Engaging Practitioners in School Reform Through Participatory Action Research

• In Event: Collaborative and Community Action Research: Working Together for Change

Abstract

Participatory action research (PAR) is a cyclical process through which community members identify a problem, create a customized solution for their setting, implement their solution, and collect data to assess their improvement plan’s effectiveness and to guide modifications for subsequent iterations. According to participants from a nine month study at a high school on Chicago’s northwest side, PAR is an accessible and effective model for engaging teachers in school improvement through local-level policymaking. Paying particular attention to organizational learning, social justice, and transformative learning theories, my research findings suggest that PAR heightens educators’ understandings of education reform, empowers teachers as change agents, and influences participants’ beliefs in how they can participate in education reform locally, regionally, and nationally.

Author

• Elizabeth Willingham Ferrell, Chicago Public Schools