Action Research Pedagogy in Educational Institutions: Emancipatory, Relational, Critical and Contextual

Abstract

In their call to action research for transformations (ART), Bradbury et al. (2019, p. 3) note that ‘our mainstream approach to learning, education, and research is actively coproducing the very opposite of what we need at this time of unsustainability’. A neoliberal agenda has gradually eroded democracy and care in our educational institutions and replaced them with competitive markets, a managerial mindset and an emphasis on performativity and compliance that cares little for the needs of the individual learner (Ball, 2016), or for the transformative challenges of our time. Bradbury et al. (2019, p. 4) imagine a different world where ‘relational, collaborative learning processes with experiments to provoke future learning’ are commonplace. Despite the onslaught of neoliberalism, dedicated teachers within mainstream educational institutions have been keeping the dream of such a world alive through experiments with action research pedagogy. In our experience working in educational institutions, action research offers much potential as a methodology and pedagogical practice that prepares and supports learners to pursue transformative work. It is a powerful tool that can be cultivated, coached, and continually developed in diverse traditional and non-traditional, informal educational arenas. But it is by no means an easy practice to learn or teach or facilitate. We are deeply conscious of the exhaustive demands of the human work it takes to transform the world through intentional, influential research. In addition to teaching the practice of collaborative, stakeholder-driven action research, educational programs that employ action research need to provide more than the usual level of support for learners as they work to challenge historical norms and give voice to those who are rarely heard. Faced with these challenges, teachers, leaders, and scholars continue to labor in search of new and innovative approaches to curriculum and research that engages local and global communities. In what follows, we present four themes that we see as key in the kinds of action research pedagogy that supports students.