Zimbabwe's Belvedere Technical Teachers' College requires students to complete a Curriculum Depth Studies (CDS) project investigating some aspect of their teaching. The Professional Studies (PS) section at the college is undergoing an action research project to improve how students are prepared for and supported in doing their CDS projects. At the same time, the section is promoting action research as a model for the students' projects. By participating in the process that they are advocating, PS section lecturers examined the complexities of doing action research. The college-wide dialogue reflects the deep thinking, tensions and contradictions involved in the process.

A tension exists between institutional requirements of reflective thinking among teachers and the realities of the classroom. The former is often ambiguous, complex, and difficult. Without laying much groundwork, there is little incentive for student teachers to take on such a challenge. This article offers four vignettes of student teachers' attempts at conducting action research in a Zimbabwean context. With minimal familiarity, preparation, and support, each student's success varied: one student completed the task without a deeper understanding; a second did not conduct much of the research; another was able to integrate the research process with his teaching practice; and the last student already possessed the skills and disposition needed to be successful. This article helps name some of the common enablers and obstacles to promoting reflexive thinking among student teachers. It starts first and foremost by establishing issues that need to be part of any dialogue on the meanings and ideals of action research in support of teaching in a development context. Action ResearchVolume 5(2): 139-159 Copyright© 2007 SAGE Publications

No abstract