Action Research in the Post-16 Sector

Claire Collins, OTLA English programme lead for the Education and Training Foundation, and Dr Catherine McPartland share their experiences of running action research (AR) projects in the post-16 sector and offer some practical suggestions to support AR projects.

At the latest Forum of the Centres for Excellence in Mathematics, held at Plymouth College on the 28th of November, Claire and Catherine focussed on how project leaders can:

• Enable teams to develop their research ideas throughout the project cycles in the knowledge that the ‘action’ in action research will always generate new avenues for exploration;
• Make sense of the data they gather and understand how data differs from evidence;
• Help their teams keep on track and continue to feel enthusiastic about their work;
• Share tools that help learners, teachers, support workers and the many others participating in the projects, to speak openly about their experiences;
• Support teams to write about their journeys and findings, starting immediately, not waiting until the end of the project cycle;
• Share techniques that can be used as part of the AR process, such as guided discussions with learners, which can also help to generate the project’s written outcomes.

Claire and Catherine drew on their current and previous work, and you can find out more about their findings here

You may also like to find out more about the OTLA English programme