A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

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| Where do I go from here?
9.1 Sharing your research with others
Task 9.1
Before reading on, take a moment to consider the above 
question.
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Is this the end of your journey? Or just the beginning? 
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How do you feel about what you have learnt? 
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Do you want to share it, or build on it?
There is of course no one simple answer to any of these 
questions. Your decisions at this stage will depend very 
much on you, your research and the other obligations in 
your life. One thing you can do is share what you have learnt 
in your research, and we will consider how you can do that 
orally or through a written report while respecting 
participants’ rights. You may wish to join a wider community 
of teacher-researchers and/or you may want to start the 
process again and embark on another Exploratory Action 
Research experience. 
So, rather than it coming to an end, your first Exploratory 
Action Research project is likely to be the beginning of a 
longer process of development and interaction with other 
teacher-researchers. 
As Daniela, one of the Champion Teachers, noted (and we 
hope you will agree!):
“Research is a wonderful tool and opportunity to begin 
that change we so desperately need.”
First let’s look at how you can present your research to 
colleagues, and audio- or video-record and share your 
presentation further.
Task 9.2 @
Write a list of potential advantages of sharing your research 
with others. Think of how it can benefit you, yourself, not 
only other teachers. You can find some of our ideas in the 
answer key.
The first step to take to share the findings of your 
Exploratory Action Research could be to make a brief 
presentation to other teachers. This may happen in a 
teacher development session in your own school, during
a regional workshop, a local teachers’ meeting, or even
at a conference. If, like most people, you are nervous about 
giving a presentation, perhaps the best place to start could 
be in front of your own colleagues. The more often you give 
the same presentation, in different places, the better it will 
become! A presentation doesn’t have to be very long.
You may want just to talk about it for three to five minutes
in front of a poster, as in our next example, or you may 
prefer to show a few PowerPoint slides of photos, quotes
or results charts. Don’t forget to allow time for questions 
and discussion at the end – this can be the most useful