Action Research versus Collaborative reflective teaching

In the Wednesday Skype meeting, I went over the web site and discussed where I saw it going.
But I think in my explanation I wasn’t clear on the whole activity theory process and how the web site is designed with that theory in mind.

What I think other members took away from the meeting was that this is a web site designed for action research. In some respects it is, and by all means can be used for that, but my real intention is for this web site to be used for collaborative reflective teaching.

What is this? Basically it is based on a concept where teachers help each other grow and develop within the framework of the MA course. We all work together to help each other understand the material. If we take this new knowledge then and bring it to the classroom, we can see what this MA material has helped us understand in terms of what goes on in the classroom and how to apply it. This is going from theory to practice. Then as teachers, we come back to the MASH page and we share our experiences with other teachers. ‘Hey, did you try this in your class? What happened? I did too, and this is what happened…’ From this we can reflect with other teachers on how this theory applies to the classroom, how it works and what actually happened in all of our respective classrooms. This is going from practice to theory.
As we develop the MASH site and continue to work within this cycle, we reach a level in which we start to generate our own theories. We have the potential to create a new wave of thinking, new methodologies, new concepts. This is what the MASH site will help us to do. It is not action research, it is a way of being a teacher. It is a way of collaborating to become a better teacher and to make your MA into something spectacular.

Mark