The Role of Action Research in Teachers’ Professional Development

Abstract

The challenges of contemporary education and teaching profession have resulted in an increased demand for the appropriate professional advancement and practice-based research. The action research is an approach that encourages teachers to manage and control their own work. This research was conducted with the purpose of being primarily beneficial for primary and secondary school teachers. The empirical research presented in this paper was based on the factor analysis, by which the research factors were extracted, as well as on the examination of the teachers’ attitudes towards methodological education, cognition and metacognition in teaching, reflexive practice, science education and lifelong learning in the context of the action research. The method used was descriptive together with the scaling technique and the five-level Likert scale (AISE) consisting of 29 items. The research was realized in 2020, and then retested in 2021. The number of 1021 teachers from the Republic of Serbia participated in this research. The research results showed statistically significant differences in the respondents’ responses related to the independent research variables: education cycle, teaching experience and the number of professional development seminars attended. The significance of action researches is reflected in the fact that the problems are resolved by the teachers themselves, not the scholars or academics who are not directly involved in teaching. Therefore, this research contributes to a greater motivation and support of teachers to raise their classroom activities and accomplishments to the level of a scientific research.

Preschool Teachers’ Professional Training in the Field of Inclusive Education in The North of Kosovo and Metohija

“…In view of the analyzed results, it can be concluded that preschool teachers highly assess their own effort for creating appropriate tools for working with children (higher level 34,6% and the highest level 13,1%) and the possibility of forming educational groups with appropriate number of children (higher . Preschool Teachers' Professional Training in the Field of Inclusive Education in The North of Kosovo and Metohija,International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science,Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE),11(1),[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] level 35,4% and the highest level 8,5%). Moreover, preschool teachers highly assessed advice from professional associates in everyday work with children (higher level 33,8% and the highets level 10,0%), in spite of the fact that they are not satisified with their support.…”

Inclusive Education Organization Skills of Preschool Teachers: An Exploratory Study in The Northern Mountainous Regions of Vietnam

“…The study cross European project on "Inclusive early childhood education" pointed out the inclusive education outcomes in the centre, fed by (2) proximal inclusive education processes, and (3) struc-tural factors within the micro environment of the pre-school; and the more distant influences of (4) inclusive structural factors at community (or meso and exosys-tem levels), and (5) at national (or macro) levels (Paul, A. et al 2021). The need for training to enhance the knowledge and skills of preschool teachers in inclusive classrooms has been studied by many authors in many countries (Maria, K. et al, 2023, Kompirović, T. et al 2023.…”

Science teachers' experiences in preparing a scientific research project: An action research

“…An action research design was employed in this study to provide Science teachers who were pursuing their Master's degrees with an opportunity to gain knowledge in preparing a research project, express their perspectives on this process, and examine the outcomes of their engagement. Action research allows teachers to take control of their own work and obtain data that will benefit their methods (Osmanović Zajić, Mamutović, & Maksimović, 2021). It is valuable in this respect.…”