This article explores ways of studying loneliness and solitude in schools. Research methodologies are considered, and descriptions are given of various previous studies, as well as of the research carried out by the author for a "being alone" project. The deeply personal nature of being alone, in a broad theoretical tradition of…

This article tells the story of an attempt to bring about major educational reform of the curriculum and educational values in Kazakhstan, using action research as part of that process. The article begins with a brief and selective review of the literature on aspects of emotion and moves to an account of the context and history of the reforms,…

This study focuses on Kenyan student-teachers' professional learning and development in health education in a participatory action research project conducted in one Kenyan teacher training college. The aim was to explore the potential of participatory action research to instigate change in student-teachers' health education practices in…

This paper examines the experience of an action research "Study Day" to investigate development of a culture of reflective practice among educators. Shared recognition of the importance of reflective practice in education is now a well-established part of both pre-service preparation and in-service work experience for educators. Osterman…

Most action researchers agree that action research consists of cycles of planning, acting, reflecting, and taking further action. However, in action research literature, there is something missing. The nature of reflection in the action research process, including its relationship with the tensions that arise while discussing purposes, processes,…

This paper describes and discusses an action research collaboration between a multi-disciplinary team of practice educators, a practice development nurse and a university lecturer in order to explore, evaluate and improve a dementia care training package developed for a range of staff providing care for people with dementia. Whilst it is…

In this short paper I examine whether obtaining the capability to change practice can be solely achieved through reflective action research, and how. I take as our framework of analysis that offered by Aristotelian thought, especially in the discussion of powers and potential. I conclude that action research as a way of changing practice cannot be…

This article describes a collaborative action research process in pre-school and primary education in Spain during a four-year period (2006-2010). The aim was the need to promote a level of reflection among the participants as to their teaching practice. The methodology used was a technologically mediated action research process. The results are…

In this action research study, we describe how doctoral candidates conceptualize innovations for their dissertations and outline how we are using the results to improve the doctoral dissertation experience for our new cohort. Over the course of one academic year (2010/11) we documented our students' process of conceptualizing their…

In the wake of accreditation cycles stressing student outcomes, we believed the reflective and practitioner-centered philosophy of action research a perfect fit for effecting institutional improvements for a four-year grant-funded effort in our urban-suburban community colleges in California. We learned that things were both worse and better than…

This paper describes the outcomes of a self-study that we undertook as instructors of a capstone undergraduate leadership course. Using the framework of action inquiry and a variety of pedagogical approaches, we sought to create a course and classroom environment that was student-centered, empowering, and transformative. Three questions are…

This article focuses on the challenges and opportunities a researcher may encounter in practice, and presents four narratives that take the reader into situations which may arise when the researcher steps into the practice field. Episodes that challenge the researcher both cognitively and emotionally are depicted in the narratives. The authors…

In this paper we present and discuss the action research we conducted with the main purpose to investigate the proper ways to introduce action research to our student-teachers in the university so as to empower them in a lifelong professional development perspective. Although the obstacles we faced were many, it seemed possible and beneficial for…

This action research was a form of "appreciative enquiry" into my practice with my group of Bachelor in Education (TESL) students. I have adopted a postmodernist approach to research as narrative; that is "research as it is experienced" and not just "research as it is described". I used a project as an approach to relinquish control and empower my…

The focus of the Education Works Personalization Project was to facilitate teams of teacher action researchers whose goal was to personalize their teaching with the support of university partners including doctoral students in education. The subsequent apprentice-like research experience within this university-school partnership provided an…