This article addresses the conceptual question "what is lesson study?" as an issue that arises in the context of the globalisation of lesson study as a method for improving teaching and learning beyond its presumed origins in the Japanese education system. To what extent can adaptations of the method in different national settings be…

Curriculum aims often remain unrealised aspirations. This is because the values and principles implicit in them fail to get articulated in forms that can effectively inform and guide the practice of teaching. Ideas such as "learner-centred education", "independent/autonomous learning", "self-directed learning",…

The article will review some of Bridget Somekh's action research projects as attempts to build networks of trust and reciprocity across a range of educational stake-holders. It will also examine Bridget's wider role within the education action research movement as a whole, looking at her achievements as a facilitator of networks of action…

This paper looks at the western notion of "teacher as researcher", as originally developed by Lawrence Stenhouse and his associates, in the light of what Confucius had to say about education and learning. The paper demonstrates that the Confucian account of education and learning is similar in many respects to the notion of the "teacher as…

This article is a retrospective critique of "Becoming Critical" by Carr & Kemmis. Into it are woven responses to other retrospective reviews of the book by Susan Groundwater-Smith, Susan Noffke, and Carr & Kemmis themselves. The basic argument is that "Becoming Critical" was overdependent on the work of Jurgen Habermas…

The relationship between teacher appraisal and educational research in the United Kingdom is illustrated by the personal and professional experiences of an educator. An autobiographical analysis of this relationship, in light of M. Foucault's analysis of the relationship between power and knowledge, is presented. A clear relationship between…

This study reports on attempts to involve forty British teachers in a program of research into implementing inquiry/discovery approaches to teaching in classrooms, following the failure of a previous curriculum reform movement at the implementation stage. It was hypothesized that a fundamental problem of curriculum reform lies in the clash between…

The theory of action research is discussed in terms of how second-order action research can help theorists to clarify and deepen their understanding of action research. After a brief introduction, the paper examines methodological criteria governing a piece of action research conducted at an action research training workshop sponsored by the…

The purpose of education should not be to fill students with objective knowledge but to develop in students the ability to process information in ways that enhance understanding, according to the process model of curriculum development proposed by Lawrence Stenhouse. Defining education thus does not allow for the establishment of fixed educational…

The opening section of this paper describes the author's first experience with collegial attempts at curriculum reform through practical inquiry, illustrating a process in which ideas are tested and developed in action. It is pointed out that this form of teacher-based practical inquiry is a characteristic feature of a certain kind of curriculum…

This article focuses on the problems, dilemmas, and issues which confront facilitators of teacher-based action research in schools. Three action research projects in the United Kingdom are described. An attempt is made to clarify the theoretical and philosophical assumptions which underpin the action research movement in education. (IAH)

Schools and universities in the United Kingdom are coming to accept performance appraisal as a fact of life. The first part of this paper discusses appraisal policies as "negotiated ambiguities." Ambiguous criteria concerning wording subject to misinterpretation has created reservations on the side of the National Union of Teachers. This…

Changing views of models of evaluation are considered, with a review of models for program evaluation debated in the 1970s. The evaluation of a police probationer training program illustrates the relationship between the democratic evaluation advocated by B. MacDonald and action research. (SLD)

Discusses the relationship between educational theory and teacher professional knowledge. The paper presents eight criteria specifying types of educational inquiry processes which teacher educators and educational researchers must foster as a context for their activities. (SM)