This article considers some paradigms of educational research, and their relation to teachers' action research in their classrooms or studios. The positivist/scientific paradigm and the interpretive/naturalist paradigm are examined, with reference to two cases of music teachers' action research studies. These studies are found to be flawed because…

This article presents an action research study into how trainee music teachers in England use a structured discussion process called "Collegial Consultation" to learn about teaching. The research shows that, in Collegial Consultation, trainees learn from each other by offering several solutions to a problem, offering reasons for their…

Although action research is widely acknowledged to have benefits in terms of improving practice and professional development, its ability to generate new knowledge, and hence its status as research, is debatable. Indeed, there are questions as to whether it can be called "proper" research. This article draws on the Southampton Music…