Learning activities of student-teachers during action-research

Abstract

Action research is an important tool in upgrading the level of theoretical knowledge and improving the quality of education by reflection (Carr & Kemmis, 1986; Steinberg & Kincheloe, 1998). Implementing action research in the curricula of pre-service teacher training is an effective way to implement action research at the secondary schools. But how do people learn to carry out action research? In order to get a better understanding of this learning process, 14 student teachers who have been working in a Professional Development School (PDS) were followed in a course on action research. The research question was: Which Personal Learning and Action Theory (PLAT) (van der Sanden, 2004) do student teachers have, what learning activities do they perform during the process of action research and what learning outcomes do students describe in a learning environment designed to support action research.