Participatory Action Research (PAR) cum Action Research (AR) in Teacher Professional Development: A Literature Review

This paper reviews Participatory Action Research as an approach to teacher professional development. It maps the origins of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and discusses the benefits and challenges that have been identified by other researchers in utilizing PAR approaches in conducting research. It draws ideas of combining the features of Action Research (AR) and Participatory Action Research (PAR) to plot research cell design or teacher network design to enhance research for action, action for research and creation of knowledge and theories while solving problems occurring in classroom settings. The discussion focuses on reflective practice and andragogy as the featured characteristics of AR and PAR. These are noted to develop quality teachers to attain quality learning and quality assurance. The review also provides probable benefits of PAR framework to Philippine education; probable challenges and issues that may arise in the implementation; and future directions of PAR implementation in the Philippines aimed to attain education quality through teacher quality.