Action Research recent issues

Guest editors' commentary: Action research and development

Stringer, E., Guhathakurta, M., Masaigana, M., Waddell, S. — 2008-05-22

Speaking for ourselves: A Colombia--Canada research collaboration

Broad, G., Reyes, J. A. — 2008-05-22

As an Assistant Professor in Community Economic and Social Development (CESD) at Algoma University College, Ontario, Canada and a member of Asopricor Holistic Association, Cundinamarca, Colombia, respectively, the authors have engaged in an ongoing dialogue regarding the inherent contradictions of forming a North—South, university—community research collaboration. For those who have engaged in and/or read about action research, the questions addressed in this article are familiar: How can we maintain respectful relations between us? How can we ensure the project respects local knowledge? How can we ensure the ownership of the new knowledge created by the project remains with the collective? How can we balance the power dynamics between ourselves, and between the organizations involved? What the article offers, is a dialogical reflection on how these challenges are being met within this particular project. It examines the development of a common set of values and beliefs that emerge as the researchers attempt to engage within the `ethical space' (Ermine, 2005) necessary for the development of a respectful collaboration. The article explores and develops a series of questions for researchers to consider as they struggle to find common ground where such an exchange, crossing cultural and power divides, can occur.

Active research towards the addressal of HIV/AIDS in the informal economy in Zambia: Recognition of complicity in unfolding situations

McKay, V. I., Romm, N. R. A. — 2008-05-22

In this article we offer an account of research undertaken for the International Labour Organization (on behalf of the National Aids Council in Zambia) in relation to HIV/AIDS and the informal economy in Zambia. We concentrate on how we tried to operate in terms of a conscious recognition of (and acceptance of responsibility for) our complicity as inquirers (together with others) in the development of the unfolding situations being explored. We indicate why we define as `active research' the approach adopted, and how we see this as related to the broader category of `action research'. We suggest that this kind of approach may be helpful for others wishing to engage in development programmes broadly understood and intended to support people's efforts to develop viable ways of knowing-and-living.

Research for change: Outcome mapping's contribution to emancipatory action research in Africa

Buskens, I., Earl, S. — 2008-05-22

Although emancipatory action research has been practised for decades and continues to evolve, the method can benefit from the support of fresh approaches. Outcome mapping is an innovative planning, monitoring, and evaluation methodology recently conceived by Canada's International Development Research Centre in partnership with others. This article sets out the ways the two approaches complement one another on the level of theory, and describes how they have worked together in the everyday management of a specific initiative: the Infant Feeding Research Project, which aims to reduce the rate of paediatric HIV/AIDS in southern Africa through enhancing the effectiveness of infant feeding counselling.

Action research and social development in China: Creating synergy between marginalized populations and government officials

Sung-Chan, P., Yuen-Tsang, A., Yadama, G. N., Sze, A. — 2008-05-22

This article argues that the usefulness of action research hinges on a heightened sensitivity towards its relevance and irrelevance to social, economic and cultural environments in which the professional action researchers conduct their research. Its contribution to transforming social situations depends on how well the researchers can bring the different stakeholders of the local community together to learn about themselves and each other, and identify and find ways to address the implicit barriers to the effective use of action research. We also argue that it is this contribution that distinguishes action research from other approaches of social development in China. We draw from the lessons learned during one of our action research projects conducted in China with a focus on seeking effective strategies in dealing with the unemployment problem of middle-aged women workers. The researchers played the role of change agents to encourage participatory negotiation between the local officials and the women.

Generating the power for development through sustained dialogue: An experience from rural South Africa

Nemeroff, T. — 2008-05-22

This article describes a project to promote development in a rural area of the KwaZulu Natal Province of South Africa. Using a methodology called sustained dialogue, this project engaged a cross-section of leaders from several villages to reflect on past development efforts, design and implement new projects, and then evaluate their success. This project shows that a key contribution that action research skills can make is helping communities to see development not as a destination characterized by material conditions, but rather as a process of learning that results in economic advances. At the same time, this article highlights the political and conflict challenges inherent to community development. In responding to these challenges, this article argues for a focus on changing relationships and presents sustained dialogue's five elements of relationship as a tool for doing so.

Over the rainbow: The politics of researching citizenship and marginality

Mehta, L. — 2008-05-22

This article deals with different methodological enquiries in researching citizenship and marginality in a developing context. It is based on reflections emerging from a five-year collaborative international research programme that focused on enhancing the efforts of the poor and marginalized groups to define and claim their rights and make citizenship matter. The article deals with the politics and dilemmas inherent in the different methodological stances and positions of action research and other sister approaches towards the question of citizenship. Reflections from the researchers are interspersed with theoretical issues to highlight the messiness of the research process. The article argues for the need to challenge dominant framings in development, to be more modest about and redefine what we mean by policy influence and research impacts, to be more process-oriented and reflexive and to engage more strongly in a pedagogy of the powerful.

Editorial

Reason, P., Bradbury, H. — 2008-02-19

Action research in teacher education: Two teacher-educators practice action research as they introduce action research to preservice teachers

Kitchen, J., Stevens, D. — 2008-02-19

Two teacher-educators, an instructor and a teaching assistant, designed an action research project focused on enhancing their professional practice and the practice of their students by introducing the preservice teachers to action research. Both teacher-educators viewed this decision as progressive and emancipatory, as action research encourages inquiry and reflection, connects theory to practice, and creates links between preservice and in-service teaching. Simultaneously, the teacher-educators integrated preservice curriculae, modeling the enriched teaching and learning that can result from an interdisciplinary approach. Data include preservice teachers' action research proposals, reports and reflections, as well as the teacher-educators' reflections and collaborative conversations. Instructors used self-study methodology to reflect on their effectiveness in enhancing the professional lives of their students and themselves. A significant number of preservice teachers indicated that engaging in action research expanded their conceptions of teaching; such expansion holds potential for fostering change in schools.

Participatory teacher development at schools: Processes and issues

Koutselini, M. — 2008-02-19

This article describes an action research study on reflective development at school and discusses methodological and pedagogical issues arising from teacher beliefs and expectations. Teachers and researchers participated in four cooperative cycles of inquiry, where situated learning and reflection supported their conceptual change and meaning-making. Teachers underwent a gradual shift from imposed, predefined teaching and learning to reflective collaboration and response to different needs of different students, while researchers gained a contextualized understanding of teachers' attitudes and beliefs about teaching and learning and examined their own and the teachers' roles as action researchers. Issues related to school ethos, teachers' defensive attitudes and trust-building among teachers are discussed in light of the reflective paradigm of participants' development.

Challenging institutional barriers to community-based research

Stoecker, R. — 2008-02-19

Those of us attempting to develop truly equal partnerships with communities and community organizations, using the method of community-based research, encounter many barriers. These barriers revolve around who sets the schedule, who determines the labor pool, who controls the product, and who gets the funding. In this article, a case study shows how those barriers exert themselves, and evaluates the success of strategies to challenge those barriers. It ends with a set of recommendations for changing university overhead policies, developing university quality control practices, refining the university IRB process, institutionalizing a flash seminar structure, and training community members to control the research relationship.

The role of citizen participation and action research principles in Main Street revitalization: An analysis of a local planning project

Silverman, R. M., Taylor, H. L., Crawford, C. — 2008-02-19

This article examines the use of citizen participation techniques during the planning process for neighborhood revitalization in the Village of Depew which is an industrial suburb of Buffalo, New York. The article focuses on how action research principles can inform and enhance traditional approaches to citizen participation. In particular, we discuss our role as university-based consultants in the local planning process and how drawing from action research principles helped us remain focused on advocating for broad-based citizen participation. Our analysis was based on the application of action research principles and participant observation techniques. During the time that each of us was involved in the planning process for Depew's neighborhood revitalization, reflexive field notes and other data were collected. The article critiques how citizen participation was used to plan for neighborhood revitalization in Depew, and discusses the degree to which action research principles can be applied to future citizen participation efforts.

Emancipation or workability?: Critical versus pragmatic scientific orientation in action research

Johansson, A. W., Lindhult, E. — 2008-02-19

In this article a distinction between a pragmatic and a critical orientation of action research is made. These orientations can be considered, implicitly or explicitly, to be the main alternatives in AR today. What are the assumptions behind, and practical implications for, AR projects with different orientations? A number of themes are introduced where a tension between the two are identified and illustrated in the form of a dialogue and friendly quarrel between proponents from each side. It is argued that the two orientations suit different research contexts and cannot easily be combined. The pragmatic orientation is well suited for contexts where concerted and immediate action is needed, whereas the critical is preferable where transformative action needs to be preceded by critical thinking and reflection. In the former, power to act is a desired outcome, and in the latter, unequal and invisible power relations need to be unveiled before they can be transformed. The responsibility of the researcher, as well as the form of knowledge developed, differs between the two orientations.

Editorial

Reason, P., Bradbury, H. — 2007-11-22

Transforming management fashions into praxis: Action research project in AutoParts

Rolfsen, M., Knutstad, G. — 2007-11-22

We analyze the way action research can be used to take a very conventional kind of imposed change process and turn it into a more deeply transformative and yet practically successful intervention. In the project with the automotive supplier `AutoParts' our goal was to implement team organization. AutoParts' motive was a need to give the impression of being a `lean' company, and teams were thus seen as necessary. The top manager thought of the implementation as a planned process that should be discussed in the management team and then implemented. We participated in these discussions, but meanwhile worked out practical solutions together with the actual teams of workers as an action research project. The management team did not make any progress while the bottom-up strategy was quite successful. The main reason, as we will argue, was that this process helped the teams to reach beyond the `black box' approach and start reframing how the team concept could be useful in their particular work situation. The two teams we will describe also came up with quite different team concepts because their challenges were different. In our opinion, the success could not have been achieved without the action research method, where we were considered both insiders and outsiders, spent a lot of time on the shop floor, and worked together with the team members as co-researchers to define their own concepts of the team.

Social Learning, academics and NGOs: Can the collaborative formula work?

Buchy, M., Ahmed, S. — 2007-11-22

Collaboration between NGOs and academics offers great potential for improving practical intervention as well as testing theories and challenging academic assumptions. In this article we reflect on why, despite a specific focus of an action research project on Social Learning as an appropriate process for change, the formalized `learning' part within the project was the most difficult to achieve. We argue that although at one level some of the pitfalls could easily be dismissed as bad practice, at another level, a critical analysis uncovers structural and cultural issues inherent to collaborative work between academics and practitioners. These further compound efforts to experiment with Social Learning as well as engage in action and research.

Partners in Diabetes: Action research in a primary care setting

Mendenhall, T. J., Doherty, W. J. — 2007-11-22

Diabetes is a growing problem that threatens both individual health and health care systems throughout the industrialized world. This study analyzes the process and evolution of a collaborative project dealing with diabetes and employing action research methodology and the Citizen Health Care model. Partners in Diabetes (PID) was created through a democratic process among patients, families and providers in a primary care setting in the United States. Fourteen PID `support partners' were nominated by their physicians to receive training and then reach out to other patients and families across a variety of contexts (e.g. home, clinic, telephone). We conducted qualitative analyses of detailed meeting process-notes spanning more than three years, and key-informant interviews with providers, patients and family members. We identified key developmental themes, including how providers and patients learned to overcome traditional hierarchy, how PID was designed and implemented, what challenges were encountered and what mistakes were made. Lessons for extending similar projects are highlighted.

'We thought we "knew"', so we "did"': A voluntary organization's beginnings in action research

Lavie-Ajayi, M., Holmes, D., Jones, C. — 2007-11-22

In 2004, YWCA England & Wales began a two-year action research project with young women made possible with a grant from Big Lottery Fund. The research comprised four co-operative inquiry groups of young women in different geographical locations and of different composition. Each group met regularly and inquires, together with two YWCA project workers, about safe expression of sexuality and young women's sexual health. This article gives a practical account of the initial stages of the research; explores the challenges of doing co-operative inquiry and offers recommendations for other researchers who consider using this method. Particular attention is given to the challenges of working collaboratively in a hierarchical organization. It is argued that to establish collaborative relationships within the inquiry groups, similar relationships need to be demonstrated by the organization's staff and established within the organization's structures.

The cyclical process of action research: The contribution of Gilles Deleuze

Drummond, J. S., Themessl-Huber, M. — 2007-11-22

Action Research is normally described as both a cyclical process and a participatory (democratic/egalitarian) undertaking. This article does not seek to contest the idiosyncrasies and pragmatics of the cyclical process involved in action research. Rather, it seeks to enrich it by developing further the idea of action research as a process that engages with problems and learning in the act of creating change. To do this we draw primarily on aspects of the work of the French philosopher, Gilles Deleuze. Deleuze has argued that all learning is essentially a direct apprentice-type engagement with the problematic nature of the material or project under consideration. We argue that an explication of what Deleuze means by this can augment our understanding of the contingencies involved in both the participatory and cyclical dimensions of action research. To give explanatory substance to Deleuze's potential contribution to action research, we use illustrative moments based on a hypothetical scenario of the development of a large piece of waste-ground into a community gardening project. We seek to connect aspects of Deleuzian philosophy to the cyclical process of action research to show the dynamic relationship between action researchers and an action research project. Our argument is that in doing this, an understanding of the variables involved in the cyclical process of action research may be enhanced.

The praxis of educating action researchers: The possibilities and obstacles in higher education

Levin, M., Martin, A. W. — 2007-09-10

This article deals with the matter of educating action researchers in higher education. It takes as a point of departure what is currently published that considers the teaching of action research as a practice within university settings. This literature is rather meagre, so we seek a better understanding in the theories and models developed in adult education. We believe the adult education frame offers the basis for making sense of the relationship between experiences, reflection, and the written reflections intended to communicate research-based insights to the scientific community.

Learning and teaching participation through action research: Experiences from an innovative masters programme

Taylor, P., Pettit, J. — 2007-09-10

In a time of rapid change, when global forces are re-shaping the ability of ordinary people to influence the decisions which affect their lives, social change practitioners are challenged to learn new skills and competences, and to develop their capacities for learning through critical reflection on action. Drawing on two international dialogues, and linking to the authors' perceptions of the fault-lines that underlie some elements of higher education, the article explores learning needs for action researchers who aspire to promote participation as a key element of social change. The article presents the story of an innovative masters teaching programme within which action research is central to the overall learning process. Highlighting key challenges and also some unanticipated learning outcomes in regard to personal inquiry into identity, relationships, positionality and power, the article highlights issues relating to teaching and learning methods of reflective practice, bridging the personal and political and linking individual to systemic change.

Teaching/learning action research requires fundamental reforms in public higher education

Greenwood, D. J. — 2007-09-10

Action researchers have rarely focused attention on reforming higher education and I argue that this is a mistake. The article reviews some of my failed attempts to make AR a sustainable teaching, research, and extension strategy in my own university. These experiences show that AR works well in the classroom and in small and marginal projects but this small scale and marginality and invisibility also makes such efforts fragile and short-lived. We action researchers have yet to use AR strategies successfully to guide necessary reforms in the relation between universities and the extra-university stakeholders and to deepen collaborative relationships within universities among students, staff, and administrators.

Learning through `being' and `doing'

Grant, S. — 2007-09-10

Our research may not emerge in the tidy, linear manner often described in research papers, and hoped for outcomes may never eventuate. Amid this seeming confusion, researchers may experience personal discomfort and perceptions of failure. Drawing on my experiences as a doctoral candidate I address two of the areas for which my own reading of literature left me ill-prepared. I focus first on the emergent nature of action research, and second on the contributions reflection can make to our development as action researchers. Students and teachers of action research are encouraged to appreciate the richness and variety of experiences which interaction and engagement in the research process may bring, for it is these activities which shape our development as researchers.

Teaching participatory research through reflexivity and relationship: Reflections on an international collaborative curriculum project between the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and the University of Victoria (UVic)

Etmanski, C., Pant, M. — 2007-09-10

In early 2005, the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) and the University of Victoria's (UVic) Faculty of Education began collaborating on a project to teach participatory research (PR) via distance education. Written by the two course instructors from PRIA and UVic, this article documents the successes and challenges of this international collaborative project. We argue that figuring out how to live and communicate the values of PR in teaching is equal to meeting the content goals, and integral to the struggle of PR itself. Just as our partnership bridges university and community-based institutions in the Majority and Minority Worlds, so too are these differences reflected in the history of PR and in the learner composition of our classrooms. As such, we believe that the theory, practice, and struggle of PR are advanced through the example of our personal and ongoing commitment to reflexivity and relationship.

Singing different tunes from the same song sheet: Four perspectives of teaching the doing of action research

Sankaran, S., Hase, S., Dick, B., Davies, A. — 2007-09-10

In a move consistent with co-generated learning, this article is co-written by teachers of action research and a former student. Before we present the content and structure of the actual course, we write about the vital issues in teaching action research. We then describe the course and finally hear a former student (himself now supervising doctoral students) on the merits of this particular approach to learning AR as a doctoral student. This article represents the combined experience of the authors in teaching action research together for several years at Southern Cross University in New South Wales, Australia. While involved in the same general activity our focus and experiences have, naturally, been quite different and we have tried to communicate them in this article. Hopefully, our learning will be of some value to the readers. What follows, then, are the thoughts of: Bob, the master action research craftsman and educator; Alan, who sees the bigger picture no matter what he is looking at; Shankar, the implementer and coordinator of projects; and Stewart, who struggles and is at peace with a world full of contradictions.

Action research pedagogy in a new cultural setting: The Syrian experience

Barazangi, N. H. — 2007-09-10

I discuss a unique action research (AR) pedagogical experience of professors at four public universities (Damascus, Aleppo, Al-Ba'ath, and Tishreen) in the Syrian Arab Republic. The approach in this experience began by contextualizing some lessons and experiences of AR pedagogy at Cornell University and issues about university reform in a very different cultural and academic setting, under the program `Higher Education and Training Program in Contemporary Social Sciences' (HETPCSS). This collaborative program in Syria was a unique opportunity to address new dimensions of action research in a developing country, where a real gap exists in paying attention to many aspects of conducting any serious research in the social sciences and the humanities. The program was intended to partially remedy this gap through introducing AR in Syria. Few are those universities in the US or Europe that have contextualized AR and the relation between university and society in an effective pro-social way. The experience of the Syrian universities is unique in that some of their professors are being educated in AR despite the adverse national political and economic conditions. One may even suggest that we are able to educate these professors in action research because of the contemporary adverse conditions.

Teaching and learning in a model-based action research course

Peters, J. M., Gray, A. — 2007-09-10

We describe an action research course from the point of view of our joint participation as instructor and student. The course is structured and its process is driven by the instructor's model of action research. We discuss the demands that the model places on participants as they develop individual plans for action research. The article concludes with our reflection on participants' experiences and a discussion of assumptions that inform course design and process.