Abstract

Action Research in Teacher Education: A Caribbean Perspective – Globally, teacher research, may be known as Action Research (A.R.) which is a means to examine teaching and learning practices in education. A.R. presents an opportunity to investigate, via planned steps, a strategy, and a system, that is experienced. Teacher research efforts nurture professional and personal growth and help educators solve problems and find solutions. The journey usually leads to clarity, change and improvement within work practices. The action and research is often a collaborative effort which follows a spiral of distinct cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting, that can lead to a better understanding of teaching role as it changes and develops over time. A.R. is a flexible research mode that can accommodate various methodological approaches. It is really a means to produce conceptual knowledge while exploring change and new ways of knowing. Some have suggested that A.R. is a cyclical iterative process of action and reflection on and in these actions “there is no separation between, but instead integration of, theory and practice, research and development” (Zuber-Skerritt, 2018, p. 518).