This paper presents a view of action research (AR) as a valuable way in which teachers can pose fertile questions and engage in inquiry with transformative possibilities. This counters claims of its being at best a sterile method of teacher research and at worst a perilous trap for teachers. Chris Higgins has argued that AR has lost its original…

This response to ""Buscando la Libertad": Latino Youths in Search of Freedom in School" by Jason G. Irizarry demonstrates how youth participatory action research (YPAR) as an instrument of subverting oppressive school policies and structures is a form of critical policy analysis (CPA). As an evolving method, CPA acknowledges the absent voices in…

This article presents the author's keynote address delivered at the "North Eastern Ontario Education Network 2011 Research Carousel: Evidence in the Classroom--Affecting Student Achievement at the Grassroots Level." In this address, the author first discusses teachers and learning in the literature on adult and professional learning.…

Participation of the "target group" is a key concept in working on empowerment in health education. However, it raises many questions and is not without struggle. I will discuss the findings from a study into the state of the art of empowerment in health education, which includes a literature review and the analysis of eight Dutch…

Four models of action-oriented research, a research approach that can inform policy and practice, are described: action, participatory, empowerment, and feminism research. Discusses historical roots, epistemological assumptions, agendas, and methodological strategies of each, and presents implications for family researchers. (JPS)

High quality education for all students is promoted nationwide. University teacher educators must deal with reality as they provide instruction for prospective teachers. If schools and teachers are to improve, then college faculty must also improve. This must be a unified effort in which higher education institutions work with existing and new…

The information explosion and exponential development of information-accessing tools has had a disempowering effect on many people. A major challenge of the information-centered world is for students and teachers alike to learn how to assert responsibility and control over personal practice. Meeting this challenge may require personal…

The community literacy program of Western District Adult Basic Education in Georgia was examined to demonstrate how the meaning and value of literacy is a function of specific local institutions. The goal of the examination was to theorize literacy by constructing a localized framework for understanding literacy within a given institution in order…