Action Research Series | Heather Francis & Heidi Dimmick | What is action research?

Show Notes:

Heather Francis, co-host, and Heidi Dimmick, a 3rd-grade teacher discuss the value of action research for teachers improving their practice of arts integration in the classroom. This episode is for any teacher interested in systemic inquiry and reflective practice as a method of professional learning and advocacy within the field of education and arts education.

This episode demystifies the term "research" and describes how practicing teachers can and already do fit action research into their professional practice and how tweaking a few of the intentional data collection and analysis strategies can lead to large dividends in professional learning. Heather is definitely team research, but she's paid to do research, Heidi, the guest on this episode is a practicing teacher who understands the effort involved and also the value and benefit of that effort. 

If you're interested in improving your practice as a teacher and bringing the arts into your classroom, consider a self study or action research project to help uncover the best practices for you and your students. Find a critical friend, someone who has high expectations of your performance, who believes in you and will encourage you along your path of improvement. A critical friend is a colleague throughout the action research process who can help you find your blindspots, reflect from a new perspective, and try new ideas or strategies you may not have discovered on your own.

Teachers are doing action research all the time, or at least parts of it, as they collect and analyze data in an effort to improve their practice and student learning in the classroom. There are certain things already for the state of Utah that are required like Dibels tests at the beginning of the year for reading. We take a mid year assessment and look at the score, and then and end of year assessment, and then we see how what we are doing for fluency is working. Or what needs to change to improve fluency. This naturally happens. Sometimes teachers are doing action research without actual realizing they are doing action research. 

Links Mentioned:

• BYU ARTS Partnership Arts Integration Endorsement Program
• Action Research: Three approaches

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Don't forget to peruse the bank of lesson plans produced by the BYU ARTS Partnership Arts in dance, drama, music, visual arts, media arts. Search by grade-level, art form or subject area at www.education.byu.edu/arts/lessons.