An annual-case process that examines principal leadership over the course of a year can provide extensive opportunities for practitioners and professors to collect, examine, and disseminate knowledge in, of, and about practice. Such cases can support professional development and pre-service preparation and become bases for research across multiple…

This article discusses the importance of authentic picture-storybook adaptations of multicultural folktales and describes an action research project through which a children's picture-book adaptation of a traditional tale can be authenticated using an inquiry-based process. In addition to modeling an actual authentication project using "The Golden…

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have a major advantage over larger organisations in regard to addressing sustainability issues--their size means they are able to react very quickly to changes in the business environment. They are disadvantaged, however, by lack of information on marketplace changes that make sustainability an opportunity…

The purpose of this action research study was to examine the effect of an adapted swimming program in terms of improving the performance and behaviour of an individual with kyphosis-scoliosis, with the use of an individualised education approach. The sample consisted of an adult woman with kyphosis-scoliosis. The pre-swimming phase included a…

UK Higher Education Institutions are being required to reflect on the balance between academic and vocational aspects of their course provision and to identify more clearly how they are preparing their students for employment. This is not a simple matter. The UK arts and cultural sector is highly complex, with the characteristic features of a…

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…

This is a shared narrative, by five nurses and two lecturers who worked collaboratively on two undergraduate action research modules. They illustrate their research and education processes, characterised by critical reflection, use of ground rules, metaphor and imagery. Experiences that challenged and changed each of them are presented, including…

This article explores the place of individual and collective reflection in action research in higher education. It draws on the experience of a year-long project in which a group of five lecturers explored their practice as supervisors of students preparing dissertations. The project provided opportunities for both individual and group reflection…

In this study, dialectical reflexive practice is used to maintain student-teacher interactions in the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development is the development-and-learning unit of the child or learner and the author suggests that it is also the fusion point of Marx's dialectical historical materialism: the creation of…

The terms school culture, climate and ethos appear to be used interchangeably. Within the context of differing national environments there is, however, a tendency to use climate when objective data is under consideration, ethos when more subjective descriptors are involved, and culture when these two are brought together as an integrative force in…

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of methodology in action research. It begins by showing how, as a form of inquiry concerned with the development of practice, action research is nothing other than a modern 20th century manifestation of the pre-modern tradition of practical philosophy. It then draws in Gadamer's powerful vindication of…

A year-long collaborative action research project used networked technologies to connect researchers at a university-based online professional development program and a group of practitioner researchers based in a range of schools and educational agencies in several countries. They studied the process and effects of online professional development…

This paper will detail three projects which focussed on enhancing online learning at a large Australian distance education University within a School of Business, School of Health and School of Education. Each project had special funding and took quite distinctive project management approaches, which reflect the desire to embed innovation and…

The importance of the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and building-level administrators in achieving school reform has come to be widely acknowledged. As University of Wisconsin professor Kent Peterson put it: "You can implement a good-quality improvement plan and knowledgeable, data-driven decision making, but if the [staff] doesn't…

In response to a challenge to integrate media activities into literacy lessons, teachers from elementary and middle grade classrooms initiated action research projects to determine the effectiveness of their efforts. Three projects are discussed in detail. Data collection and analysis were of a mixed design. Each action research project used media…