Doing action research in organizations: Using communicative spaces to facilitate (transformative) professional learning

Abstract

This paper considers the nature of professional learning arising through the processes of carrying out action research in professional organizations. It suggests that communicative space opened up outside of the professional context can lead to unanticipated professional learning. Such learning could be considered transformative in the way it leads professionals to reframe their understanding of the dilemma arising from doing action research. To illustrate this, two cases are presented to show the pivotal role university tutors can play not only in the way they create and maintain communicative space but also in the way they purposefully employ strategies to interrupt and challenge viewpoints, assumptions and practices held by professionals doing action research, enabling professional learning to become transformative.

Accidental ethnography: A method for practitioner-based education research

“…The vast and varied experiences of practitioners remain largely untapped and unable to contribute to the broader research community because, in part, practitioners do not usually plan scholarly research while undertaking a new project. However, during their work, practitioners often discover important phenomena that could contribute to research knowledge and organizational improvement, if explored rigorously, reflectively, and praxically (Eady, Drew, & Smith, 2015). These data need refocused and methodologically rigorous methods to ensure trustworthiness of results, which is what we begin to develop here.…”

Mejorando La Interacción en El Aula a Través De La Investigación-Acción Colaborativa

“…En esta línea, la investigación-acción resulta un método eficaz para construir el saber pedagógico del docente y comienza por someter a crítica la propia práctica a través de una reflexión profunda del propio saber pedagógico y de las teorías implícitas sobre el cómo actuar. Se trata de cuestionar la puesta en valor de las teorías pedagógicas, de forma que el profesional adquiere un conocimiento profundo y una mayor comprensión de cómo se estructura su práctica, identificando sus propias fortalezas y debilidades (Kemmis, 2009;Eady, Drew y Smith, 2015;. Para autores como Willegems, Consuegra, Struyven y Engels (2017), por ejemplo, la colaboración entre docentes noveles y experimentados facilita este proceso.…”

“…Nuestro reto es continuar en posteriores prácticas docentes con este proceso ya iniciado para seguir evolucionando nuestra práctica en aras a mejorar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, y establecer vías para compartir estrategias docentes de interacción, con el resto del profesorado ; Willegems, Consuegra, Struyven y Engels, 2017; Stockero, Rupnow y Pascoe, 2017. Asimismo, animamos a todos aquellos docentes noveles a llevar a cabo en colaboración con otros docentes noveles y/o experimentados (Willegems, Consuegra, Struyven y Engels, 2017) procesos de investigación-acción similares que favorezcan su desarrollo profesional a través de una mayor comprensión de cómo se estructura su práctica, identificando sus propias fortalezas y debilidades (Kemmis, 2009;Eady, Drew y Smith, 2015;.…”

The effectiveness of strategy tools: Narrative facilitation of strategy implementation workshops

“…The first author acted as insider action researcher (Roth, Sandberg, & Svensson, 2011), defined as a person who is an organizational member and a researcher at the same time, which offers the possibility to engage in action while having the opportunity to withdraw and reflect (Coghlan, 2001(Coghlan, , 2003. The advantage of conducting insider action research is the opportunity for deep organizational embeddedness and contextual understanding that can lead to findings that are not available from an ethnographic perspective as an observer, and which enable the insider action researcher to acquire a different and perhaps deeper understanding (Eady, Drew, & Smith, 2015). Our insider action research has a dual purpose to develop better strategy workshop outcomes and learning in action.…”