Lesson 5.3: Action Research for Impact
Lesson Objective
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to lead a small-scale action research project to enhance neuro-inclusive provision in a specific area of your school.
Making Change That Works
Action research is a simple but powerful process for improving practice. It’s about practitioners like you systematically studying your own work to solve a real-world problem. Instead of guessing what might work, you identify an issue, try a new strategy, and gather evidence to see if it made a difference. It’s how we create genuine, evidence-based improvements in our schools.
“Action research turns you from a practitioner who follows best practice into a leader who creates it.”
A Simple Four-Step Cycle
You can think of action research as a continuous loop of reflection and action.
1. Plan: Identify a Problem & Plan an Intervention
Based on your observations (and your policy audit from lesson 5.1), what is one small thing you want to improve? What new strategy will you try? (e.g., “Problem: The transition to assembly is very dysregulating. Plan: I will introduce a visual social story about assembly to a small group of pupils.”).
2. Act: Implement Your Plan
Put your planned intervention into practice for a set period of time (e.g., two weeks).
3. Observe: Gather Evidence
How will you know if your change is working? Observe the pupils’ responses. You could use a simple tally chart (e.g., number of dysregulated incidents), brief anecdotal notes, or ask for pupil feedback.
4. Reflect: Analyse Your Findings
Look at your evidence. What happened? Did the new strategy have the impact you hoped for? Why or why not? What will you do next—continue the strategy, adapt it, or try something new?
An Action Research Project in a Primary School
[Video: A case study of a practitioner explaining their simple but effective action research project on improving lunchtime inclusion]
Planning Your Action Research Project
This is the central project for your Level 4 certification. It’s time to lay the groundwork.
Your task is to complete the ‘Plan’ stage of the action research cycle. In the ‘Action Research Plan’ template provided in the resources, define your project.
You need to clearly state: 1. The specific problem or issue you want to address. 2. The new strategy or intervention you will introduce. 3. How you will observe and gather evidence of its impact.
This plan will form the basis of the final assessment for this module.