require special attention and intensive care to perform the everyday activities separate schools are more compatible with the temperament of the disabled students. Similar views were echoed by the principals and the counsellors of the separate school regarding the their motivation of the establishment of the separate school. The workshops that were conducted involving the disabled children who are studying in the separate schools and those are studying in the inclusive schools ensued that children who are associated with the inclusive schools feel more confident and are more extrovert and opinionated compared to the children who are studying in the separate school. The workshops comprised of extempore speech, recognizing the pictures of flora and fauna and basic introductory sessions.

Based on the findings it can be concluded that children who are exposed to inclusive education at the formative education feel more confident, extrovert and are empowered compared to the disabled children who are studying in the separate schools. The parents of the children also play an instrumental role in deciding in which kinds of schools these children should be studying (Best and Kahn 2016). The parents of the children whoa re in favour of inclusive education reflects their vision about the future of their children and the kind of education, they have planned for their children. On the contrary, the parents of the children who are not in favour of inclusive education and endorse separate schools believe that such schools would be better for the specialized needs of their children. In this way these children also become isolated from the non-disabled peers and when they are placed in a situation where they have to interact and socialize with the non-disabled peers and they lag behind in many activities.

Task D

A review of the action research that I designed for this specific study reveal that the adoption of the multiple methods adopted for the research is quite helpful for this study. In-depth interviews were adopted with the aim of delving deeper into the discourse of inclusive education and present the advantages of inclusive education from that of the epistemology of separate schools. The rationale behind the incorporation of workshops is to assess the impact of inclusive education and justify in what ways it is more effective for both the disabled and the non-disabled children. I feel that the workshop could have incorporated more strategies to understand the impact of inclusive education. During the course of the research, I have identified my strength and limitations that have been insightful in engaging in future research. Firstly, I realized that I have the ability to engage with children considering that children with children demands flexibility, sensitivity and patience. I also realized that that I could have spent more time in the field and pursued the parents of the children to devote more time for the interviews. Apart from these I realized that the time span more the research could have been curtailed and interviews of the caretakers of these disabled children could have also been incorporated into the research. I would improvise on all these by engaging with the scholarly work of researchers who have made contributions in the field of education through action research.

References

Bell, J., 2014. Doing Your Research Project: A guide for first-time researchers. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Best, J.W. and Kahn, J.V., 2016. Research in education. Pearson Education Ind

Cammarota, J. and Fine, M. eds., 2010. Revolutionizing education: 

Choy, L.T., 2014. The strengths and weaknesses of research methodology: Comparison and complimentary between qualitative and quantitative approaches. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(4), pp.99-104.

Hancock, D.R. and Algozzine, B., 2016. Doing case study research: A practical guide for beginning researchers. Teachers College Press.

Hewson, C. and Stewart, D.W., 2016. Internet research methods. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R. and Nixon, R., 2013. The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research. Springer Science & Business Media.

Koul, L., 2009. Methodology Of Educational Research, 4Enew E. Vikas publishing house PV

McAteer, M., 2013. Action research in education. Sage.

McNiff, J. and Whitehead, J., 2011. All you need to know about action research. Sage

Noffke, S.E. and Somekh, B. eds., 2009. The SAGE handbook of educational action r

Padilla-Díaz, M., 2015. Phenomenology in educational qualitative research: Philosophy as science or philosophical science. International Journal of Educational Excellence, 1(2), pp.101-110.

Stringer, E.T., 2008. Action research in education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prent

 

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