Willfred Carr 2008
There is two problems with
action research;
the first is ACTION and the
second is RESEARCH
Uneasy Bedfellows I
Action
Research
Scientific
Research
Uneasy bedfellows II
Scientific Research
Action Research
Another arena, another kind of rules
Critical educational
researcher
Action Research as
professional
dancing
two becoming one
Sisters are circling for themselves
EITHER - OR
near/close – at a distance
private/individual – public/general
subjective - objective
action – prerequisites/consequences
actor/subject – object to be observed
everyday actions - experiments
qualitative – quantitative
to understand – to explain
culture – structure
contextuality - generalizations
explorative – verifying/confirming
Inductive– abductive – deductive
Polyphony – The Truth
BOTH AND
near/close – at a distance
private/individual – public/general
subjective - objective
action – prerequisites/consequences
actor/subject – object to be observed
everyday actions - experiments
qualitative – quantitative
to understand – to explain
culture – structure
contextuality - generalizations
explorative – verifying/confirming
Inductive– abductive – deductive
Polyphony – The Truth
knowledge-in/on-action, reflection-in/on-action tacit knowledge
Praxis-related research: Serving two masters?
Requirements of academic report and aspects of praxis-related research
New knowledge
Change of praxis
Inquiry
Examination
Inquiry culture
Trustworthiness
Perspective
Critical approach
Form
Communication
Relevance
Relevance
Science
Action research
Autonomy
Integrity
Theory
Theory-praxis
Method
Empowerment
Analysis
Reflection
Ethics
Solidarity
An empirical field
Life experiences
Mattsson & Kemmis 2007
ACTION RESEARCH is a form of collective selfreflective inquiry undertaken by participants in social
situations in order to improve the rationality and justice
of their own social or educational practices, as well as
their understanding of those practices and the situations
in which the practices are carried out.
The approach is only action research when it is
collaborative, though it is important to realise that action
research of the group is achieved through the critically
examined action of individual group members.
Kemmis and McTaggart 1988, 5-6
ACTION RESEARCH can only be made
intelligible as a mode of inquiry that aspires to create and
nurture dialogical communities [ .. ] form of inquiry that
recognized that practical knowledge and understanding
can only be developed and advanced by practitioners
engaging in the kind of dialogue and conversation
through which the tradition-embedded nature of the
assumptions in their practice can be made explicit and
their collective understanding of praxis can be
transformed.
Carr 2006, 433
ACTION RESEARCH
Participatory, democratic process concerned with
developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile
human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview
which we believe is emerging at this historical moment. It
seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and
practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of
practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to
people, and more generally the flourishing of individual
persons and their communities.
Reason & Bradbury 2006, 1
ACTION RESEARCH
.. refers to a practical way of looking at your own work to
check that it is as you would like it to be. Because action
research is done by you, the practitioner, it is often referred
to as practitioner based research; and because it involves you
thinking about and reflecting on your work, it can also be
called a form of self-reflective practice. The idea of self
reflection is central. In traditional forms of research –
empirical research – researchers do research on other
people. In action research, researchers do research on
themselves. Empirical researchers enquire into other
people’s lives. Action researchers enquire into their own.
McNiff 2002
ACTION RESEARCH
Karin Rönnerman (2004, 13)
Practice/action as a basis/starting point
The researcher & the practitioner in collaboration
Research aiming at change
Arja Kuula (1999, 10)
Problembased and oriented towards practice
The involvement of those to be ”researched”
Research oriented towards change
‘Action research is not a ‘method’ or a ‘procedure’ for
research but a series of commitments to observe and
problematize through practice a series of principles for
conducting social enquiry’.
The notion of a spiral may be a useful teaching device –
but it is all too easily to slip into using it as the template
for practice
McTaggart 1996, 249
Action research express explicitly both the aim and the
method. It is about changing peoples ways of thinking and
acting or changing the social and material conditions.
Tiller 1999, 53
Easy bedfellows
Critical distance
ACTION
Systematic, analytical and
pragmatic inquiry with the
members of a community
or organization in order to
improve actions and affect
the contexts of the
actions
LEARNING
ACTION
RESEARCH
Intentional, continuous
collegial process of
learning and reflection
in order to improve actions
and affect the contexts of
the actions
engaged immediacy
Folk enlightenment
Study circles
Research circles
Community-based
Emancipatory
Critical
Practical
Social work
Community work/development
Community adult education
Popular education
Social movements
ACTION
RESEARCH
collaborative
science
interactive
participatory
Co-operative inquiry
Communicative research
Self-reflectice inquiry
learning
inquiry
Teacher research
Classroom research
Teacher-as-researcher
Praxis-related/close research
FOLK ENLIGHTENMENT – STUDY CIRCLES
THE ENLIGHTENING DISPORTS
(knowlegde + experience, engagement, affection)
SOCIOCULTURAL, -CONSTRUCTIVIST,
-COGNITIVE
configuration of learning and knowlegde
Liberte, equalite, fraternite!
Welfare state
Democracy, generality, equality, accessability,
Civil society
participation, engagement, networks, associations
Collaborative, experiential, informal learning
deliberation – communication - action
Participatory Action Research
Folk enlightenment
Working life
University
labour unions, social work
Study circles
Research circles
Collaborative knowledge
construction for social change
Collaboration and partnerships between
researchers and practitioners
Critical-emancipatory/Practical
Theoretical perspective
Technical perspective
Growing as a human being Becoming a citizen Developing as an engaged worker
AR encompassing the personal, the political and the professional
BILDUNG
A humanist conception and construction of human being(s)
ACTION RESEARCH
As human development, as adult learning
Systematic and conscious deliberative
negotiations about what it means to be
a human being and finding out
meaningsful ways of becoming more
human in a certain social practice.