Action Research: You can Lead a Horse to Water but You Can't Make Him Drink

     The purpose of  the school is to educate all students. All of the functions of the school should be focused on maximizing learning for all students to the fullest extent of their inherent potential. When considering all the areas that avail themselves to campus based action research, they all eventually affect the learning of the students.

      When I rode and trained horses for the public, I was once chastised by an older, more experienced horse training mentor for worrying too much about "why" a horse behaved or responded in a certain manner instead of simply getting on them to fix them. He told me to quit worrying about why and focus my energy and resources on changing those things. He was attempting to impress upon me the importance of not making excuses for the behaviors and work towards changing them. The same man taught me the key  to riding and training horses is through "feel" or two -way communication between every part of the horse and rider. A stream of constant data feed back and reassessment that allows  the rider to answer the why question at the root of the problem. He was telling me that what appears to be the problem and solution cannot be determined until I get up on the horse and research closely what is actually occurring through the data about the horses body movements collected via "feel". In the end, it can all be boiled down to a cue and a response relationship between the horse and rider based upon "feel". The rider can give a cue, modifying its intensity, duration, and location in order to receive a response. In the end, no matter how skilled the horseman, how strong the cue or how sweet the reward the response is entirely the horse's decision. You cannot make an 1100 pound animal do what is dead set on not doing, no matter how simple the task.


      It is important to remember that as an administrator, I cannot change the actions or attitudes of another person. I can initiate, research, issue suggestion, issue directive, threaten, document, and beg. The final decision of action and implementation is ultimately in the hands of the teacher or student. Action research should not focus so much on controlling, directing, or changing the behavior of teachers and students. It should focus on understanding why behavior exists in the manner it does. Then the focus then becomes how to best use the knowledge gained to influence the change desired. The best purpose for action research in initiating change in behavior is convincing the horse it is their own idea to drink from the pond to which you have led them.








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