Action Research: Modern Approaches to UK Post-16 Education

Running head: ACTION RESEARCH 1
1
1
1
1
1
Action research
Name
Institution
Professor
Course
Date

ACTION RESEARCH 2

ACTION RESEARCH 3
Task 1: THE OVERVIEW OF THE MAIN MODERN APPROACHES TO UK POST-16
EDUCATION
Table of Contents
1.0: Task 1: The overview of the main modern approaches to uk post-16
education........................................................................................................ 1
1.1: The purpose of action research 2
1.2: key features of the action research process 3
1.3: The implications of a model of action research 4
2.0: Task 2 5
2.1: Justification of the own choice of an area of practice for action research 6
2.2: an Intervention strategy 7
2.3: Justification of the choice and timescales of an intervention strategy 8
2.4: Explanation of how ethical and political considerations and issues of confidentiality will be
observed in practice 9
2.5: Implementation of a clear intervention strategy 10
Task 3: 11
3.1: Evaluation of the methods for action research 12
3.2: Evaluation of the methods of collecting qualitative and quantitative data 13
3.3: Review of ways in which collected data may be analyzed 14
Task 4: 16

ACTION RESEARCH 4
4.1: Drawing on selected literature relating to an area of practice for action research 16
4.2: Justifying on own choice of methods selected for action research 17
4.3: Collection of the data relating to an area of practice for action research 18
4.4: Analysis of the data collected from action research 19
4.5: Presentation of the data collected from action research 20
4.6: Drawing the conclusions based on findings from action research 21
Task 5: 22
5.1: Report own findings and conclusions from action research 23
5.2: Justification of own recommendations for action to be taken based on conclusions from
action research 24
Task 6: 25
6.1: Analysis of the effectiveness of own practice in relation to action research 26
6.2: Identification of own strengths and areas for improvement in relation to action research
27
6.3: Plan opportunities to improve own skills in action research 22
6.4: References 23
6.5: Appendix 24

ACTION RESEARCH 5
1.1: The purpose of action research
Introduction
Action research is defined as studies carried out mostly in the field of education as the
course of an activity to improve on certain approaches and method involved. It can also be
defined as transformative change in which simultaneous process of doing research is critically
reflected. The purpose of this research is to identify the various modern approaches that will be
taken by the UK post 16 education system (Mills, 2010 p.34). The strategies identified will offer
a great opportunity for disadvantaged students to follow in large numbers. In addition, the
purpose of the research is based on the identification of the post-16 education system that will
help many disadvantaged students secure their jobs. The research is purposely meant for
identification of the huge numbers of the possible job opportunities following the diverse range
of the underprivileged students and the different subject taught (Burke, 2015 p.323). The
research as well is based on identifying the education factors which add up to make the modern
post 16 education system. In addition, the research is purposely aimed at identifying the daily
challenges which affect the post-16 education system and how to solve them. The research has
set out the hypothesis to be tested on the modern complexity of the post-16 education system
(Sharp and Green, 2015 p. 3453). It defines how learners can experience difficult ties in making
their future decisions on routes after their education. The aim of this research is basically
assessing how students make their education choices post-16 and what kind of data they use to
do so.

ACTION RESEARCH 6
Figure 1: Inclusive education
Source:https://encryptedtbn0.gstatic.com/images?
q=tbn:ANd9GcQx73oz8HYntziEIEUr8IrkRdLX3VoXOtea_5xSI3FtgWHvvqGS
Additionally, the search tries to explore the sources of the data which are used and how they
make use of the same data. This is connected to how post-16 learners use the information
provided to make decisions regarding their education choices. In addition, the research also tries
to reflect on how this process differs from one leaner to another or an institution to another
(James. 2019 p.723). The study also tries to bring a clear understanding of how advice provided
interacts with the choices made by the students. Besides, the research explores the potential
advantages related to the centralized system applications that support effective decisions made
by the students.

ACTION RESEARCH 7
Figure 2: Post-16 student direct steps
Source: https://dlconline.co.uk/images/stories/post16thumb001.png
Task 1.2: key features of the action research process
The key features of the action research process mainly focus on research on students aged
16-19 currently involving in the post-16 education sector in England. This context includes post-
16 related schools and academics with sixth forms. In addition, it involves the university
technical colleges, FE colleges, sixth form colleges, and high education institutions (Hamilton,
2017 p.2773). The key features of the research are focusing on the decision made during the key
transition process from 16 and 18 since the high education sample of students is limited to the
first year of the undergraduate. In this research, the mixed-method approach is used because it
combines semi-structured and large-scale interviews with current learners 16 and above. The key
features identified include;
When the decisions are made: In this feature, although some young people think that their post
16 choices begin as early as at their primary level, it is very real that most of them even start at
11. The other key feature is based on grammar school pupil and the learners on pathways of

ACTION RESEARCH 8
academic. This is tied to the young people with at least a parent having university education
level. This feature is also applied to the students with special education needs who may think that
their post-16 choices are too earlier than other groups of students (Cathcart and Esland, 2015
p.423-722). The young students leave their final choices until their final year of the student
before they make the transition choices.
Individual Source of information help: Most young people do consult at least with one
individual for information support when making their decision, but in other cases, other students
consult with more than three sources. The young people do use their parents, friends, and
teachers for the information when making their decisions. Some other students are limited to the
local employers and local career advisers (Gleeson and McLean, 2014 p. 233). The students who
use these resource materials get sufficient information when making their decisions. Besides,
people who make use of the staff when making their decisions finds it useful to use the action
research framework. The fact that most learners within the technical and academic routes do
consult almost the same source, the one within the technical routes considers the resources less
helpful as compared to those in academic fields.
Figure 3: survey statistics