Action research is without a doubt a form of advocacy and agency, but what are these terms in the context of educational and counseling practices and what is the difference between the two?

1. Merriam Webster Dictionary (2021a) defines advocacy as the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal; or as we like to say colloquially in the field of education, ‘talking the talk’. Whereas, agency is defined as the capacity, condition, or state of acting (Merriam Webster Dictionary (2021b) or as we like to say colloquially in the field of education, ‘walking the walk’.
2. Counselors often feel that their voices are not heard and that they have the least amount of power; counselor research is one way for counselors to actively be heard as it is practical, action-based research, which extends upon the work they already engage in every day. It allows counselors to utilize the results to customize their practice to the students/clients and their own needs.
3. Through their daily practice, counselors are already engaging in a range of research practices such as collecting multiple forms of data on students/clients through observations, assignments, learning stories, learning continua’s, diagnostic testing, etc. So, action research allows counselors to utilize these tools to answer their own questions about and reflections on, their everyday counseling practice.
4. While engaging in these practices’ counselors become an advocate for change and possibly certain strategies or methods for healing. The research process provides a fertile ground for advocacy and the growth of the counselor in becoming an agent of change, not only within their own practice, but in the broader sense amongst their colleagues and the wider profession. This shift from advocate to agent of change begins to develop as their research findings will potentially affect people outside of the counseling office and provide evidence to stakeholders on what works or has an impact on student/client growth.
5. Counselor research in this way can empower counselors to have their voices heard both within the profession and with the various stakeholders, including policy makers. This type of research can even involve collaboration with fellow colleagues, professional researchers and other stakeholders. Working in a collaborative manner with stakeholders promotes collective knowledge of what is working well and what needs to be adjusted to meet desired outcomes and learner needs. These collaborative research projects have the potential to influence policy development/revision by having counselors and students/ clients voices actively heard and acted upon.