This collaborative study centered around the development and implementation of an integrative module for science and language arts methods courses in a teacher education program. The study was conducted within an action research framework and was informed by perspectives on collaborative inquiry and the two instructors' personal practical…

This paper describes the dilemmas of leadership experienced by principals and superintendents in Norway. The term "dilemma" refers to contradictory orientations that these educational leaders experienced in their job activities. Dilemmas are categorized in terms of legality, which pertains to the formal steering of the schools, or in…

The field work for this study was conducted in South Africa in 1987-1989, before the end of apartheid, but much of the critical reflection and engagement postdates the empirical research. The project examined the role of the facilitator in the process of educational change. The research involved 34 teachers from primary schools. Chapter one…

Epistemic thought is a process that focuses on the origin of human knowledge. This paper describes inquiry-based leadership, a viewpoint that integrates epistemic thought with the realities of school administration. The paper examines the art of teacher inquiry and its link to Inquiry-Based Leadership (IBL), and presents a school-university…

Three action research projects were conducted with the intention of creating peaceful learning environments in Canadian schools from kindergarten to twelfth grade. The first project focused on social skills development, especially conflict management, for elementary school students in a rural New Brunswick school. Staff used Washington state's…

A study examined and described a program to improve writing skills and related attitudes of elementary school students. Targeted population consisted of second- and fifth-grade students in a stable, middle class suburban community, located 20 miles southwest of Chicago, Illinois. The problems of underdeveloped writing skills and lack of student…

Action research, which, broadly defined, was one of the activities in which educators following in the footsteps of John Dewey engaged, emerged as a systematic approach for improving educational practice in the two decades following World War II. Action research then passed into relative obscurity. It has recently re-emerged in the educational…

The changing role of the external researcher is explored in the context of two action research projects in Malaga (Spain). The first project was an evaluation of a trade school program for disadvantaged young people in a low-income rural area of Spain. Researchers began as friendly evaluators in a democratic evaluation of the program's first…

An action research project was conducted at Ohio's Sinclair Community College to review and revise the early childhood teacher education curriculum. First, a modified Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) process was undertaken. Over 800 tasks from 8 validated task lists obtained from early childhood education (ECE) programs at other community colleges…

This book addresses the subject of environmental education in the context of educational and social change. It focuses on the synthesis of action research and community problem solving in the context of education. The result, Action Research and Community Problem Solving (ARCPS), can be defined as a process that enables students and teachers to…

Self-evaluation requires teachers to have an ability to systematically reflect on their own pedagogical activities; action research supports and helps teachers in this process. This article explores the use of action research by teachers to improve both their own expertise and their educational environment. The article begins with a discussion of…

Consonant with the current concern for achievement of minority students, the two action research projects described in this paper use interviews and case studies of 10 African American high school students to address some issues related to motivation in the learning of mathematics, particularly as this motivation concerns aspects of the family…

A study focused on a university-school collaborative research project on language assessment in the classroom context and the benefits of preservice teacher participation. Personnel from the Pennsylvania State University (including 20 preservice teacher education students), intermediate unit (Pennsylvania's regional service centers), and four…

This paper examines action research that has been carried out in organizations consisting of predominantly highly educated personnel. The paper revolves around discussion of the Scandinavian model of action research, asking to what degree this model, which has been developed within the framework of industrial democracy, might also serve as a…

Collaborative action research, conducted by teams of practitioners, is a process that enables teachers: (1) to improve student learning, (2) to improve their own practice, (3) to contribute to the development of their own profession, and (4) to overcome the isolation commonly experienced by classroom teachers. By promoting collegial relationships…