B)+Core+Characteristics

= Distinguishing Features of Action Research =

The different conceptions of action research can be revealed in some typical definitions of action research:

**Definition of Action Research (Reason 2006)** a participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview which we believe is emerging at this historical moment. It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities.

**﻿Definition of Action Research (Kemmis and McTaggart 1988)** Action research is a form of collective self-reflective inquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out... The approach is only action research when it is //collaborative,// though it is important to realize that the action research of the group is acheived through the //critically examined action// of individual group members.

Definition of Action Research (Hopkins 1985 & Ebbutt 1985)
the combination of action and research renders that action a form of disciplined inquiry, in which a personal attempt is made to understand, improve and reform practice.

O'Leary:
Regardless of any academic debate on the precise nature of action research, there are some basic tenets that both define the process and outline its procedures.

1) **Addresses practical problems** - real problems, real-life situations. 2) **Generates Knowledge -** production of knowledge to produce change and enacting change to produce knowledge 3) **Enacts Change** - goes beyond knowledge generation and incorporates change into immediate goals. 4) **Is participatory -** democratizes the research process

Stringer:
- it is //democratic//, enabling the participation of all people. - it is //equitable//, acknowledging people's equality of worth. - it is //liberating//, providing freedom from oppressive, debilitating conditions. - it is life //enhancing//, enabling the expression of people's full human potential.

Reason & Bradbury (2006)
While the field of action research is hugely varied and there are all kinds of choices to be made in practice, there are five broadly shared features which characterize action research which are shown below:


 * < **Participation -** The first step in action research turns out to be central: the formation of a communicative space...and to do so in a way that will permit people to achieve mutual understanding and consensus about what to do, in the knowledge that the legitimacy of any conclusions and decisions reached by participants will be proportional to the degree of authentic engagement of those concerned. (Kemmis, 2001: 100)

**Practical Knowing -** A primary purpose of action research is to produce practical knowledge that is useful to people in the everyday conduct of their lives. A wider purpose of action research is to contribute through this practical knowledge to the increased well-being-economic, political, psychological, spiritual-of human persons and communities, and to a more equitable and sustainable relationship with the wider ecology of the planet of which we are an intrinsic part. (Reason & Bradbury, 2001:2) ||
 * < **Worthwhile purposes** - The fourth dimension of action research we considered in the //Handbook// was that it is intended to contribute to the flourishing of human persons, communities, and the ecosystems of which we are part. This raises questions of values, morals, and ethics. As Rorty points out moral choice is 'always a matter of compromise between competing goods rather than a choice between absolutely right and wrong' (Rorty, 1999:xxvii-xxix). If we accept this, we need to be continually asking about what are worthwhile purposes, and when what we currently think is worthwhile is interrupted by another claim. But there can never be a clear and ultimate answer, and as the Buddhist writer David Loy points out, 'meaning, like pleasure, must always be pursued obliquely' (Loy, 2000:127) ||
 * < **Emergence -** Since action research starts with everyday experience and is concerned with the development of living knowledge, in many ways the process of inquiry is as important as specific outcomes. Good action research emerges over time in an evolutionary and developmental process, as individuals develop skills of inquiry and as communities of inquiry develop within communities of practice. Action research is emancipatory; it leads not just to new practical knowledge, but also to new abilities to create knowledge. In action research knowledge is a living, evolving process of coming to know rooted in everyday experience; it is a verb rather than a noun. (Reason & Bradbury, 2001:2)
 * < **Emergence -** Since action research starts with everyday experience and is concerned with the development of living knowledge, in many ways the process of inquiry is as important as specific outcomes. Good action research emerges over time in an evolutionary and developmental process, as individuals develop skills of inquiry and as communities of inquiry develop within communities of practice. Action research is emancipatory; it leads not just to new practical knowledge, but also to new abilities to create knowledge. In action research knowledge is a living, evolving process of coming to know rooted in everyday experience; it is a verb rather than a noun. (Reason & Bradbury, 2001:2)

Taken From: http://www.rib-bangladesh.org/keynotepaper.php  Reason and Bradbury touch on **the postmodern perspective** that  emphasizes the intimate relationship between knowledge and power – how knowledge-making, supported by various cultural and political forms, creates a reality which favours those who hold power.
 * Many ways of knowing -** considering ways of knowing that are rooted in everyday experience, and are expressed through story as well as through concepts, and which directly support our practice. ||