Action Research

Action Research with Children: Lessons from Tackling Disasters and Climate Change

by Thomas Tanner

Co-authored with Fran Seballos

Recent research and practice from the fields of climate change adaptation and disaster management has created a shift... more Recent research and practice from the fields of climate change adaptation and disaster management has created a shift from emphasis of children’s vulnerability and need for protection towards their potential as agents of change before, during and after disaster events.

This article examines lessons from action research into children’s agency in disaster-prone communities of El Salvador and the Philippines. We describe some of the participatory risk management methods that were adapted for use with children,
the centrality of ethics to our approach and the importance of working with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) partner that provides ongoing support in the study communities. The research design was led by external agents in order to cross-compare findings across locations and countries. However, we
argue that by engaging children in a process of knowledge generation and analysis, the research broke down some of the assumed hierarchies between researcher and researched common to orthodox approaches.

Multiple AR cycles to increase participation in a DVD class.

by Simon Humphries

Reference: Humphries, S. (2008). Multiple AR cycles to increase participation in a DVD class. In K. Bradford Watts, T. Muller, & M. Swanson (Eds.), JALT2007 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT.

This paper describes the implementation of four Action Research (AR) cycles to improve the motivation and... more This paper describes the implementation of four Action Research (AR) cycles to improve the motivation and participation levels of Japanese learners of English in a rural technical college. The discussion phase of a movie essay-composition course is evaluated and improved upon during a four-year period through video recordings, interviews, questionnaires, peer collaboration, and a research diary. The study comprises four AR cycles. Although the third cycle faced problems related to complexity, the other three cycles took steps to improve comprehension, reduce anxiety, and increase motivation. Many research publications explain how a problem was noticed and solved. In contrast, this study illustrates how teachers can implement multiple AR cycles to achieve incremental improvements.

Encouraging Inquisitiveness and Strategic Competence in the Classroom

by Katelyn Hicks

The use of AR to solve problems in a TBL DVD class.

by Simon Humphries

Reference: Humphries, S. (2005). The use of AR to solve problems in a TBL DVD class. In K. Bradford-Watts, C. Ikeguchi, & M. Swanson (Eds.) JALT2004 Conference Proceedings (pp. 772-787). Tokyo: JALT.

Task-Based Learning (TBL) courses focus on the learners and enable them to study at their own pace of development.... more Task-Based Learning (TBL) courses focus on the learners and enable them to study at their own pace of development. However, Japanese students are used to teacher-led synthetic syllabuses, so this can create problems for the TBL class. A good way to solve these problems is by the use of Action Reseach (AR). AR is a combination of studying theory and the teacher's own practice to implement changes in the classroom. It is an empowering process that can enable teacher-researchers to continually improve their classes and publish the results. This paper uses the example of a DVD TBL class in which the problem of low participation amongst learners was analysed, understood, then solved through the use of AR.

Children as Researchers in Primary Schools: Choice, Voice and Participation

by Sue Bucknall

Published by Routledge on 24th May 2012

Children as Researchers in Primary Schools is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children... more Children as Researchers in Primary Schools is an innovative and unique resource for practitioners supporting children to become ‘real world’ researchers in the primary classroom. It will supply you with the skills and ideas you need to implement a ‘children as researchers’ framework in your school that can be adapted for different ages and abilities. Children in primary schools are accustomed to being set short-term goals and are often unaware of long-term aims or of the connections between the concepts and skills they are learning. In contrast, this book demonstrates that children engaging in the research process have authentic opportunities to apply invaluable personal, learning and thinking skills while managing their own projects, making their ‘voices’ heard and experiencing increased levels of engagement and self-esteem.

Based on the author’s 4-year research study exploring the experiences of young researchers and teachers in primary schools, and on her considerable experience of training young researchers, this book also contains:

    the history and theory behind ‘children as researchers’ initiatives;

    a model for good practice based on successful real life case studies;

    questions for reflective practice;

    practical examples of research in the classroom;

    photocopiable resources;

    opportunities for self-evaluation.

This comprehensive resource will be appeal to primary teachers, educational practitioners and students on CPD and ITT courses. It will also be of interest to teacher trainers, to academics involved in teaching and research and to all those interested in promoting children’s voices.

Critical Media Literacy: A Pedagogy for New Literacies and Urban Youth

by Jeff Share

Mohammed Choudhury and Jeff Share, "Critical Media Literacy: A Pedagogy for New Literacies and Urban Youth." Voices from the Middle, Volume 19, Number 4, May 2012 by the National Council of Teachers of English.

Using new literacies critically can be an excellent pedagogy for motivating and empowering students who feel alienated... more Using new literacies critically can be an excellent pedagogy for motivating and empowering students who feel alienated from their school and society.  This article describes how one middle school teacher engaged his inner-city English language learners with critical media literacy as a way of making their learning more meaningful and motivating.  The students interviewed and photographed community members, analyzed portrayals in the media of themselves and their neighborhood, and created their own alternative representations of their concerns and findings.  Not only did the students increase their self-esteem and sense of pride in their community, they also demonstrated substantial academic gains in their English language development.

Action Research for Development and Social Change

by Blane Harvey

Burns, D., B. Harvey, et al. (2012). "Introduction: Action Research for Development and Social Change." IDS Bulletin 43(3): 1-7.

Condescending ethics and action research

by Olav Eikeland

Abstract
The article outlines ethical aspects of action research at two different levels: philosophical and... more Abstract
The article outlines ethical aspects of action research at two different levels: philosophical and ‘applied’. It also emphasizes ethical aspects of practitioner research and conventional social research tacitly implied in the relations between researchers and researched presupposed by the two approaches. Conventional research ethics is insufficient for grasping these aspects, since it is constituted within the relations assumed by conventional research. Conventional research ethics is also claimed to be a ‘condescending ethics’ unfit for action research because of its practice of ‘othering’ human beings as research subjects. This article interprets many ethical dilemmas experienced by action researchers as ‘othering-effects’, only to be overcome through the establishment of peer communities of inquiry among combined ‘practitioners-researchers-researched’. It uses a book on ethics and action research as a starting point for reflections about the very real challenges of creating peer communities of inquiry doing action/practitioner research.

Rational Constraints and the Simple View

by Ezio Di Nucci

Analysis 2010, 70 (3): 481-86

According to the Simple View of intentional action, I have intentionally switched on the light only if I intended to... more According to the Simple View of intentional action, I have intentionally switched on the light only if I intended to switch on the light. The idea that intending to ’ is necessary for intentionally ’-ing has been challenged by Bratman (1984, 1987) with a counter-example in which a videogame player is trying to hit either of two targets while knowing that she cannot
hit both targets. When a target is hit, the game finishes. And if both targets are about to be hit simultaneously, the game shuts down. The player knows that she cannot hit both targets, but still she concludes that, given her skills, the best strategy is to have a go at each target at the same time. Suppose she
hits target 1. It seems obvious that she has hit target 1 intentionally. But, Bratman argues, she could not have intended to hit target 1. Since the scenario is perfectly symmetrical, had the player intended to hit target 1, she would have also had to intend to hit target 2. But the player knows that she cannot hit both targets.

Participatory modelling to inform rural development: Case studies from Zimbabwe and Australia

by Jerome Vanclay

International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development 1(2):122-126 (2010)

Participatory modelling is one of several techniques that can help communities to share and test ideas, and to agree... more Participatory modelling is one of several techniques that can help communities to share and test ideas, and to agree on the ‘best bet’ for improving livelihoods of individuals and communities. A case study from Africa illustrates how participatory modelling can help change livelihoods, by informing communities, by providing an objective way to conduct ‘risk-free’ experiments and explore scenarios, and by helping people to gain the confidence needed to make changes. This case study highlights how participatory modelling can inform communal decisions about shared rights to avoid ‘the tragedy of the commons’. The example illustrates how a shared understanding of a resource, coupled with a rigorous framework to consider its dynamics, leads to better decisions and sustainable outcomes. The resulting model is not an endpoint, but a disposable ‘stepping stone’ in developing the confidence needed for communities to take action. Thus for many participatory models, success means being momentarily inspirational in the search for solutions, rather than being a permanent monument to a static concept.

Aristotle, validity, and action research

by Olav Eikeland

pp.29-44 in Boog, Ben; Preece, Julia; Slagter, Meindert; and Zeelen, Jacques (eds.): Towards Quality Improvement of Action Research, Rotterdam / Taipei, Sense Publishers

Aristotle, validity, and action research

by Olav Eikeland

pp.29-44 in Boog, Ben; Preece, Julia; Slagter, Meindert; and Zeelen, Jacques (eds.): Towards Quality Improvement of Action Research, Rotterdam / Taipei, Sense Publishers

Developing critical understanding by teaching action research to undergraduate psychology students.

by Michael Murray

Training educators to use experiential education using an isomorphically-framed training-products development company

by Peter Mellalieu

Leberman, S., & Mellalieu, P. J. (1996). ALP-DevCo and the Action Learning Programme: A Trojan Horse for Moving from Mystery to Mastery [Training educators to use experiential education using an isomorphically-framed training-products development company]. Presented at the Action Learning, Action Research &  Process Management Professional Conference, (ALARPM), University of Queensland, Brisbane.

How do you teach trainers and educators how to design and deliver safe and impactful experiential education... more How do you teach trainers and educators how to design and deliver safe and impactful experiential education programmes? This report describes an eight-month, part-time, university-level for-credit course that developed participants’ leadership, task management, and team building skills within an experiential learning framework. Furthermore, the participants were coached in the task of designing and delivering experiential training programmes to several client groups such as a bicycle retailer and a conservation trust. The course exposes participants to several types of experiential learning including Revans’ action learning and outdoor adventure learning.

Unmet challenges and unfulfilled promises in action research: A reply To Davydd J. Greenwood and Björn Gustavsen

by Olav Eikeland

Concepts and Transformation, Volume 8, Number 3, 2003 , pp. 265-273(9)

This article is a response to Davydd J. Greenwood's critical review of defensiveness and sloppiness in the current... more This article is a response to Davydd J. Greenwood's critical review of defensiveness and sloppiness in the current action research (AR) community. My experience of the situation in AR coincides to a large degree with Greenwood's. His claims are hard to test, however, since he hardly gives concrete examples. In order to sort out real “sloppiness“ (whatever that is), we have to take into consideration the conditions under which most AR has to work. I also think Greenwood's contention that AR suffers from “complacency about fundamental issues of theory, method and validity“ has to do with fundamental changes in AR's self-understanding between “old AR“ before 1965 and “the second wave“ from the 1970s on. Personally I recommend an AR-strategy — immanent critique — that balances between “morally superior, but sloppy and complacent AR“ on the one hand and “conventional social research“ (whatever that is nowadays), but find it hard to find much support in the AR community, for reasons, I believe, that have to do with the mentioned fundamental change in justification-strategy and self-conception within AR. At the end I announce some issues I would like to discuss further, but for which I lack the space in this article.

Keywords: action research; immanent critique; justification-strategies for action research; phrónêsis

Research, practice, and the space between: Care of the self within neoliberalised institutions

by Dallas Rogers

Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies, 2012 (draft only)

This article challenges the neoliberal discourse of “instrumental rationality” that is encroaching on theories of... more This article challenges the neoliberal discourse of “instrumental rationality” that is encroaching on theories of qualitative research, critical reflection, and subjectivity. I return to Foucault’s historical ontology of the self and the ancient Athenian precept care of the self to show that critical reflection and rationality have never been mutually exclusive. I put the care of the self metaphor to empirical use by examining the practical and ethical issues that emerged when I transitioned from a state-sponsored frontline employee working with public housing tenants, to a university researcher investigating public housing tenant participation in a state-sponsored urban redevelopment project. The focus is on my experiences as a practitioner-researcher working within two neoliberalized institutions, while also constructing a performative research ethic to mount a challenge against the politics of neoliberal “evidence” in the space between.

The role of pupils in constructing networked learning communities

by Elizabeth FitzGerald (née Brown)

Full citation:
Thomson, Pat and Brown, Elizabeth (2004) The role of pupils in constructing networked learning communities. Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER2004), 22-25 Sept 2004, Rethymnon, Crete, pp1-13.

The Department for Education and Skills, through LEAs and the National College for School Leadership, has promoted the... more The Department for Education and Skills, through LEAs and the National College for School Leadership, has promoted the idea of schools working together as networks to share learnings about school improvement. A large number of Networked Learning Communities (NLCs) has been formed: over 100 networks consisting of more than 1,000 schools have been funded. NLCs are expected to research the improvement strategies they adopt, as well as to document the ways in which the network functions and develops.

This action research project added to an existing funded NLC a pupil-led ICT component. By supporting pupils to experiment with a range of ICT based communication strategies, this project aimed to help the NLC to develop their commitment to ‘pupil voice’ and to trial systematically an effective intra-communication and learning platform.

Intentional Group Action Research

by Annie Adamian

Co-authors: Ann K. Schulte, Kile Taylor, & Kris Calderon

Book Review: M.Kristiansen, J.Bloch-Poulsen (2005), Midwifery and Dialogue in Organizations – Emergent Mutual Involvement in Action Research

by Olav Eikeland

Rainer Hampp Verlag, München & Mering 2005, 297 pp., € 29.80
ISBN 3879889937

The role of emotions in the explanation of action

by Elisabeth Pacherie

Pacherie, E. (2002). The role of emotions in the explanation of action. European Review of Philosophy, 5: 55-90.