On Action Research The article analyses the practice experience of prospective primary school teachers, i.e. students (students-teachers) of a Lithuanian university. During these placements, the students-teachers, in consultation with highly experienced master teachers working in primary school, planned, organised and carried out action research in their work with primary school pupils. Research-based pedagogical activity has been a priority of Lithuanian educational policy for many years, emphasised in various educational documents and strategies. Through this practice is student-teachers desire to have highly reflective, but also about their pedagogical activities based on the development of reflective skills, i.e. enabling pupils to rethink what they have done, how and why they have done it, the result they have achieved. We recognise that the priorities identified are of great importance for the science and practice of education in Lithuania. However, we increasingly hear concerns from practitioners that there is not only a lack of expertise in this area, but also a lack of research to justify how these activities can be organised in a qualitative way. Many countries are adopting inquiry-based activities in the classroom: for example, the French Scientific Council of National Education identifies as educational priorities the strengthening of inquiry-based practices, the development of a plan for problem-solving strategies and the implementation of inquiry-based strategies in educational realities (Algan, 2021). The relevance of Action Research and its application in updating pedagogical practices is highlighted by Lafontaine (2016), who argues that these practices are meaningful and useful, but rarely based on research literature. The researcher presented a study on how action research-based practice trained educators working in small schools in socially disadvantaged environments. General criteria The OECD (2011) identifies a number of criteria related to the quality of education: the quality of the learning processes, the quality of the structured content of education, which constitutes the basis of the experience and the quality of the impact on the child.  All of these components take place in a specific situation and can therefore be explored and improved through action research. Action research has been identified by the European Commission as a valuable educational intervention, taking into account the needs of children, especially in the early years, as a very favourable way to address educational situations in socially vulnerable contexts (according to Eurydice, 2009). Action research-based pedagogical practice is one of the most realistic ways of implementing a teacher's deep understanding and reflection on their own practice, which involves getting to know the pupils, planning the activity in the light of the pupils' experiences and contexts, setting and implementing specific expectations and outcomes, and reflecting on the process and the outcome. It should be emphasised that it is not only the teacher who needs to do this, but also the students who need to be aware of all the steps. Miehakanda (2014) emphasises the organisation of education in the context of different cultures, and also points out that students still have limited participation in the educational process, and that educators rarely choose pedagogical methods that take into account the individuality of students. Furthermore, education is seen as the construction of knowledge through active engagement, to which each student brings his/her own attitudes and values. For these reasons, it is necessary to take the pupil into account and provide him or her with the necessary support or activities in at the right time. According to Miehakanda (2014), the teacher must carry out continuous action research in relation to pupils' achievements, which includes three key interrelated areas: selection of curriculum content and activities/methods, facilitation of interactive tasks, and dynamic inductive knowledge building/skill development. An important role is played by the 'permeation' of the whole educational process with reflective procedures, i.e. inductive and deductive reasoning, whereby there is continuous empirical monitoring of activities, breaking them down into detail, grouping them and synthesising them. These reasoning operations enable the educator to make informed and reasoned decisions about the education of students. The goal of education is the progression of each learner, and it is therefore essential to tailor teaching materials and methods to the pupils. Action research is the way forward, as the pedagogical approach involves both pupils and teacher, and it is therefore important to choose the right, constructive method. An inductive posture allows the teacher to continuously analyse the situation and evaluate the meaning of the chosen learning tools, which helps to develop the pupil's logical and critical mind. Action research leads learners to take responsibility not only for their own learning, but also for that of their friends in the cooperative group (after Ys, Mara, 2011). This device a systemic approach to enquiry that enables people to find effective solutions to problems encountered in the implementation of educational content and to deal with them appropriately. This research allows one to focus on a specific situation and address it qualitatively. If the right tools are chosen, the effectiveness of the work can be increased. Action research is particularly useful in classrooms, where teachers act as researchers, making decisions and changes to improve the quality of teaching. Unfortunately, if the methods chosen are not very advanced or appropriate, the learner suffers because their reflective procedures are not developed (Miehakanda, 2014). In Lithuania, the priority for future teacher’s (student’s-teacher’s) are actively involved in the organisation of action research, increasing the quality of practice. If the goal is to achieve educational practice based on action research, school educators should be willing to work on it, to show each other successful cases, to analyse them and to support each other in this process, and it is likely that change will occur (after Ys, Mara, 2011). In order for the student to develop, he/she should be offered different strategies from which the child, after activating his/her thinking/attention, can choose and give reasons for his/her choice. The arguments presented allow the student to develop and summarise his/her point of view on one issue or another. Empirical principles Inquiry-based education goes hand in hand with active pupil’s engagement / participation. The key features of this type of education are the following: 1) Pupils must be active participants in activities rather than passive listeners; 2) The focus is on developing/improving skills rather than transferring knowledge, simply listening to information; 3) Pupils are engaged in a wide range of activities; 4) They learn to reflect on how they learn (from Ys, Mara, 2011). Lafontaine (2016) points out that primary school teachers tend to support students by organising activities according to the individual needs of pupil. Teachers are looking for ways to reach pupils who live in low socio-economic environments, but they are often reluctant to find these ways themselves, and are therefore willing to collaborate with researchers. It is not only a question of finding ways to develop academic skills, but also of stimulating and supporting students' motivation. Indeed, the elements mentioned in the action research learning scheme are put forward by most researchers (Gauthier, 2010; Riente, 2010; Lafontaine, 2016). Before carrying out a complex task/activity, the educator must think about the three phases: preparation, implementation and integration, which consist of learning and evaluation activities. In term of approaches The preparation phase provides a scenario describing how, what and why the learning will take place. All this allows students to activate their prior knowledge of the subject and target by reflecting on the objectives of the proposed activity, the expected product/outcome and the implementation instructions provided. The implementation phase is more oriented towards learning activities, with active participation of students in relation to the learning and assessment objectives. In this phase, support is provided, which can be provided by the teacher or by the students. In addition, feedback is rendered and one or more interim assessments may be carried out after each learning activity. These assessments give an indication of how the child is progressing towards the desired outcome. The integration phase delivers activities that allow pupils to summarise their learning and show the final outcome, which should also be assessed. Time for celebration and reflection on the activities carried out by the pupils is very important in this phase. It is useful for both the researcher and the teacher to be involved in the action research (Lafontaine, 2016). The discussions can take many forms, including classroom observations, video analysis of students' activities and remote consultations between teachers. The action/activity is the key element, the link between research, teaching and learning. During the activity, there is interaction between the teacher, the students and the researcher. Of course, an educator can occupy two roles at the same time, both teacher and researcher. The teaching component and the data collected during learning allow research to inform and improve educational practice. Let’s note that Lafontaine (2016), Wennergren (2016), Wenger (2018) and Johannesson (2020) respectively emphasise that during professional development events, educators should reflect on their own practice, analyse and discuss what is going well, and look for ways to overcome what is problematic. Indeed, such activities, where participants reflect on their practice, adopt and experiment with new ways of working in their classrooms, bring about lasting change. For this to happen, the learning needs to take place over a sufficiently long period of time, and educators need to come together systematically to reflect on their experiences, discuss what they are doing and what has improved. In the context of action research, researchers such as Charlier (2005), Lafortune (2006), Prud'homme et al (2011), Miehakanda (2014), and again Lafontaine (2016) suggest that young teachers who have chosen to study pedagogy should also be trained. This way of working allows them to reflect and build social relationships, to go back and reflect, and at the same time to deepen their knowledge. Through deep reflection, teachers will have a better understanding of their daily activities and make more informed and reasoned decisions. This research combines academic research, reflective practice, pedagogical innovation and teacher education. However we observe, following Wennergren (2016) and Davis et al. (2018), that conducting action research in educational practice is difficult for students-teachers, given it requires a lot of time and professional skills to conduct action research. Therefore, school communities themselves should be involved in conducting action research in the classroom, especially when the aim is to improve student learning (Dimmock, 2016; Johannesson, 2020). Teachers need to have a good understanding of the conceptual foundations of student learning. It is recommended that teachers have a colleague in the school with whom they can consult, they can engage in deep critical reflection and discussion about classroom activities. In this case, both educators can expect pedagogical growth if they not only consult each other but also try out new practices that they reflect on (according to Wennergren, 2016). Otherwise, teachers tend to opt for a comfortable presence, which does not lead to qualitative change in the educational process. But if teachers spend too much time reflecting, the planning and quality of the activities they lead may also suffer (according to Johannesson, 2020), as well as changes in the assessment system, where the criteria are oriented towards improving the results of each student rather than their ranking (Rey, 2012; Rey, Feyfant, 2014; Béduchaud, 2021). Methodology of empirical studies in Lithuania We will present the results of a study on the analysis of thesis at the bachelor's level of graduates of the Bachelor of Primary Education programme at Vytautas Magnus University in Lithuania, based on the results of Action Research (AR). The study was conducted using a thematic analysis strategy. The analysis included 40 reflective research texts of prospective primary school teachers, prepared during the writing of the bachelor's thesis on the basis of action research. The data was analysed by discussing the themes of the action research, the research questions/problems to be solved, the chosen approach to problem solving (method), and the identified benefits and difficulties of AR. The development of teacher research competence is linked to the ability to choose in educational practice: the educational strategy, the structure, the appropriate research methods and the organisation of professional research (Description of Teacher Professional Competence, 2007). Analysis of descriptions of students' interactions (behaviours, actions, intentions, emotional reactions), facts, events, their reflections and reasoning recorded in the action research reports took into account the implicit alignment of the roles of the researcher and the teacher, and probably provided a higher level of data reliability (Bitinas, Rup&scaron;ienė and Žydžiūnaitė, 2008; Norton, 2010). Qualitative content analysis (Žydžiūnaitė, Sabaliauskas, 2017; Weber, 1990) identified significant thematic categories/units: topic, research question-problem to be solved, method(s) of problem solving, evaluation/reflection of the activity (benefits, difficulties), anticipation of changes in the activity. These thematic categories allow for a systematic evaluation of the phenomenon under study. We present below only a small part of the study in order to illustrate the problems that were addressed by applying action research in primary teaching practice: Object-based problem solving in learning to argue in the context of different subjects <table class="MsoTableGrid" style="width:568px; margin-left:3px; border-collapse:collapse; border:none" width="568"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:133px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black" valign="top"> Subject of the action research study </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Method used in the activity </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Solutions/outcomes of educational problems </td> </tr> <tr> <td rowspan="6" style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:133px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black" valign="top"> Developing critical thinking through argumentation </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Debates based on the analysis of a literary work (<a name="__DdeLink__415_630365028">n</a>=1) </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Debates encourage pupils to think, listen, express themselves and argue. Pupils learn to formulate a thesis and to argue it.      </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Discussion on reading the works (n=1) </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Pupils are able to express an opinion in a sentence and support it with arguments. Pupils are better at oral argumentation than at written argumentation. Pupils are able to evaluate their own and each other's performance in a discussion.  </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Written argumentation skills in the context of integrated teaching (n=1) </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Pupils are able to express an opinion in a proposition and support it with at least one logical argument, but they have difficulty explaining the concept of argumentation and recognizing an argument. </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Analysis of historical sources (n=3)    </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Pupils are able to identify an appropriate source to support a claim and correctly identify the arguments given in the source; argue for the evaluation of past events; and present credible arguments. Challenges include using sources to make a valid claim, supporting arguments with evidence (primary sources), assessing the credibility of a source and selecting a credible primary source. </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Getting to know the area according to the plan (n=1) </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Pupils use different signs to represent the route, sometimes drawing what was in the environment. Pupils are able to justify their opinions and give different arguments; they understand and can represent the directions of countries around the world; they are able to compare maps and plans and explain how a plan differs from a drawing. Pupils find it difficult to determine distance by eye. </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:151px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Exploration of the aquarium (n=1) </td> <td style="border-bottom:1px solid black; width:284px; padding:0cm 7px 0cm 4px; border-top:none; border-right:1px solid black; border-left:none" valign="top"> Pupils can only argue if they are talking about content that they have experienced themselves. They should be taught to argue systematically, analysing the different contents of the natural sciences. </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   The development of critical thinking through argumentation can be developed in different subjects by allowing pupils to formulate theses and arguments based on the content they analyse, for example by referring to texts they have read, historical sources or by studying an aquarium. The study showed that primary school pupils are able to formulate a thesis and arguments on the basis of the analysed material, and are able to justify their opinions. It is recommended that similar activities be carried out more frequently and systematically so that pupils can learn to use arguments to justify different aspects of the subject content. Some conclusions Putting action research into practice, with the right approach and tools, tends to improve pupils' learning outcomes and their motivation to learn. The use of active learning methods (debates, discussions, analysis of historical sources, comparison of several objects over time, experimental practice, learning in green spaces, nature, etc.) was clearly appreciated by the pupils. Learning together, working in pairs or small groups are activities that pupils enjoy because they can interact, discuss and be left alone. They learn to express their opinions in a reasoned way, supported by facts, verified by reliable sources. 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