In this paper we examine two systematic observation methods intended to be used by pre-service and in-service teachers to help increase their awareness of children's participation in productive classroom dialogue. We identify the affordances of these methods for supporting teachers' reflective practice, focusing in this case on students' equitable…

In recent decades, three forms of practitioner research have emerged: Reflective Practice, Action Research, and Exploratory Practice. While Reflective Practice and Action Research focus on teachers-as-researchers, Exploratory Practice positions learners as co-researchers, alongside teachers, teacher educators, and others. This article adds to…

The knowledge value chain has multiple stakeholders such as researchers and policy-makers. These are conventionally knowledge producers and knowledge users, respectively. Knowledge producers and knowledge users sometimes have conflicting interests, expectations, concerns, and priorities. To mitigate these differences, one of the strategies used is…

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",…

This article describes the discovery of action research by a "conscious incompetent" in higher education. The influences on the development of an action researcher's individual philosophy are discussed. These shape a specific investigation into the implementation of international staff exchange in a post-1992 UK university from the…

Background: The influence of technology on children's everyday lives is significant in today's society, with children described as digital natives and/or the iGeneration. There are also a range of digital technologies available for use in education and a number of pedagogical approaches reported to support technology integration and pupil learning…

This paper, following Somekh and Zeichner, offers a "remodelling [of] action research theories and practices in local contexts". It is an attempt, with Kemmis, to address the question "what is to be done?" and to consider the "place of action research" in the light of what Schön has referred to as "the crisis of…

Narratives and activity theory are useful as socially constructed data collection tools that allow a researcher access to the social, cultural and historical meanings that research participants place on events in their lives. This case study shows how these tools were used to promote reflection within a cultural-historical activity theoretically…

An alternative formulation of the actor in educational action research is shown to refresh notions of theory within initial teacher education. Methodologically, the actor is depicted as identifying with ongoing cultural adjustments through reflective data. Specifically, the paper considers the experience of mature trainee teachers in the United…

This article examines the contribution of older adults as co-researchers to the evaluation of a gerontological social work course. The evaluation was conducted at an Israeli college as part of a collaborative project with a United Kingdom university. Here, we follow the older adults who are service users through their transition to the role of…

The development of pedagogies to meet the needs of diverse communities can be supported through inter-professional practice development. This article explores one such experience, that of speech and language therapists developing a new video-based coaching approach for teachers and teaching assistants in multi-cultural settings with high numbers…

The importance of personal practice for instrumentalists and vocalists is well established among researchers, and axiomatic for practitioners. This paper reports on a phase of an action research project, investigating student approaches to personal practice. Following a preliminary questionnaire study, a residential clinic was conducted by…

As school-based action research has taken a higher profile in UK schools, the place of ethics warrants particular attention. This paper draws on evidence from a taught online Master of Education course collated via chat room discussion where 53 researching teachers were asked to explore policy within their own institution regarding school-based…

This paper is a reflective account exploring the value of using action research in a relatively new context in the United Kingdom; the development of community renewable-energy projects. There is a strong rationale for using action research in this setting due to the synergies between the principles and practice of action research and localised…

This article draws upon the work of two researchers who facilitated practitioner research with school professionals in Liverpool. The researchers themselves had not been involved in practitioner research before. In this account, the researchers reflect critically upon their own experience. The discussion presents the learning curve that the…