Diagrams

A quick google images search for ‘action research diagrams’ will show you just how many there are to choose from. What I am looking for in a diagram is something simple and practical and to some extent aesthetically pleasing! If a diagram looks untidy with boxes and lines sticking out all over the place it puts me off looking at it in any detail.

The diagram above is based on one by Kemmis and McTaggart.[1] I like the way that it shows the passing of time and how the cycles of research take place as time goes on.

This second diagram is from a youtube video by Danny Burns which you can watch by clicking here. I like the wording of this diagram more than the previous one. The first stage ‘analyse the situation’ seems a much better place to start than ‘plan’. How do you know what to plan if you have not first analysed the situation!

Action research projects could go on forever. Most diagrams don’t seem to show an end, just a continuous cycle. It is very similar to the idea of reflective practice and Kolb’s learning cycle which should become a way of life for educators so in one sense our continuous cycle of reflection never ends. But when it comes to a research project there is always a deadline! 

This is a diagram I have made to represent my project. I have incorporated an end into the diagram because I know that I have to finish this project by the end of next month, however I have left the last box of the diagram open because at the end of the project I hope to have ideas and recommendations for future work and so the project will continue to impact on my work even after it is finished.

Any comments on my diagram or recommendations about other diagrams to look at are welcome!

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[1] Hopkins, A Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Research [Electronic Resource], 68.