Of three extension models--top-down technology transfer, farmers-first approach, and participatory research--the latter extends elements of the other two into a more comprehensive analysis of a problem and specification of solution strategies. An Australian integrated pest management (IPM) example illustrates how structured workshops are a useful…

The colonial nature of relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people undermines effective adult education programs. A genuinely participatory mode of program development that enables Aboriginal communities to control their own education is essential. (SK)

Nine principles of participatory action research (PAR) are identification of individual and collective projects; changing power distribution; changing group and institutional culture; acting and reflecting; unifying intellectual and practical projects; producing knowledge; engaging the politics; using methodological resources; and creating theory.…

A panel of Indigenous staff from the Koori Centre of the University of Sydney (Australia) presented challenges, issues, and opportunities facing the field of Indigenous research in education. A new paradigm for Indigenous research is emerging in Australia that recognizes the value and efficacy of Indigenous knowledge systems and that aims to…

This interview with Dianne Roberts, director of the Minimbah Aboriginal Preschool in Armidale, New South Wales (Australia), explores research issues, leadership styles, and how decision making and responsibilities are handled at Minimbah. Incoming researchers must show how research will benefit the community under study, how they will work in…

This paper examines research in science education, making a case for the interpretive researcher to value both reason and emotion for generating a reflective and reflexive understanding of the classroom experiences of teachers and students. It discusses the role of rationality and emotions in fieldwork, and presents two impressionistic…

Socially critical action research in education can be defined as being strategic and critical pedagogic action on the part of classroom teachers aimed at increasing social justice. Five characteristics of socially critical action research are examined: participation, direction, consciousness, constraints, and outcomes. (IAH)

There is little reason why educational research in Australia should be progressive and highly developed, given that its history and direction are subject to the economic and political determinants of an increasingly globalized and uncertain world. Educational research cannot be a neutral endeavor; it demands that researchers identify a political…

This paper examines ongoing changes related to appropriate methods and practices in Aboriginal educational research, including community control of research based on the principle of self-determination. This assertion of control includes the redefinition of relationships in the research process; appropriate initiation of research projects;…

Three educational programs for personal and social change--community development with Aboriginal people, cultural awareness and antiracism in Alice Springs, and preparation of adult educators at the University of South Australia--illustrate the risks and limits of intervention, the importance of clarifying teacher and learner interests,…

When the Australian government's Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation terminated at the end of 2000, a people's foundation took up the work. A knowledge of Australian Aboriginal history would foster the respect necessary for reconciliation. Research can help by implementing emerging canons in which Aboriginal perspectives provide the framework…

This document contains 14 papers on the purposes and traditions, challenges and dilemmas, and new approaches and issues in liberal adult education. The following papers are included: "Introduction" (Duke); "Decus et Tutamen: Liberal Adult Education" (Thomas); "Tradition in British University Adult Education and the WEA…

We reflect on methodological issues arising in two of our own research projects as a form of practice, as a way of engaging in a praxis of project research. The projects chosen for this purpose are themselves concerned with teacher education and curriculum development in environmental education: they include participatory "reflective…