An action research approach called soft systems methodology (SSM) was used to foster organisational learning in a school regarding the role of the learning support department within the school and its relation with the normal teaching-learning activities. From an initial situation of lack of coordination as well as mutual misunderstanding and…

In this article the possibility of developing authentic project work in a sixth-grade classroom of a Venezuelan school is explored, by means of action research (AR) methodology. Two AR cycles with two different projects were carried out. Data were collected via teacher researcher, co-researcher and student journals, and also by means of audio and…

This is a collective interpretive record of a graduate course in Social Work on participatory action research (PAR) offered during the winter of 2007. It is written by 14 individuals including the instructor. It was inspired by the image of a chickadee bird borrowed from Jonathan Lear's (2006) book "Radical Hope." The chickadee is a powerful…

This article explores the use of active imagination and dialogics as constructs that can be applied reflexively to health care education. Drawing on student data, it discusses some of the primary elements of these ideas, and how they may inform reflection, human inquiry, and pedagogical approaches to personal and professional growth and…

This article explores some of the challenges of conducting action research in higher education. It arises from an ongoing research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (ESRC/TLRP), "Learning and Teaching for Social Diversity and Difference", which examines the dynamics of academic…

Research literature has long indicated that action research may stimulate practitioners themselves to actively evaluate the quality of their practice. This study is designed to report the use of action research for the development of early years professional practice by analyzing the pre-project and the post-project video-filmed teaching events.…

Citizenship Education (CE) and the young people's voice agenda are both enjoying increasing popularity within England at the present time. Clear connections exist between the two, with CE placing an emphasis upon participation and responsible action and the young people's voice agenda advocating democratic procedures for involving young people in…

This paper explores the ethical issues involved when researchers attempt to study participants who are personally close to them. It describes a case in which two researchers decided to study the experiences respectively of their son and grandson, both with ADD. They had barely initiated the study when ethical concerns led them to abandon the…

This article describes an adaptation of action research that can be used specifically for the purposes of reviewing educational courses where the participants move out of the research process after one cycle. The author found a limit to the intentional use of action research in her study of a tertiary course that was being offered within the…

Educational action research was carried out between 2003 and 2006, focusing on developing high-school teachers' professional autonomy belonging to the scientific area in poor communes of the ninth Region de la Araucana, Chile. The research is contextualized in the Chilean educational reality and based on each of the stages of the action research…

This article is the story of what happens when students are given the opportunity to be part of the decision-making process, both in the negotiation of what takes place in the classroom and in the "action" of the action research process itself. An action research approach was used as the most appropriate method by which to analyse the experiences…

This paper argues that student voice and the active engagement of students in shaping their own educational experience are integral to the development of effective work-related learning (WRL) programmes. Through accessing the voice of disaffected and marginalised students, insight can be gained into what these students see as being the benefits of…

The "No Outsiders" research consortium draws upon the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) notion of a community of practice with a shared focus on "researching approaches to sexualities equality in primary schools". While the word "community", for some, may carry connotations of harmony and even homogeneity, the project proposal anticipated…

This article explores the experiences of students who used interactive learning material on handheld computers in a gallery to support their understanding and appreciation of artwork. The article considers the wider implications of using technology to change relationships between teacher, learners and subject matter, and attempts to offer positive…

This paper centers on the process of conducting research on children's social development through a partnership between university-based researchers and teachers and students in an urban New England school district. It does so through the eyes of its first author, a second year graduate student who is negotiating the dual roles of researcher and…