Analysis of the Action I Took

During the whole week, I was implementing action research to try and improve the relationship between my family and my grandmother. I tried to be nice and volunteered to do many things I normally would not do. Looking back at the week, I noticed that I had succeeded the first goal.

I was able to change the impression my grandmother had about me. During the past couple of years, I have been maturing and becoming more independent. My workload has increased tremendously and I have less time to spend with her. Also, she had this stereotype of Chinese teenagers in Chinatown being self-centered and mute, so in some ways she avoided me. That made the problem even worse. By doing service learning during the week, I figured this out. I found the source of the problem, so I focused most of my attention to it. I opposed the stereotype.

To not be self-centered, I help her take out trash everyday and did some chores around her apartment. To not be mute, I greeted her every time I saw her. I want to prove that I am not a stoned-hearted person who doesn’t care about his grandmother anymore.

I noticed the problem was solved on Friday. I came home at around 3 pm. I was taking out my keys to open my apartment door. Suddenly, my grandmother’s door opened. I turned around, surprised. She offered me my favorite drink from my favorite bakery. This was something I never seen before. I happily took it and gave her a hug. She was very shocked at such a big reaction.

The sub-goal of the action research plan was successfully completed. I got my grandmother to change the wrong impression about me. I was able to move closer toward the main goal – to improve the overall relationship of my family and my grandmother via improving listening skills.

The next sub-goal is for me to start listening to what she has to say and vice versa. I noticed (this was from service learning while volunteering in her apartment) that she has a lot of things to say. I have already begun improving my listening skills toward listening to my grandmother. In the listening unit, Professor Schneider said “listening is very hard.” It is especially hard listening to my grandmother talking about things like Chinese operas and gossip at the park. I evaluated my action plan, and figured out that I should start the conversation instead, and it worked very well. One day, I was at her apartment helping her with putting a blanket in a cover. I started talking about the old days – her old days in the village. It was a topic that interests both of us. I am interested in family history; she is interested in telling it. She was telling me about how the people in the village use to give her vegetables everyday and how my grandfather survived a brutal axe attack from gangsters during the Cultural Revolution.

Listening to her made her feel very comfortable being around me. Usually, she doesn’t let me stay in her apartment. But now, she lets me stay and chat, sometimes with tea and biscuits. I now fully understand the importance of listening in a relationship, and I know how to listen better. I might be able to listen to other people.

After my relationship with my grandmother improves, I will work on my final sub-goal, which is to improve the listening skills of my parents. Once all the sub-goals are completed, I will be ready to tackle the main goal, since everyone has good listening skills.

My action research project is great so far, and I will continue to work on it.