Brydon-Miller, M. (2010) Covenantal Ethics for Action Research: Creating a New Strategy for Ethical Review’, 8th World Congress on Participatory Action Research and Learning, Melbourne, Australia, online at: http://wc2010.alara.net.au/Formatted%20Papers/4.2.8.GENERIC.pdf [useful framework on pp. 2–3).
Eikeland, O. (2006) ‘Condescending ethics and action research : Extended review article’, Action Research, 41(4), online at http://www.uk.sagepub.com/gray/Website%20material/Journals/ar_eike.pdf [a view of the pitfalls and challenges of school-based action research with students].
Hammack, F. (1997) ‘Ethical issues in teacher research’, Teachers College Record, 99(2): 247–265, online at: http://media.open.uwi.edu/OCcourses/level_3/EDTL3026/EDTL3026/read/EDTL3026%20unit3%20reading14%20hammack.pdf.
Kelley, A. (1989) ‘Education or Indoctrination? The Ethics of School-Based Action Research’ in R. Burgess (ed.) The Ethics of Educational Research, London: Falmer, online at: http://www.carlosmoreno.info/upn/pdf/e7klL1gdop.pdf#page=103.
Michelle K. McGinn & Sandra L. Bosacki (2004) ‘Research Ethics and Practitioners: Concerns and Strategies for Novice Researchers Engaged in Graduate Education’, Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 5(2), online at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/615/1333#g41 [Section 4.1 – Practitioners, researchers, and students: Multiple roles and conflicting obligations].
Zeni, J. (1995). Guide to ethical issues and action research. St. Louis, MO: Action Research Collaborative, online at: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/279. [Includes case studies.]
I recently came across a video of this talk on the relationship between sense of self, ‘subject knowledge’ (in this case, maths), identity formation and cultures of learning in school, and it seemed so resonant with some of our recent discussions that I thought I would share.
Adding or Taking Away: How ‘Doing Mathematics’ defines us
Professor Yvette Solomon
22 May 2013
‘Yvette Solomon is Professor of Education for the University’s Education and Social Research Institute. She co-leads the Centre for Research in Mathematics and Science Education with Tony Brown.
Many of us, even after our school years are long gone, are quick to define ourselves in terms of whether we can or cannot ‘do maths’. Why is this? Does mathematics somehow have a greater power to do this than other subjects?
As learners we develop complex relationships with school subjects which build on experiences both inside and outside the classroom. Beginning with a focus on the primary school years, and then moving on to secondary school and undergraduate learners, this talk will examine the role of classroom interaction patterns, gender discourses, and popular culture in the development of learner identities in mathematics.
Using a variety of data, it discusses how research can understand the nature of school trajectories and perhaps influence practice in ways which might interrupt the development of a widespread negativity towards mathematics.’
[Text from the MMU Education and Social Research Institute blog]
This week, we discussed some of the different forms that your research might take, the importance of having a clear action plan and project design, and the connection between questions and methods. Links to readings can be found here, and a grid to help you think through how the different parts of your project fit together. For more detail about particular methods for producing and gathering information, see Chapter 11 from Pine’s Teacher Action Research (2009); I also handed out a chapter from an excellent book on educational research methods — please let me know if you did not receive a copy and would like one.
See here for notes from this seminar and guidance for our meeting on December 16th.
Epistemology is a philosophical term which refers to the study of how we know things, and especially of the criteria and forms of judgment we use to argue that our beliefs are justified. In other words, how do we know what we know, and how do we know that the methods we use for finding out are appropriate and defensible? Or, in the words of McDonagh et al., ‘how I see knowledge, how it is generated, what counts as knowledge, and who decides’ (2012, p. 67).
Reflecting on our epistemological positions as teachers and researchers is important because we want to know and act with confidence, to have the capacity to evaluate the status of other people’s arguments, and to critically evaluate others’ interpretations of our own claims. It is important because we need to choose appropriate methodological tools and theoretical frameworks for our work. It is important because ‘action research’ is part of a broader tradition of practice-oriented or praxis research that shares some things in common with, and differs considerably in some ways from, traditional forms of social research.
See also: For an in-depth paper on the value of action research and its relationship to other kinds of research in epistemological terms, see here. For a short essay exploring the ‘epistemological status’ of knowledge produced through action research, see here.
According to the Glossary of Educational Reform, an ‘achievement gap’ refers to ‘any significant and persistent disparity in academic performance or educational attainment between different groups of students, such as white students and minorities or students from higher-income and lower-income households, for example’.
See also: opportunity gap; learning gap; pedagogy of engagement
