Aim/Purpose Work-based learning has been identified in the literature, and is established in academia and in the global worlds of work; however, an examination of work-based research, particularly at the doctoral level, has been less well articulated. Moreover, a paucity of published literature on either work-based research or Professional Studies…

Action research is conceived as a feet-on-the-ground process--a way of addressing and improving the everyday experiences and concerns of people who deliver real goods and services in an organisation, through the process of finding out new things--i.e. research in the broadest sense. This article explores the question of how action researchers do…

In this paper, I enter a crack to think otherwise about the concept "gossip". Drawing on previous scholarship engaging with Deleuzian concepts to inform research methodologies, this paper builds on this body of work. Following Deleuze and Guattari, the paper undertakes a mapping of gossip, subsequent to an encounter with a crack.…

The purpose of this article is to present a specific approach to the practice of action research "in complex organisations". Clearly, there are many approaches to the challenge of doing action research in organisations; approaches that are, and also must be, quite context dependent and specific. But my purpose is neither to give an…

Purpose--Development activities at work require the use of abilities that include a range of methodological knowledge. This research seeks to develop and promote these abilities into the curriculum. Design/methodology/approach--The paper analyses information from a variety of subject areas about the teaching and learning of practitioner-led…

Describes the Quality of Work Life (QWL) program at the North American Manufacturing Division of Xerox Corporation and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. States that the story of QWL is a description of participatory action research. Notes that the process has become an integral and flexible approach to solving problems and…

Reflects upon participatory action research as used by the cost study teams at Xerox Corporation. Discusses the evolving relationships between union and management and describes the changing role of the union during this process. Notes that even though management instability causes some problems, the program is beneficial in fostering employee…

A study used participatory action research (PAR) to explore social inclusion/relationships at worksites of 10 students (ages 17-21). The participatory intervention process assisted teachers and job coaches in making constructive changes in transition work experience programs to provide social opportunities for students and help them become part of…

Use of ethnographic methods to assess learning and staff development needs for workplace adult education programs is discussed, focusing on the teacher's role as ethnographic researcher. Four stages of ethnographic research are identified: (1) open-ended, inductive study; (2) structured observation; (3) analysis; and (4) speculation and sharing of…

This document includes a research review and commentary on the role, career, and work of assistant principals; an overview of theories and concepts useful to studying the administrative career in education; and propositions regarding professional training practices and personnel policies in education. Results of a review of the research on the…

This book, which contains 15 chapters by various authors, aims to conceptualize new ways that knowledge is being "legitimized" through various formal and informal workplace-based research practices. It examines the new legitimations critically, and analyzes possible directions for future developments in work-based research and…

This document contains 127 papers and innovative sessions and three poster sessions presented at a conference on human resource development (HRD). A program overview, author index, keyword index, and a CD-ROM version of the document are also included. The papers are grouped by the conference's 44 symposiums, which were devoted to the following…