“…The rationale presented in outline in the previous paragraph suggests something central about the research standing of action research itself: its own epistemological warrant and credentials, on which many have written (e.g. Somekh, ; Elliott, ; McNiff & Whitehead, ; Higgins, ; Foreman‐Peck & Heilbronn, ). We locate the origins of that warrant firmly in the Western tradition of practical philosophy, especially as disclosed in the examples of Socratic practice in the early Dialogues of Plato (Plato, ).…”
We begin by arguing that the continuing dominance of ‘evidence‐based’ thinking in educational policymaking does serious harm to the notion of evidence itself; also that it brings a loss of coherence to education as a practice that might wish to be regarded as a coherent and research‐informed one. The second section of the article suggests that the invidious consequences of ‘evidence‐based’ thinking are likely to continue unless energetically challenged by a vibrant and robust understanding of education as a practice in its own right. In elucidating such an understanding, we investigate closely the notions of practice and practitioner, and their intrinsic connections, drawing on landmark researches on practice by authors like Alasdair MacIntyre and Joseph Dunne. Building on the understanding of education as a practice in its own right, the third section argues that the Dewey‐inspired notion of justified warrant, rather than proof or replicability, is more appropriate to research claims made in education. Here we focus in particular on action research, which has experienced recurring difficulties in having its research credentials recognised.
“…The rationale presented in outline in the previous paragraph suggests something central about the research standing of action research itself: its own epistemological warrant and credentials, on which many have written (e.g. Somekh, ; Elliott, ; McNiff & Whitehead, ; Higgins, ; Foreman‐Peck & Heilbronn, ). We locate the origins of that warrant firmly in the Western tradition of practical philosophy, especially as disclosed in the examples of Socratic practice in the early Dialogues of Plato (Plato, ).…”
We begin by arguing that the continuing dominance of ‘evidence‐based’ thinking in educational policymaking does serious harm to the notion of evidence itself; also that it brings a loss of coherence to education as a practice that might wish to be regarded as a coherent and research‐informed one. The second section of the article suggests that the invidious consequences of ‘evidence‐based’ thinking are likely to continue unless energetically challenged by a vibrant and robust understanding of education as a practice in its own right. In elucidating such an understanding, we investigate closely the notions of practice and practitioner, and their intrinsic connections, drawing on landmark researches on practice by authors like Alasdair MacIntyre and Joseph Dunne. Building on the understanding of education as a practice in its own right, the third section argues that the Dewey‐inspired notion of justified warrant, rather than proof or replicability, is more appropriate to research claims made in education. Here we focus in particular on action research, which has experienced recurring difficulties in having its research credentials recognised.
“…His second claim is that something worse has emerged in the name of action research, versions of so‐called action research which are actually causing harm. Action research, Higgins claims, can lead to teachers being distracted from their primary responsibility to engage with students as learners, ‘… under the thrall of action research, we may find a teacher who, while never fully apprenticing herself to one or another craft of scholarship or research, has nonetheless alienated herself from the relationships to her students and works that afford singular access to sources of wisdom’ (Higgins, , p. 234).…”
Section: Higgins's Account Of Action Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…‘… under the thrall of action research, we may find a teacher who, while never fully apprenticing herself to one or another craft of scholarship or research, has nonetheless alienated herself from the relationships to her students and works that afford singular access to sources of wisdom’ (Higgins, , p. 234).…”
Section: Higgins's Account Of Action Researchmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We write as practitioners of action research, philosophers of education, and teacher educators who work with teachers undertaking action research. The paper came about as a response to Chris Higgins’ paper, ‘The Promise, Pitfalls and Persistent Challenge of Action Research’ (Higgins, ). We had greatly admired Higgins's earlier work, ‘The Good Life of Teaching: the Ethics of Professional Practice’ (Higgins, ) but we were taken aback by the account of action research in his recent paper, as we think he has greatly misrepresented its nature.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The title and abstract of Higgins's paper () introduces Higgins's view that philosophy of education is a marginalised discipline, struck down by ‘the purification ritual at the heart of the modern disciplines’ (p. 231), as apparent in the very syntax of the phrase ‘philosophy of education’. The two terms are now understood as separate domains which must be connected by the preposition ‘of’, linked by the logic of application.…”
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 intention of empowering teachers and sealing the theory practice divide. He claims that it has degenerated into a method devoid of thought. In its social science versions, it is harmful to the teacher-student relationship and teachers have been mislead into an impoverished idea of professional development. The impossible challenge for action research is to recover its original intention; impossible because the landscape of educational policy militates against it.The authors challenge Higgin's deep pessimism, his versions of AR and his negative account of the intellectual capacity of teachers. We argue that AR does empower teachers, integrates theory and practice and is alive and well, even though conditions in schools are not optimum. This argument is exemplified with numerous illustrations of actual AR projects, which evidence teachers' participatory and collaborative work, in which they engage in positive change. There is scope for teachers wishing to develop 'customised' AR projects of their own in current conditions which have transformative potential in changing the practice of the individual teacher. This in turn supports building and participating in a 'community of practice', which strengthens the communal endeavour to contribute to good teaching and good education.
The BERA initiative on promoting Close‐to‐Practice (CtP) research raises new challenges for action research, particularly as uncertainties about the standing and rigour of action research were expressed in the report of the education panel for the 2015 Research Excellence Framework (REF) in the United Kingdom. The work of tackling these challenges is essential in advancing CtP research, and it discloses, in turn, new possibilities. In this paper we review some pioneering developments in action research and analyse the difficulties it has experienced in securing parity of standing with other forms of research. We argue that action research is more than, and sometimes other than, a social science. We seek to show that if action research is to be recognised by credentials that are its own, and judged by criteria that are proper to it, not only does it lose any lower standing. Rather, it becomes a major pathway, with deep roots in the critical traditions of Western practical philosophy, through which the defining purposes of education itself, as a distinctive human practice, are ascertained and affirmed, pursued and appraised.
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