DESARROLLO ORGANIZACIONAL Unidad 2 Lecturas The Action Research Planner Stephen Kemmis y Robin McTaggart Fuente: Capítulo 1 del libro del mismo nombre, editado por la Deakin University (tercera edición, 1988), páginas 5-28 Introduction The Action Research Planner is a guide for teachers and administrators interested in im- provement and change in their schools. It pro- vides a way of thinking systematically about what happens in school or classroom, imple- menting critically informed action where im- provements are thought to be possible, and monitoring and evaluating the effects of the action with a view to continuing the im- provement. Above all, the Planner is designed for school communities themselves (teachers. parents. students. administrators and others) to manage the process of improvement. By using the methods suggested here, school communi- ties can improve not only what they do, but also their understanding of what they do. A definition Action research is a form of collective- self - reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the ration- ality and justice of their own social or educa- tional practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out. Groups of par- ticipants can be teachers, students, principals, parents and other community members, -any group with a shared concern. The approach is only action research when it is collaborative, though it is important to realise that the action research of the group is achieved through the critically examined action of individual group members. In education, action research has been employed in school-based curriculum de- velopment, professional development, school improvement programs and systems planning and policy development (for example. in rela- tion to policy about classroom roles, school policies about non-competitive assessment, re- gional project team policies about their consul- tancy roles, and State policies about the con- duct of school improvement programs). As the title implies, the idea underlying the approach is that of 'action research'. The link- ing of the terms 'action' and 'research' high- lights the essential feature of the approach: trying out ideas in practice as a means of im- provement and as a means of increasing knowledge about the curriculum, teaching, and learning. The result is improvement in what happens in the classroom and school, and better articulation and justification of the educational rationale for what goes on. Action research provides a way of working which links theory and practice into the one whole: ideas-in-action. Kemmis y McTaggart The action research planner.doc/ 1