Exploring Veteran Teachers' Collaborative Action Research Experiences Through a School-University Partnership: "Old Dogs" Try New Tricks

This article shares insights from the experiences of three high school practitioners and two university faculty who participated in a school-university-based action research program as a voluntary part of the teachers’ professional development. The three high school practitioners conducted action research projects around questions that stemmed from and were relevant to their own teaching practice. As part of the action research program, the practitioners were paired with university faculty to support the research. Building on practitioner inquiry traditions and critical case study methodologies, this study used qualitative methods to explore the experiences of practitioner action research processes. Drawing on in-person meeting notes and reflective memos, four key ideas emerged: Infrastructure, We are all Partners in Education, Engaging Pathway for Experienced Teachers, and Challenges. Insights gained from this inquiry will have implications for professional practices in the areas of school-university partnership, professional development, and action research process.

Leaders in Limbo: The Role of Collaborative Inquiry Influencing School Leaders’ Levels of Efficacy

Using collaborative inquiry as a methodology for investigation, this study examined the implementation of a model of generative leadership (Adams et al., 2019) to explore the question: In what ways can implementation of a generative leadership model of professional learning for school leaders influence their sense of efficacy? An adapted model of generative leadership was adopted by seven school leaders in Alberta, Canada over a period of three years. Data was collected at the end of each year through journal reflections (Bashan & Holsblat, 2017) to ascertain school leaders’ levels of efficacy. Findings revealed four themes that identified how a generative leadership model influenced participants’ effectiveness in their roles. These findings offer insight into how models of school leader professional learning might be re-imagined in order to positively influence their sense of efficacy.

Supporting Early Study Abroad Students in Ontario: Case Study of a Collaborative Action Research Initiative, with Conditions Changing Underfoot

This article elucidates findings of an action research initiative that focused on the school engagement and social and cultural adaptation of a cohort of early study abroad students, aged 15–19, attending an urban secondary school in Ontario. The study was part of a federally sponsored partnership that supported the collaboration of postsecondary researchers with professionals working within a publicly funded organization. Despite challenges and disruptions to the schooling context, the team proactively pursued a strategy of developing students’ resilience and self-advocacy skills while promoting their adaptation and acculturation to Ontario schooling and society. An agenda that fostered opportunities for face-to-face activities inside and outside class helped build social connections among international students and between students and staff that proved key to their academic engagement, cultural integration, and sense of well-being.

Curriculum for Resiliency: Supporting a Diverse Range of Students’ Needs in Grade 9 Mathematics

This study describes the work of one high school team in designing, developing, supporting, and field-testing a new course to support numeracy and general learning skills for a particularly diverse population of students. The rationale, curriculum design, and pilot implementation of the course are situated in existing curriculum structures and recent research around best practices in mathematics teaching and learning, particularly with respect to vulnerable students. The study sought to explore the role and responsibilities of the course designer and teacher, as well as her perception of the challenges and benefits of a custom-designed course for this group of students. The results suggested that the crucial role of the classroom teacher in supporting students emotionally when implementing the intended curriculum for vulnerable students cannot be underscored enough. For such students, teacher-student relationships appeared to be the most important factor in student success, far eclipsing other factors.

Moving with the Movements: Participatory Action Research in In/Action

Participation by its very nature is iterative, meaning Participatory Action Research (PAR) must be responsive to the way participation manifests and what actions emerge from this participation. In the article that follows, we share the complex and intertwined stories of PAR in action in two social movement contexts in Ghana, as well as the conditions that led to inaction in these two stories. This article builds on previous related work, where PAR was described as “moving with the movement” (Langdon & Larweh, 2015), and describes the complexities of trying to move with the movement as conditions and relationships change over time. By sharing challenges and achievements that have emerged from the movement and research, we illustrate how moving with the movement has resulted in rich and unanticipated learnings.

Centering Voices: Weaving Indigenous Perspectives in Teacher Education

The value of weaving Indigenous perspectives into the mainstream curricula of Ontario teacher education programs is gaining prominence (Bell & Brant, 2015; Nardozi, Restoule, Broad, Steele, & James, 2014; Tanaka, 2016). Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action (2015), efforts are being made across Ontario to “educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms” (TRC #62, p. 7). Despite growing efforts within teacher preparation programs, many settler teacher candidates are still anxious (Kanu, 2011; Morcom & Freeman, 2019); they fear practicing inadvertent cultural appropriation, and/or offending or misinforming their students and colleagues. To address these concerns, we posed the research question: What impact would Indigenous guest speakers and workshop leaders have on helping Settler teacher candidates navigate Indigenous content in a culturally appropriate and respectful manner? Using an action research framework, we explored how Indigenous ways of knowing impacted the attitudes of teacher candidates in a Bachelor of Education program. The data we collected suggests that by listening to and learning from Indigenous teachings, teacher candidates can attain a deeper understanding of relationality (Wilson, 2008) as it applies to Indigenous ways ofknowing. While certain questions remained, pre-service teachers had an increased knowledge of Indigenous content, and felt more comfortable integrating Indigenous perspectives into their classroom practice.

Safety Mapping: An Indigenist Approach to Action Research

Aboriginal people in Alice Springs mapped the safe places in their Town Camps. This participatory research led to the implementation of safety features. Safety mapping was developed in response to deficit-based research which pathologized Aboriginal people in Alice Springs. Safety mapping was conducted with Aboriginal people in Town Camps to identify safe places and improve safety. A strengths-based approach showed that problems and their solutions are known, and there are considerable safety assets within Town Camps. The safety mapping centred the voices and experiences of Aboriginal people to produce research that was of benefit to Town Campers, over which Indigenous people retained ownership. This paper highlights that an Indigenist approach to participatory action research is strengthened by Indigenous knowledge in driving social justice.

Revitalizing Conversations: Lessons From and About the Production of Intersubjective and Intercultural Knowledge

Based on our present working-experience with a Mapuche kimche (sage) and a logko (spiritual and political leader), we aim at intervening in broader debates on the intersubjective and intercultural production of knowledge. To do so, we pay special attention to contemporary mandates and pervasive conceptions about forms of practicing a better, more proper anthropology. We approach the problem from three different viewpoints: (a) discomforts and disagreements with naturalized forms of initiating, certifying, informing, writing, citing, and authorizing knowledge; (b) the Mapuche etiquette to converse properly and its various bets on horizontality; (c) review of our own philosophy of language, particularly the concepts of translation and performativity.

Supporting Communities in Caring for Salmon and Each Other: Creek Restoration as a Site for Multi-System Change and Wholistic Re/conciliation

This paper describes a unique collaborative action research project that brings together members of the q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie) First Nation, post-secondary and K-12 communities, as well as foresters and environmentalists, to restore creeks that have been compromised by land use impacts, forest removal, and global warming. Identifying creek restoration as a site for multi-system change and wholistic re/conciliation, we explored the following questions: How can we bring together members of our diverse communities to learn about the dire condition of our watershed and take action to help Salmon? How might this collaborative work strengthen community relationships? What contextual factors enable and impede the enactment of our vison? Through iterative cycles of action and reflection, intentional trial and error, conversational inquiry, and storytelling, we identified ‘guideposts’ that will inform our work moving forward. Our research has illuminated structural changes that could enhance environmental justice for Salmon, such as empowering the caretakers of creeks and rivers since time immemorial as sovereign leaders of restorative projects, affirming the rights of the Land and other sentient beings to receive care, developing leadership structures that serve to unite (rather than polarize) citizens in addressing environmental problems, and forming diverse relational webs that exceed partnerships. Action research, informed by Indigenous worldviews, can play a pivotal role in supporting communities in assuming relational responsibility in caring for the Land and one another. As Donna Haraway (2016) contends, it is time to ‘make kin’ outside of our genetic and ancestral ties to ‘change the story’.

Walking together: Artistic collaboration across cultures in Australia and New Zealand

As an artist and writer who often works across disciplines and cultures, my education into effective and respectful engagement has been built on my experience working with First Nations friends, collaborators, and Elders. The aim of this paper is to explore teachings from a number of these leading thinkers, writers, and Elders on the topic of knowledge sharing, cross-cultural awareness, and ethical engagement through practice-led research. Drawing from personal experience, it will incorporate learnings that have informed a world view that has been evolving since childhood. The paper highlights the importance of giving rightful recognition to knowledge keepers and provides some guidance for readers interested in developing productive and respectful partnerships with First Nations collaborators. Here knowledge can be safely shared and celebrated as ways to understand the world around us that are restorative and regenerative. I speak as a woman of mixed European background raised in Australia on Gubbi Gubbi Country of South East Queensland, and Larrakia Country of Darwin. Culturally, I am descended from Norse, Celt, Saxon, and Druid ancestors. Through this lived experience I hope to share learnings that support the goals of reconciliation, truth telling, and First Nations determination in my home country, as well as facilitating greater awareness for people seeking to respectfully engage with Indigenous knowledge.