This paper explores how a learning theory enriched a collaborative teacher inquiry discourse where lesson study was adopted as the educational action research model to promote teacher professional development. Four Grade 9-10 biology teachers in Singapore drew from variation theory to collaboratively plan and teach new genetics content as part of…

The implementation of digital pedagogies (i.e. blogging) is one way to mediate large classroom discussions in culturally relevant ways. This 2.5-year longitudinal mixed-method action research study reflects on the ways blogging can further promote culturally relevant discussions explored in face-to-face classes. Findings include pre-service…

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…

Educational leaders are enrolling in second-generation education doctorate (EdD) programs because these are allowing them to remain in the field as they pursue their degree and perform action research within their workplace. As part of degree requirements, students in these programs are challenged to cross the theory-to-practice divide. However,…

The role of power in an English-as-a-second-language classroom has yet to be fully explored by an action research practitioner, especially in a Malaysian higher education setting. This study aims to contribute to this gap by working within an academic literacies perspective to teaching academic writing, which propagates the understanding of…

This project was developed from practitioner action research and considers the impact of integrating fund-raising activities into the formal curriculum with a target group of undergraduate students. The main aim of this project was to evaluate the impact of developing fund-raising activities as an integral aspect at both module and programme…

This article analyses a case of action research collaboratively conducted by a university teacher and 50 students in a master's course in teacher training. Its originality resides in the socio-economic, academic, and conceptual nature of the obstacles encountered in the module; in the meta-theoretical orientation of the action research that…

This paper reports the second stage of an action research study designed to improve the effectiveness of speaking classes through negotiating the lesson contents with students. The data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and observations as a way of eliciting students' views. The research, conducted in an English language…

Teaching in today's changing society requires teachers' independent judgement and development. One way of fostering professional development is action research; described, however, as a challenging and time-consuming process. This qualitative study asks whether action research is worthwhile already in pre-service teacher education, or…

The benefits of students learning together in peer-assisted learning (PAL) programmes have been widely reported. Implementing and evaluating PAL programmes provide specific challenges for academic staff. This paper explains how action research was used to design, trial and refine a same-year PAL programme to enhance student engagement. The PAL…

Collaboration between participants with different roles, but equal status, is the aim in action research. In this project we experienced problems establishing equality between the participants. The research question discussed in this paper is: "How did the researcher experience that the use of narratives affected the level of equality between…

Living citizenship emerging from reflection on an international educational partnership makes a unique contribution to the field and importantly fulfils the British Educational Research Association aim of improving educational practice for the public benefit. This paper explores the conceptual framework of 'living citizenship' as a means…

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…

As school-based action research has taken a higher profile in UK schools, the place of ethics warrants particular attention. This paper draws on evidence from a taught online Master of Education course collated via chat room discussion where 53 researching teachers were asked to explore policy within their own institution regarding school-based…

The ideals that are central to action research are not often explicitly addressed in writing about action research and participation. This article argues for a more explicit dialogue about the ideals of participation and how those ideals relate to participatory practices. The lack of such a dialogue can obscure both the process of participation…