The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by action learning in a collaborative action research project to alleviate poverty in a city region in the UK. Researchers from two universities worked with 12 large anchor organisations to investigate procurement and employment practices that positively impacted inclusive growth within the…

Participatory action research (PAR) investigates issues through collaboration and cooperation between academics and nonacademic community members. Recently, awareness of such approaches has increased as the need for transformative research and contribution to social goods has become clear. However, participatory methods have been deployed unevenly…

The seemingly relentless drive across Higher Education (HE) Institutions to integrate both face-to-face and online forms of delivery to create blended approaches to teaching and learning shows little sign of abating. Yet, as blended forms of delivery become increasingly prevalent, existing literature suggests that the perspectives and experiences…

The call to raise educational standards in the UK has a particular focus on the underachievement of pupils attending schools facing challenging socioeconomic circumstances. In 2017 the Education Policy Institute (UK) reported that the most disadvantaged pupils in England are on average over 2 years of learning behind non-disadvantaged pupils by…

The aim of this article is twofold. It describes a long-term relationship with a not-for-profit organisation in the UK, focusing on a particular project that used drama as a tool for building self-confidence and employability. At the same time it reviews autoethnography as a research method, describing its distinctive features and questioning the…

The subject of talent in sport continues to fascinate and intrigue as organisations seek to identify and deliver an effective talent development programme in an effort to ensure systemic success. In the quest to deliver an optimal national governing body talent development programme, this paper investigates the role that Appreciative Inquiry can…

This paper examines a Revans led action learning / action research project in services for people with learning disabilities which took place between 1969 and 1972 across seven local authorities in the UK. It explores aspects of social and political history as the project unfolded, including the notable scandals in hospital and social care which…

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…

The Marginalisation and Co-created Education (MaCE) project was developed between the University of Southern Norway, VIA University in Denmark and the University of Cumbria in the UK and funded by Erasmus+. The project aims to co-create proposals to achieve an equitable and socially just education system through participative action research with…

Involving young people in the co-production of whole-school wellbeing strategies is aligned with the United Nations rights of the child and current UK legislation. This exploratory participatory action research (PAR) project aimed to facilitate teacher-student collaboration in one high school to develop whole-school practice with a focus on…

Action research has been characterised as systematic enquiry into practice, undertaken by those involved, with the aim changing and improving that practice: an approach designed to have impact. Whilst much has been written about the process and practice of "researching," historically "impact" has been somewhat taken for…

This paper problematises the involvement of the UK academic consultant in professional development projects among teachers in a developing, low-income nation. The context for this exploration was a four-year project in Pakistan in which I gave input as a UK consultant. My over-arching research question was: "What was the value of my work as…

This paper reports the co-creation of knowledge through a Practitioner Action Research Community of Practice of teachers and mid-level policy enactors which sought to engage the question of how to enhance Religious Education in primary schools serving socially disadvantaged children. Co-authors' professional values and assumptions are explored,…

This report provides an interim account of a participatory action research project undertaken during 2015-16. The research brought together scholars, students and expert members of the co-operative movement to design a theoretically informed and practically grounded framework for co-operative higher education that activists, educators and the…

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…