Formation of public opinion on reform by «Рarticipatory action research»

The article presents the materials of the survey of the notion of educators on the school of general secondary education after the completion of the reform of education in Ukraine as a vision of its long-term development. The article emphasizes that the process of reforming the general secondary education, which has been started in Ukraine, involves the participation of the community in this process: that is why the study of the perceptions of participants in the educational process about the expected result is disclosed as decisive. The tool for collecting information was the method of «participatory action research» as providing an opportunity to study social processes through their representation in the individual stories of their participants. In the article, the focus of attention moves on the method, then on the subject of the study itself. It turns out that the «participatory action research» method can be useful not only in the field of social work, but also in conducting psychological research as well as in order to stimulate the community to realize their own intentions and initiatives. The article emphasizes the benefits of the «participatory action research method» as the one that moves the focus of attention on the community as an expert, where the researcher acts as the facilitator of the process. Regarding the subject of the study, the article argues that educators view a general secondary education school as a community center where students and teachers are pleased with the learning process, the school benefits from decentralization processes, teachers have more academic freedom, and communication and trust serve the development of a comfortable learning environment. The described effects of the implementation of the stages of such research are related to increasing activity of participants in realization of their own developments, maintaining tolerance with regard to probable limiting factors by expanding the range of possibilities of activity and interaction, inspiration and belief in an optimistic outcome. The expediency of applying the method of «participatory action research» for determining the prospects of development and activation of the participants for its promotion has been stated.