Systematic Review of Action Research Strategy Barriers for the Teachers' Professional Development

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, Department of Educational Administration, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran

10.22091/jrim.2024.11103.1089

Abstract

Teachers' professional development through action research strategy is an important issue in all workplaces for encountering with complexities of modern society. This phenomenon is also true about education. This study was done with the purpose of qualitative study and systematic review of action research barriers and developing a model for it. In this study, qualitative and meta-synthesis method with the purpose of application has been used. By using purposive sampling of desirable cases, a comprehensive systematic review of documents was undertaken from different database researches and related citations between 2001 till 2023. Theme analysis was used to analyze the qualitative findings of 70 documents. Data, methodological and peripheral triangulation were used to ensure the credibility of the research. The results reveal that action research is a valuable tool for teachers to improve teaching and learning process, to increase pedagogical and instructional knowledge, and to positively impact students’ learning. Furthermore, teachers experiment difficulties in conducting action research as academic and nonacademic barriers. Academic barriers include identification and detection barriers(theoretical, methodical, attitudinal and motivational), executive barriers(managerial, financial, educational, collaborative, professional ethics, technological and creative, environmental and supportive, efficient and expert human resource)  and evaluation barriers(vague evaluation construction and judgement, weakness in noticing information, and barriers related to using results); and nonacademic barriers including individual barriers(cognitive, affective and meta-cognitive), organizational barriers( software and hardware) and extra-organizational barriers(cultural, policy making and educational system). Teachers have problems in doing action research. They don't have sufficient knowledge and skill for doing action research. Also, they don't have necessary resources and support. Additional workload and burden in the part of the teacher, writing anxiety, lack of time, and inadequate knowledge of research methodology are major barriers of teachers in conducting of action research strategy for teachers' professional development. At final, a categorization from barriers of research strategy as a conceptual model was done. Action research as a methodology acts a valuable tool for responding to growing needs of practical knowledge; a bridge between university research gaps and everyday applications; and also a strategy for participation in world competitions

Keywords


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