Section archive - Research Methods

This article provides an analysis of the Collaborative Action Research Network's (CARN) origins and development since its foundation in 1976. Cultural-historical activity theory is used as an analytical framework: key concepts are succinctly summarised and then used to identify and explore CARN's agency in developing educational action research. The article focuses on key themes of CARN's activity, such as developing teachers' knowledge as an engine of school reform, establishing an action research literature and supporting the challenging processes of collaboration. The article explores some of the disruptions and contradictions in CARN over the years. The article concludes with an agenda for future development.

This article explores the significance of Bridget Somekh‘s work for methodology, professional practice and for what may be called the 'project' of action research as the development of 'communities of research-practitioners' who in some way seek to 'improve' the quality of their action within their workplace. In many ways her 'project' has been, and still is, the project of embedding action research into professional practice at all levels, from day-to-day interactions in schools and communities to policy-making. The 'good' of Bridget Somekh that emerges from this discussion is precisely the project of getting people's voices heard as they combine in action to make a real difference in their workplaces, communities or at policy level.

In this article, the authors would like to present the theoretical relationship between lesson studies, action research and practical knowledge in teacher education. In particular, the authors analyse the possibilities of lesson studies as an action research model in which observation, action, reflection and cooperation between participants should help to reconstruct the theories in use that teachers count on in their school practice.

In this article, the authors propose an agenda for special education teacher education researchers. The authors emphasize that particular attention should be paid to policy work and studies of innovations in pre-service preparation, induction and mentoring, and professional development. The authors discuss strategies to bolster the research foundation, namely, by oversampling special education teachers in the Schools and Staffing Survey and the Teacher Follow-Up Survey and by fostering the development of models of teacher development and related measures of teacher quality.