A key aspect of engaging in a large participatory action research (PAR) project is ensuring that novice participant-researchers have a general understanding of the PAR methodology. Lead researchers experienced in action research cannot expect novice participant-researchers to engage fully with the literature on PAR, but rather need a simple way to…

Using a survey, interviews, and reflections by the teaching-research team, we explored the effects of almost a decade of experimentation, inspired by Freire's pedagogy for liberation, which applied participatory action research in engineering courses and in cities to develop professionals who are more committed to sustainability and more able to…

Responding to the climate crisis requires a large-scale transformation of energy systems away from fossil fuels toward a more distributed, equitable, renewable-based society. The societal benefits of this transformation which could redistribute power, literally and figuratively, go well beyond decarbonization; a renewable society could also be a…

Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), founded on the seminal work of Vygotsky and evolving in the subsequent work of Leont'ev and Engestrom, continues to emerge as a robust and increasingly widely used conceptual framework for the research and analysis of the complex social mediation of human learning and development. Yet there remains…

In this paper we draw upon 14 semi-structured interviews with the participants in a teacher-researcher project on the theme of "ensuring African Caribbean attainment" with the aim of shedding light on the purposes, processes and lived experiences of teacher research in a difficult and contentious intellectual and practical domain. After…

This article presents a model for action research in family practice. It reviews three research projects used by the authors over the past decade. Drawing on learning from each, the article discusses a model for undertaking ongoing, embedded action research in organisational settings. The contribution that action methods can make to the…

In this article the process and outcomes of service user involvement in the analysis of data are discussed. The analysis formed part of a doctoral participatory research project, which involved researcher and service users working together. The focus of the research was on the experience and needs of service users with life limiting conditions…

This article focuses on the theoretical frame of action research and the teacher as researcher, working through a Norwegian Research Council-funded project in a school that explored learning strategies for pupils' subject and social development. Action research is here called research and development (R&D) work as the term envisages that…

This paper is based on the assumption that action research always affects the micropolitical balance characteristic of a certain school setting. The authors claim that micropolitics, that is the patterns of formal power and informal influence, has largely been neglected in the literature on action research in schools. This means that action…

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…

An assumption that knowledge arises from research outcomes has been expanded in recent years to include the possibility that knowledge may also be created from the process of engaging in research. Action research (AR) is particularly well suited to such knowledge development. This article offers a brief overview of knowledge in AR as well as the…

Action researchers often generate large amounts of textual material in the form of notes and transcripts, failing to account for those thoughts that we and our research participants silently voice. As such, action research that attempts to engage practitioners in self reflexivity and textual analysis is a fertile site for a consideration of how…

This article draws upon the work of two researchers who facilitated practitioner research with school professionals in Liverpool. The researchers themselves had not been involved in practitioner research before. In this account, the researchers reflect critically upon their own experience. The discussion presents the learning curve that the…

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…

This article describes and critically reflects on an action research project used for professional development purposes in a Middle Eastern Gulf State. The aim of the project was to improve professional development experiences for a group of in-service teacher educators, who were English as Second Language advisers. The initial discussion…