scholarly journals The Roles and Responsibilities of Action Research Networks in Times of Crisis: Lessons from the Action Research Network of the Americas

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Meagan Call-Cummings ◽  
Melissa Hauber-Ozer ◽  
Lonnie Rowell ◽  
Karen Ross
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Research Networks ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Knowledge Democracy

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, we explore the perceived roles of action research networks during times of crisis and then consider our own experiences grappling with our responsibilities as members of the Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA) in highlighting and building solidarity through its Knowledge Democracy Initiative and Social Solidarity Project. To critically reflect on our work, we consider the usefulness of Gaventa’s (1991) three strategies for knowledge democratization to action research networks in “perilous” times and the responsibility of action research scholars-advocates-activists-participants to anchor our work in an ethos of knowledge democracy. In conclusion, we issue a call to embrace critical, participatory forms of action research, and creative, new pathways for the work of knowledge democracy.

Repoliticising Participatory/Action Research: From Action Research to Activism: some considerations on the 7th Action Research Network of Americas Conference

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-2020) ◽  
pp. 267-278
Author(s):  
de Castro Pitano Sandro ◽  
Rosa Elena Noal ◽  
Cheron Zanini Moretti
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Participatory Research ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
The North ◽  
The Social

The seventh conference of the Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA) took place in Montreal, Canada, from the 26th to 28th of June, in 2019. Having as title “Repoliticising Participatory/Action Research: From Action Research to Activism”, the event gathered people from different areas of practice coming mostly from the North American countries: Canada, United States and Mexico. The discussion presented here is based on notes made by the authors in the course of the conference, in which 40 words/keywords were identified, serving as a base to debate the validity of the principles of participatory research and action research in its repoliticisation and activism. Thus, we presented a systematisation of some key themes of the conference, among them, the commitment with the rupture: in relation to the traditional practices of research, the role and the social responsibility of the universities and the transforming character of participation, with emphasis in the effort for its repoliticisation and activism.

No Longer Overlooked and Undervalued? The Evolving Dynamics of Endogenous Educational Research in Sub-Saharan Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD MACLURE
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Research Networks ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Local Research

Multilateral donors like the World Bank and bilateral agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the British Department for International Development exert a great deal of influence in international educational development — particularly in sub-Saharan Africa — both in the programs they fund and the types of research they engage in. In this article, Richard Maclure investigates educational research in Africa and juxtaposes research done by large, exogenous, Western, results-oriented organizations with research performed by smaller, endogenous, local researchers aided by local research networks. Maclure argues convincingly that research that falls into the exogenous "donor-control" paradigm far too often is irrelevant to the African educational policy context and does little to develop local research capacity. The cases of two African research networks — the Educational Research Network of West and Central Africa and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa—are presented as exemplars of organizations that promote an alternative type of research that is endogenous, relevant to policy and the process of policymaking, and controlled by Africans. Maclure concludes with a call for increased support for and development of these types of networks, and for the development of the long-term solution to educational research in Africa — the university.

Sustaining Innovation in Education: Experiences in the Learning for a Sustainable Environment Project

2001 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 87-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Tilbury
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
Innovation In Education ◽  
Term Basis ◽  
Education And Development ◽  
Practical Level

This paper provides a discussion about what education and development planners can learn about initiating and sustaining innovation at the teacher education level from the Learning for a Sustainable Environmentproject. It reflects upon how research processes can contribute to sustainable (long-term) developments within teacher education. Essentially, it seeks to address questions about how to make environmental education a permanent feature of teacher education practice and curricula.The chapter begins with arguments why the issue of sustaining innovation has become an important one. It then identifies the principles and processes within the Learning for a Sustainable Environmentproject which support its innovative components on a long-term basis. The final section reflects upon the next stage of the project which is to involve the setting up of action research networks within different countries. It discusses how the principles and processes of sustainability identified, may be used to support the national process. The value of the Learning for a Sustainable Environmentmodel for developments in education at the practical level is also briefly considered. The chapter argues that the action research network model used in Learning for a Sustainable Environmentproject provides a democratic, culturally relevant and sustainable approach to development in education at the cross-cultural level.

scholarly journals 132Key Considerations in the Development of a Participatory Action Research Network of Family Carers of People with Dementia

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (Suppl_3) ◽  
pp. iii1-iii12
Author(s):  
Carla Reigada ◽  
Attracta Lafferty ◽  
Áine Teahan ◽  
Amanda Phelan ◽  
Liam O’Sullivan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Participatory Action Research ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Family Carers ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
People With Dementia

Constructing transnational action research networks

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. David Brown ◽  
John Gaventa
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Research Networks

scholarly journals Building research capacity in a practitioner community: framing and evaluating the 'National Action Research Network on Researching and Evaluating Personal Development Planning and e-Portfolio Practice'

1969 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Peters
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Capacity Building ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Important Lesson ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Learning And Teaching

This paper evaluates key aspects of the National Action Research Network on Researching and Evaluating Personal Development Planning and e-Portfolio Practice (NARN). This was a National Teaching Fellowship Scheme funded project which ran from 2007-1010 and involved sixteen English Higher Education institutions (HEIs). The context, purposes, theoretical underpinnings and framework for the NARN are briefly explained before the experience of members is explored through an analysis of their own accounts. The NARN was proposed in response to widespread calls for more research evidence to underpin our understanding and implementation of Personal Development Planning (PDP) and e-Portfolio practices, taking its lead from Clegg's (2004) invitation to produce more researched examples of situated PDP and e-Portfolio practice. The NARN was primarily a capacity-building project aimed at developing a community of PDP and e-portfolio practitioners into practitioner researchers. Borrowing heavily on ideas of community and participative inquiry as well as concepts about developing communities of practice, the project placed an emphasis on promoting collegiality, a sense of belonging and the establishment of the project as a safe space in which to discuss research work. It is evaluated here through the thematic analysis of a particular data set of twelve anonymous accounts provided by project members. The NARN project's emphasis on process rather than product or output, mark it apart from most Higher Education (HE) learning and teaching funded projects. Its success carries an important lesson for fundholders, educational developers and HE managers about the funding of more process-based learning and teaching development in HE. It also provides a possible framework for similar capacity-building projects across other communities.

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