In contemporary educational settings, school leaders and teachers face increased accountability and pressure to raise student performance. Utilising professional learning to develop individual and collective capability is a common feature of these settings. In Australia, there is evidence that many schools have implemented action research to…

The purpose of this paper is to report on the nature of collaboration in a multi-year, large-scale collaborative action research project in which a teachers' federation (in Ontario, Canada), university researchers and teachers partnered to investigate teacher-selected topics for inquiry. Over two years, 14 case studies were generated involving six…

Action research provides valuable opportunities for preservice teachers to improve their practice, their understanding of their practice, and the situation in which their practice takes place. Moreover, action research empowers preservice teachers to critically examine an experience that demonstrates their potential to be influential researchers…

This paper reports on a mixed-methods study related to K-12 teachers' understandings of what research is, and what enables or inhibits teacher use of research in the classroom towards informing their instructional practices. In a collaboration exemplifying school board and university partnerships, we examined the nature of associations between…

This paper reflects on the challenges and benefits of multidimensional collaboration in an action research study to evaluate and improve preoperative education for patients awaiting colorectal surgery. Three cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting were designed to evaluate practice and implement change in this interactive setting,…

This paper examines the implementation of a participatory action research study as a parent involvement strategy in one urban, Colorado middle school thought to have low parental involvement. Parent leaders from the middle school community participated in the data collection, analysis, and dissemination as "promotora researchers." These…

This study focuses on the perceptions of student-teachers towards their engagement in small-scale research projects undertaken whilst on a one-year postgraduate initial teacher education programme. We present an institutional response to national and international policy agendas regarding the place of research within initial teacher education at…

The paper explores the value of practitioner enquiry in the development of common language and shared understandings for a group of mid-career professionals from a variety of public service backgrounds, brought together to formulate responses to the English agenda for integrating services. It draws upon data gathered from multi-professional action…

A recent evaluation of a students-as-researchers project in Brisbane, Australia found that the use of participatory action research offers a means by which marginalised students, teachers, and university researchers can work collaboratively towards positive outcomes for the participants and their schools. In discussing the relevant theory and the…

Research literature on students as researchers demonstrates a spectrum of constructive ways in which students are being actively engaged in school and classroom action inquiries. Any identified tensions lie in the degree to which students themselves are genuinely engaged as action researchers. Increasingly, externally driven agendas for change and…