Introduction | Getting involved | Innovative practice | Reflective practice
Reflective practice
The term 'action research' is understood in many different ways, but the Languages ICT Action Research initiative used the term to mean a formalisation of reflective practice. Teachers are encouraged to articulate their aims and theories and test them out in very practical ways with pupils in the classroom. The process could be illustrated as:
Teachers may well repeat this process several times, refining their ideas as they progress, with the aim of improving practice within an individual classroom, department, school or cluster of schools, disseminating findings and conclusions as widely as possible. You may be interested to consider a number of alternative definitions from around the world. You will notice that all definitions share the essential characteristics of action, reflection and improvement:
'Action research can be described as a family of research methodologies which pursue action (or change) and research (or understanding) at the same time. In most of its forms it does this by:
- using a cyclic or spiral process which alternates between action and critical reflection and
- in the later cycles, continuously refining methods, data and interpretation in the light of the understanding developed in the earlier cycles.'
Southern Cross University Australia
'Action research is inquiry or research in the context of focused efforts to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. It typically is designed and conducted by practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice.'
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, USA
'Systematic enquiry designed to yield practical results capable of improving a specific aspect of practice and made public to enable scrutiny and testing.'
DCSF, UK
'Action Research is a fancy way of saying let’s study what’s happening at our school and decide how to make it a better place.'
Emily Calhoun (1994), USA
Exploring action research
If you want to delve deeper into the field of action research in education, try some of the following information sources:
Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice (CARPP) Useful papers for getting starting in the field of action research.
Collaborative Action Research Network Useful links to action research organisations around the world.
The Research Informed Practice Site (TRIPS), DfES The Resources section offers annotated links to research networks and organisations in the UK.
One of the key features of action research is taking time to reflect on an activity and then applying any new perspective to a second experiment. Teachers undertaking a classroom-based NOF (New Opportunities Fund) training project with CILT found the following questions and data sources useful in focusing their reflection and these are still relevant today:
Question: |
Data source: |
To what extent did pupils achieve the learning outcomes? |
Evidence from an assessment test and from the ability of pupils to recycle what they learned in different contexts |
Was/were the tasks motivating and challenging? |
Evidence from observation to indicate the extent to which pupils remained on-task |
Was the time spent by you in setting up the task and by the pupils in undertaking the task time well spent? |
Evidence from the time actually involved, as opposed to that anticipated, and the time estimated to be required to achieve the same learning outcomes using alternative media |
Was the task adequately planned? |
Evidence from observation and feedback from pupils to inform conclusions concerning, for example, clarity of instructions, preparedness of pupils |
Were the resources adequate? |
Evidence from observation and feedback from pupils |
How did the use of ICT influence the quality and nature of the language learning? |
Draw conclusions from all the evidence referred to above, not forgetting your own professional judgment |
Is the task worth repeating? If not, why not? If it is worth repeating, do any changes need to be made? |
Draw conclusions from all the evidence referred to above, not forgetting your own professional judgment |
Research papers on ICT and languages (pdf, 170 KB) 
