What is action research and how can you use it?

Action research is inquiry or research in the context of focused efforts to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. It typically is designed and conducted by practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice. Action research can be done by individuals or by teams of colleagues. The team approach is called collaborative inquiry.
Action research has the potential to generate genuine and sustained improvements in schools. It gives educators new opportunitites to reflect on ans assess their teaching. Also, you can explore and test new ideas, methods, and materials to assess how effective the new approaches were and to share feedback with your fellow team members, plus make decisions about which new approaches to include in the team's curriculum, instruction, and assessment plans.
In action research professionals seek out change and reflect on their practice by posing questions, collect data to gain insights into their relevant literature and make changes in practice based on the new understaning that was developed during the inquiry. Professionals would also share their findings with others. I think that this is a powerful tool for both seasonal and new administrators for learning and school improvement. This is an important skill one can hold in leadership. We as leaders should always be able to assess and reassess sistuations to see if it was taken care of in the best possible way or if it may have been a better way to handle the situation.