Action research

Where to start your research?

The first step in doing research in action is to determine a problem in the classroom that
worries you and that you would like to change (see Figure 1). The first stage begins by asking
questions about what is happening in the classroom, even about those things that may seem
obvious.

1.Determining
the area of ​
study

5. Improve
your 2. Design your
methodology research

3.Make sense
of the
experience

4.Start again

Figure 1

At the most basic level, you may find that some students do not answer questions during class
or do not cope with homework. Ask yourself why is this going on? Alternatively, read Learning
Without Borders and Transformation capacity to create a more inclusive classroom environment
”(Hart et al., 2004) tostimulate the process of asking questions. Questions of this nature are
difficult to formulate, as they can lead to even more difficult answers. However, until then until
teachers start asking and solving difficult questions, seriously improve the level of learning
students in the classroom is almost impossible. In short, research in action (action research) is the
way teachers know which teachers they come in and learn to think critically about teaching and
learning processes.
“As a teacher, I noticed long ago that students are passive during hermeneutic analysis ancient
Greek literary texts ”(Tsaphos, 2009, p. 197). “One of the main problems in teaching ancient
Greek literature is inability of students to get involved in the interpretation process; namely,
apply the methods interpretations that would help them draw informed conclusions. According to
generally accepted teaching methodology, the teacher should try to conduct the necessary
connections, to reveal the unique and "noble" meaning of classical texts and offer them students.
Having taught this subject for many years, and adhering to the view, absolutely different from
the generally accepted, I decided to embark on an experimental research project, to try out
teaching methods more student-centered. My ultimate goal was to transform students from
passive recipients of information to active readers. The study was organized in the form of a
standard multistage experimental research project: plan-act-observe analyze. "
“So I decided to undertake a pilot study project, starting with determining the needs in
teaching practice. I set myself a goal develop pedagogical methods that will instill in students the
desire get involved in the learning process. As an experimental researcher, I have always
believed that practice and research should support each other, and appreciated the dialogue
between theory and practice. For this reason, I did not try in advance, in detail define any
methodology or content of the curriculum. On the contrary, within "Praxeology", I wanted to
invite students to take part in the selection and organization content of the curriculum, focusing
on teaching methods, as well as on a dynamic and reflective pedagogical process. Thus, not
pedagogical theory guided and dominated practice, but rather interpretive vision through the
prism of pedagogical theory and practice, “practical reflection is determined ... by the practical
needs of the situations and always requires critical assessment and mediation through the
judgments of the participant "
Based on my teaching experience, I decided to apply indexing (pointing) in as a teaching and
learning methodology: Students divided into teams, undertake to consider certain topics, which
are either directly indicated or found in texts, and collect information on these topics from all
training sections, while the process lasts. Topics could be as follows: women, gods, political
system, hospitality, costumes, etc. These are the topics, the opinion on which in the studied
literature is expressed gradually; constantly working on these topics, students learn to better
identify and process some basic ideological text criteria. Thus, students get acquainted with the
texts, taking into account a complex of categories, in about which they collect information to
form a common understanding of the ancient Greek civilization, based on the ancient Greek
texts, it is better to study the texts and work out the method of selecting and evaluating
information.
Specifically, their (students') active involvement in research was not motivated by their
interest in research, but by their desire participate in the discussion of the curriculum, as they
believed that it affects them personally. Of course, according to Boomer, the steps in the process
curriculum definitions in which discussion play predominant role, demonstrate great similarity
with the stages experimental research cycle:
Planning → Discussion → Teaching and Learning → Implementation → Evaluation.