Action Research for Teachers: A Dose to Education's Perennial Problems

Teachers are solution-makers in their respective classrooms and school problems. Everyday teaching is, likewise an everyday researcher pursuit. As teachers cater to the needs of the learners, they are solving the day-to-day challenges of their professional career. Some problems are perennial, and some are accumulating.

As action research is the new trend for teachers, they need to be empowered in addressing the problems encountered in school. Such questions centered but not limited to students' performances and behaviors, learning environment, instructional materials, assessment practices, and classroom management, among others. 

Specifically, at the DepEd, master teachers are mandated to do action research. It is a type of study that addresses school-based issues, concerns, and problems doable within the school year. 

However, some teachers hesitate to do research. Some of the reasons include lack of a background and training in doing research, insufficient writing skills, and the very tedious processes that needed to undertake in doing action research. 

In reality, every innovation, intervention, and strategy is undertaken by teachers to improve instruction, and the teaching-learning process is considered action research in their own right. But the problem is, they are not written and adequately documented. In this sense, action research can be a useful tool to collate and document the solutions applied by teachers in addressing the problems they encountered.  

Since its introduction and formalization to the DepEd since 2015 through the issuance of orders, action research needs to be cascaded further down to the bureaucracy. Moreover, proper assistance should be given to the master teachers, school heads, and teachers in their pursuit of improvement in the educational system. When they are empowered, the culture of research in all the public and private schools can be imbibed and sustain to the fullest.