Facilitating teachers as action researchers and reflective practitioners: new issues and proposals

ABSTRACT

In this article I reflect on my experiences facilitating teachers as researchers and reflective practitioners and the importance of enhancing the dynamic and complementary relationship between theory, research, practice and reflection at every step of action research. Given the complexity of teachers’ participation in action research, I drew on a reflexive research-based account within a second-order process of action research to support a group of teacher-researchers to rethink their understanding of participatory education and transform their own practices. This research-based account describes the challenges faced, the decisions made, and the actions taken, all shaped by ongoing dialogues with teachers’ beliefs and practices, with the goals of action research, and with the processes of gradual transformations observed in both the teachers’ thinking and practice and in my own as a facilitator. The present study adds to the discussion of the interrelationships between theory, research, practice and reflection by providing an example of their enactment at every step of action research in order to support participatory education.     

Changing educational practice in the early years through practitioner-led action research: an Adult-Child Interaction Project

This article reports the development of the first two years of a three-year project that examines the effectiveness of adult–child interactions in the early years, and tracks the development of teachers’ thinking and practice as they engage in practitioner-led action research. The Adult-Child Interaction Project involves practitioners who work with children from six months to six years in one local authority in England as they aim to develop their practice. On the basis of action research cycle, the methods include systematic video observation and stimulated recall; individual, paired and collaborative reflective dialogue; project logs and critical engagement with research. A distinctive feature is continuous engagement with an early years expert as a co-researcher and reflective partner in the processes of change and development. This article focuses on the impact and effectiveness of the project methodology, specifically the strategies that support critical reflection, dialogue and change processes.     

Illustrations of the analytic memo as reflexivity for preservice teachers

This study illustrates the use of analytic memos during the action research process as a space to support preservice teachers’ emerging teacher identity and construction of practice through critical reflexivity. The authors reviewed 34 sets of analytic memos written by graduate preservice teachers by asking, ‘How are preservice teachers using the space of the analytic memo during the action research process as critical reflexivity?’. Reflexivity is understood in this work as a method of self‐inquiry, and positions teacher identity as fluid and subject to multiple and often competing discourses. The outcome of this analysis demonstrates how emerging action research questions reflect emerging teacher identity; the power of dialogue within the memos to act as a ‘corrective moment’; and the elliptical nature of action research as preservice teachers confront contradictions and paradoxes in learning to teach. The authors suggest that the analytic memo can act as a vehicle of agency and transformation, a space where preservice teachers may practice reflexivity as they begin to critically construct their practice, create and re‐create their teacher identity, and confront assumptions about teaching and learning.     

Educational action research as the quest for virtue in teaching

Curriculum aims often remain unrealised aspirations. This is because the values and principles implicit in them fail to get articulated in forms that can effectively inform and guide the practice of teaching. Ideas such as ‘learner-centred education’, ‘independent/autonomous learning’, ‘self-directed learning’, ‘enquiry/discovery learning’, ‘collaborative learning’, ‘active learning’ and ‘learning with understanding’ refer to critical aspects of the learning process rather than its outcomes. While often enthusiastically embraced by teachers, they rarely get realised in appropriate forms of virtuous action. Such is the power of an outcomes-based model of teaching and learning to shape the practice of teaching. This paper cites examples of curriculum design that specify the pedagogical values and principles implicit in various educational aims, and shows how they can provide a basis for practical experiments by teachers in their classrooms and schools, in a quest to transform their teaching into concrete forms of virtuous action. Indeed, the paper depicts a number of actual action research projects in which teachers generated some common insights into how to transform their teaching into the practice of virtue in education. It also explores the role of theory-informed action research in developing teaching as a virtuous form of action.     

Unterricht als Feld evidenzbasierter Bildungspraxis?

This paper sketches the debate on evidence-based educational practice focusing on teaching and instruction in schools. The authors review requirements that have to be fulfilled by educational research that aims to provide a basis for educational policy and practice. Specifically, they discuss the challenges that are associated with a notion of a sender-recipient relationship describing research and practice. Models for a stronger research-based connection with the field of educational practice are described. Subsequently, they show how the discourse on teaching and instruction that is prevalent in the educational sciences in Germany illuminates the inherent difficulties when teaching practice is expected to follow scientific evidence. The authors illustrate these two strands of the paper – communication between researchers and practitioners, and opinions about the constitution of ‘good’ teaching and instruction – by excerpts of interviews with researchers and teachers.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Developing a Relationship Perspective in Early Childhood Research

An interpersonal relationship perspective is gaining influence in early childhood practice and research. The research presented in this special issue, “Relationships in Early Childhood Programs”, focuses on adult-child, child-child, and adult-adult relationships as they develop in the context of early childhood programs. The authors address issues of importance to both practitioners and researchers: types and dimensions of early childhood program relationships; measurement of relationships; relationship processes that are central to program goals; and the importance of interpersonal relationships as a focus for practice, theory, and research.     

The normativity of the helping child – meta-ethnographic perspectives on individualised learning in age-mixed classrooms

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses possibilities of synthesising ethnographic data. This discussion implies a critical appraisal of the methodology of ‘Meta-Ethnography’. Taking Noblit’s and Hare’s concept of Meta-Ethnography as a starting point to develop their own practice of synthesising data, the paper suggests to reconsider the possibility to bring in primary data into the synthesis, to involve primary researchers and to develop a grounded theoretical synthesis. Building on their own practice of a shared grounded synthesis, the authors discuss how a synthesis of ethnographic data conducted by two primary researchers has the potential to open new conceptual and theoretical perspectives on individualised learning in age-mixed classes. The results of the ‘Shared Grounded Synthesising’ indicate a strong tendency of individualised learning and teaching to rely on and produce the normativity of the helping child.     

A response to strategies and tactics through participatory action research in a developmental mathematics course

This paper explores the value of participatory action research in a community college developmental mathematics course. The authors used the framework of critical mathematics education in order to understand the critical conversations of students about their learning experiences, and also to help the instructor of the course develop the curriculum that attended to student experiences. The authors also draw on Michel de Certeau’s ideas about strategies and tactics to understand how students responded to their past learning experiences. Data results from the study show that students can gain a better understanding of their own learning and subsequently develop deeper content knowledge when they are more involved in the teaching and learning process. Lastly, the authors conclude that as adult learners grow in their understanding of the learning processes and of the content being presented, participatory action research can play an important role in the entire development of thinking and intellectual engagement.     

Learning thoughtful reflection in teacher education

The notion of reflection has become an object of attention in education, but the research on this topic is often reduced to mere reflective practice. A relevant part of educational literature portrays reflection as a wholly beneficial practice for practitioners, but also for researchers. In the nursing field, in particular, reflection is largely practised and deeply examined. Reflection is specifically encouraged in teacher education, where ‘how-to’ manuals are widely used to explain strategies for turning teachers into reflective practitioners. In some cases, a specific kind of reflective approach is proposed, such as critical reflection. From the analysis of this technical literature, I observe that a wide range of approaches for fostering reflection have been applied, but little research evidence shows how effective these approaches are. Taking this problem into account, this article presents a research study on reflection. It first introduces a specific and unusual concept of reflection – that of phenomenological conception – and then goes on to develop an empirical investigation that enacts a phenomenological method of inquiry and is aimed at exploring the potential of the use of journal writing as a tool for enhancing reflection, and documents the data that emerged. The research was developed in a university context where the student teachers were asked to ‘reflect on the life of the mind’, in order to learn how to take a reflective stance. The student teachers wrote entries in a reflective journal in which they were requested to describe the lived experiences of the mind as they came to their reflective attention. The data emerging from the experience were made sense of through a qualitative method of analysis. The findings of the research are useful for designing an effective method for enhancing reflective practice.

     

Researching the bridge called our backs: the invisibility of ‘us’ in qualitative communities

Abstract

The article and the following discussion were prompted after the authors’ participation in a recent qualitative research conference. In the article, a Black woman and Latina scholar share their experiences and reflections as scholar researchers. As a point of entry, they discuss how even qualitative research communities can be marginalizing spaces for scholars of color. Using theoretical perspectives of feminists of color, the authors provide snapshots into their personal dialogue around issues of research, theory, and practice. By examining their own personal and professional shared stories of coming to their scholarly identities, qualitative researchers will be able to better understand how women scholars of color grapple with and embrace a multiple consciousness to navigate academia and research communities. Based on these intellectual struggles and forms of resistance, the authors put forth suggestions for qualitative research theory and practice. The article has implications for qualitative research, higher education, and feminist theory.     

Bounded decision-making,teachers’ reflection and organisational learning: How research can inform teachers and teaching

Despite numerous efforts to align educational practice more closely with findings from educational research, there is little clarity about how educational practitioners can, in principle, use research. We propose a conceptualisation based on how research can contribute to practitioners’ thinking: specifically, our framework proposes that research can inform bounded decision-making, teachers’ reflection and organisational learning. Practitioners can also use research without being aware that they are doing so. We argue that this conceptualisation of research use has potential to inform researchers and practitioners.     

Becoming connected,being caring

This paper highlights perspectives on action research in education, health and social care and was originally presented as a keynote at the International Practitioner Research Conference and Collaborative Action Research Conference in 2005. The paper links with the other conference keynote given by Stephen Kemmis, co‐author of Becoming Critical. It reflects on the importance of Being Caring in action research in the context of health and social care; particularly in relation to emotionally supporting practitioners to improve their practice in settings which do not always welcome more emancipatory or critical approaches often used in education. The paper begins by exploring the nature of practitioner research and action research in health and social care and its links with quality. It argues that health and social care professionals have often drawn their methodological understanding from the literature written by colleagues in education. This literature tends to support critical and emancipatory forms of action research, which health and social care professionals have tended to adopt in an uncritical manner. Reflecting on some of the contextual constraints in health and social care, it argues that many of these factors are beyond the control of individual practitioners and suggests a need to focus on the neglected area of emotions, in addition to, contextual issues. To illustrate the usefulness of this approach an example of psychodynamically informed action research is given. The paper concludes that in the quest to be critical, practitioner researchers/action researchers in education, health and social care may be ignoring the emotional contexts in which they work. It suggests that being caring may be the key to being critical.     

Inquiry as stance: practitioner research for the next generation

This paper is a reflexive account of the use of critical social theory within my practice as an action researcher. It is set within the ongoing debates between pragmatist and critical tendencies within action research. The paper discusses how a selective deployment of key constructs from the work of Jurgen Habermas has supported my work as a second-order action researcher. It demonstrates how these constructs can help deal with the practical and theoretical tensions faced when supporting groups of action researchers. It focuses on one of the key issues faced by any external agent trying to work within such groups: how to avoid imposing their own agendas and interpretations. It does this by discussing three foundational points within the process of action research – the nature of practitioners’ practical reasoning and the bases of critical self-reflection and collective action.     

Justice,practice and the ‘Real World’: pre-service teachers’ critically conscious visions for teaching amid the complexities and challenges of learning to teach

Stemming from a problem of practice in the author’s justice-oriented social foundations course, this article investigates the relationship between pre-service teachers learning critical conceptual tools about justice and equity, and the ‘problem of enactment’ of leveraging that learning in their practice. Drawing on a theoretical framework linking Social Justice Teacher Education (SJTE) and Practice-based teacher education (PBTE), this study employed practitioner research methodologies and critical qualitative research methods to explore how pre-service teachers themselves negotiated the intersection of justice and practice. Three inductive findings emerged: they conceptualized professional visions oriented toward the ‘bigger picture’; the complexities of teaching complicated living these visions in practice; and their status as novice practitioners mediated their readiness to integrate justice and practice. The article concludes with a discussion of lessons learned for connecting justice and practice in social foundations specifically, and possibilities for convergence between SJTE and PBTE more broadly.     

Dreaming of ‘nowhere’: A co-autoethnographic exploration of Utopia-dystopia in the academy

Abstract

In this postformal co-autoethnographic research, the authors explore the changing landscape of American research universities from their respective locations as mid-career, post-tenure critical pedagogy scholars. By using autobiographical narratives in parallel with a running discussion of rodent habits and habitats, they explore the influence of Enlightenment humanism and Western epistemology in a) forming ‘the academy’ as an institution, and b) regulating how research and knowledge production are taken up within a rapidly neoliberalizing context. They recalibrate their ‘theories of change’ to recast critical researchers and critical pedagogy in relation to a volatile and hostile institutional context. By moving away from progress narratives of education for social change, the authors posit that critical pedagogy and critical research can be thought of as akin to ‘wayfinding,’ providing guidance, direction and reprieve while within the disorienting and violent flux of neoliberalization.     

Challenging the knowledge‐transfer orthodoxy: Knowledge co‐construction in technology‐enhanced learning for children with autism

Experimental intervention studies constitute the current dominant research designs in the autism education field. Such designs are based on a ‘knowledge‐transfer’ model of evidence‐based practice in which research is conducted by researchers, and is then ‘transferred’ to practitioners to enable them to implement evidence‐based interventions. While these research designs contribute important knowledge, they lead to a gap between what the research evidence may prescribe and what happens in practice, with a concomitant disparity between the priorities of researchers and practitioners. This paper discusses findings from the ESRC‐funded ‘SHAPE’ project, which adopted a different model of evidence‐based practice, focusing on knowledge co‐construction. Pupils (N = 8), teachers (N = 10), a speech and language therapist and a parent in three different school communities investigated creative ways in which children's social communication skills could be enhanced through technology use. Through a participatory methodology, digital stories were used as a method to enable engagement with the practical realities of the classroom and empower practitioners to construct and share their own authentic narratives. Participants articulated precise knowledge about the learning opportunities afforded to them and their pupils through quality interactions that were mediated by the technologies, as evidenced through digital stories. The SHAPE project shows that it is feasible to develop methodologies that enable genuine knowledge co‐construction with school practitioners, parents and pupils. Such co‐construction could offer realistic opportunities for pedagogical emancipation and innovation in evidence‐based practice as an alternative to the currently dominant and narrow model of knowledge transfer.     

Walking a thin line? Connecting ethical theory and practice: a co-operative inquiry with human resource management practitioners

Is it possible to manage human ‘resources’ in an ethical way? What does ‘being ethical’ mean as related to the human resources function? In my paper – which also reflects upon my own experiences of two co-operative inquiry projects done with human resource management (HRM) practitioners – I wish to argue that action research could be an exciting and novel way of exploring the meaning and practice of ethical HRM and also an appropriate tool with which to facilitate and develop individual and group ethical action learning: a learning process based on real action, collective real-case solutions and reflection. After introducing practical details pertaining to the two projects (in group ‘A’, I worked with members of the HRM department of a bank as co-researchers; for group ‘B’, I invited along HRM professionals from different companies), I need to stress some ‘learning points’. First, I would like to demonstrate how co-researchers explored their own definition of ethics, learned about the ethical diversity of their group and how they probed and re-shaped theories held via action and reflection. Second, I wish to show how collective ‘solutions’ of co-researchers’ own real-time and ethically dilemma-holding cases acted as a bridge between theory and practice – and then see how the process of case resolution developed by the group become an important individual- and group-level learning point.     

Cycles within cycles: instilling structure into a mentoring self-study action research project

The creation of action research cycles is a fundamental part of action research projects. The aim of this article is to present the methodological challenge that is inherent in designing action research cycles. The article reports on my lived experience as I conceptualised and implemented a structured and systematic way of ordering and reporting the cycles within cycles in a mentoring self-study action research project. The paper discusses the journey that led to structure, and recognises the messiness that preluded this achievement within the action research process. I suggest that messiness is an inherent part of creating action research cycles. The path towards ordered structure is assisted through critical reflective practice and structured mentoring conversations. Of value to both emerging and more experienced action researchers, this article contributes to the practice of doing action research.     

ICT research and school performance feedback: a perfect marriage?

An important step towards the successful integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools is to facilitate their capacity to develop a school based ICT policy. However, one of the biggest challenges for schools is to gather data that could help shape such policy development. In this context, ICT researchers can be very useful as they can use the data gathered from their research projects to give feedback to schools. In this article, we present an electronic school performance feedback system (e‐SPFS) we developed for schools that participated in our survey research. This e‐SPFS illustrates how researchers can collaborate with practitioners; and how schools use data to examine their performance, their strengths and their weaknesses in shaping ICT policy decisions and practice. We appeal the ICT research community to carry out more research that is grounded in a school performance feedback cycle.     

Children’s lost voices: ethical issues in relation to undertaking collaborative,practice‐based projects involving schools and the wider community

The growing emphasis on teachers as ‘reflective’ and ‘expert practitioners’ has led to a noticeable increase in action research involving a wide range of educational practitioners as well as professionals from the academic community. In the light of the complex demands frequently faced by action researchers, this article examines the ethical considerations involved in conducting a collaborative action research project which is concerned with children’s experiences of transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3. By exploring a range of theoretical and practical perspectives the discussion focuses on the problematic issue of ‘informed consent’. The article argues that, as a result of having to comply with the regulations imposed by institutional ethics committees, educational researchers, particularly when working with children, are often restricted in exercising the moral autonomy and professional discretion required to negotiate the complex, potentially conflicting imperatives confronting them.