Some Influences of Action Research in the Internationalisation of Educational Development

 

Jack Whitehead, Department of Education, University of Bath.

 

Draft 28 September 2004

 

 

My own commitment to educational action research is linked to Kilpatrick’s (1951) point that educational theory is form of dialogue that has profound implications for the future of humanity. I identify educational action research as a form of enquiry learning which involves individuals researching questions of the kind, ‘How do I improve what I am doing?’ with others as they seek to live more fully the values that carry hope for the future of humanity.

 

My interest in action research began in 1967 as a secondary school teacher in London when I taught my first lesson and found myself saying to myself, ‘I must do this better’, and asking ‘How do I improve what I am doing?’ As I answered my question I found myself using the action-reflection cycle of expressing concerns because my values were not being lived as fully as I thought they could be; I imagined what I could do about this and constructed an action plan; I acted on my plan and gathered data to enable me to make a judgement on the effectiveness of what I was doing in terms of improvements in my pupils’ learning; I evaluated my effectiveness and modified by concerns, plans, ideas and actions in the light of my evaluations.

 

(OHP of action-reflection cycle)

 

Later (Whitehead 1976) I came to understand the importance for my learning of producing an account of this learning and offering it to others for criticism in order to improve its validity and to help to take the enquiry forward. My passion to contribute to the generation, testing and communication of educational theory stems from my belief that your educational theories as individuals can embody the values that carry hope for the future of humanity. I am interested in the internationalisation of educational development. However, I feel that this can be dangerous. Sometimes, when we try to encourage others to adopt our learning ways, we may, without wanting to, force something false and unhelpful on them. It is a form of colonisation. I want to avoid that in my teaching and learning. In talking about the internationalisation of educational development through action research I have in mind Jean McNiff’s ideas about the generative and transformatory influences of action research (McNiff, Lomax, & Whitehead, 2004).

 

These influences include support for different cultures in learning from and with each other (McNiff, 2003a & b, 2004 a, b &c, McNiff, McNamara, & Leonard, 2000). I want to share some resources for learning that have produced by action researchers and that can contribute to the internationalisation of educational development. I am thinking of this sharing as a flow of information and understanding between different cultures. This flow of information is taking place through the interconnecting and branching pathways of the internet.

 

1) Resources for Learning from China’s Experimental Centre for Educational Action Research in Foreign Language Teaching

 

People are the most important resources in education and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs in China has recognised the value of Moira Laidlaw’s contribution in promoting co-operation and friendship between our two countries through the conferring of the 2004 State Friendship Award. Moira has often spoken of the support she has received from Dean Tian Fengjun and how much she has learnt from her Chinese colleagues about the importance of recognising and celebrating the contributions of one’s ancestors, family, colleagues, department, province and country, to one’s own existence. Moira has encouraged colleagues in the Centre at Guyuan to write their stories of their learning in creating their own living educational theories and to share them on the internet.  These stories describe action enquiries in which you, as teachers and teacher educators are seeking to improve your own practice and to live your values more fully together in a community of practice. You are developing and sharing your own unique approach to action research with Chinese characteristics. I am thinking in particular of Li Peidong’s study of his classroom practice as he asks himself the question: how can I help my students become more self-confident in their classroom work? I am also thinking, for example, of Liu Xia’s enquiry: How can I help the students to learn through respect and encouragement? Action researchers at the University of Bath have shared in the development of these accounts and plans are well developed for teacher and pupil exchanges between The John Bentley School in the UK and with teachers and pupils from Guyuan. Moira also acknowledges her debt to such scholars as Professor Wang Qiang (2002) whose own Action Research work has been so influential in encouraging reflective practice.

 

In her doctoral research (1996) Moira Laidlaw answered her question, ‘How can I create my own living educational theory as I offer you an account of my educational development?’  Moira expressed her originality of mind by showing the values that give meaning and purpose to life and carry hope for the future of humanity and by clarifying their meanings as they emerged through her practice. She also did more than this. Moira showed that as she developed her educational values, they changed as she was changing. They were not standing still, but were developing in a living and growing way with her. They were becoming the standards of judgement she could use to help her to see whether her educational practice was helpful or not. In other words, these are living standards that can be used to test the validity of an individual’s living theory or account of their own learning. In other words she produced living epistemological standards of judgement that are helping to create the new scholarship of teacher education that Donald Schon (1995) called for but couldn’t develop before he died. Donald Schon was a highly respected Western pedagogical thinker, who influenced many people ideas about the necessary scholarship of educational research.

 

Perhaps the greatest contribution that could be made by action research with Chinese characteristics is in relation to Qi, the energy of life. Our accounts of our learning in our lives of enquiry need to include an understanding of the vital influence of Qi in flowing with our values in explaining why we do what we do and why we do it. 

 

2) Resources for Learning from the Academy of Best Learning in Education (ABLE) in the Singapore Institute of Technical Education.

 

Peggy Leong is the Manager of ABLE. Her dissertation on The Art of an Educational Inquirer (Leong, 1991) is one of the most inspirational texts I think you will read on the generative and transformatory potential of action research in the internationalisation of educational development. The quality of Leong’s originality of mind and critical judgement is expressed in her art of educational inquiry as she engages with the values in the academic culture of the University of Bath in the UK from the ground of her values from the culture of Singapore. Leong’s story of her learning shows how she retains the integrity of her own values from one cultural context while being open to the generative and transformatory ideas from the values of educational action research provided by the supervision of a white academic from a different cultural context in the UK. Leong’s creativity and sustained commitment can also be appreciated in her presentation (Leong, 2004) to an international research conference on vocational education and training in Thailand in which she explains how she is seeking to integrate a generative and transformative approach to action research with the contribution that learning circles can make to professional development in education. Melinda Martin, a colleague of Peggy Leong’s in ABLE shared some of these ideas at the British Educational Research Association Conference in Mancester, UK in September 2004 (Martin, 2004)

 

3) Resources for Learning from Members of the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association.

 

In 1993 a group of teacher-educators working in a range of international contexts formed the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) SIG of the American Educational Research Association. The influence of this group, can be appreciated by studying the collection of resources in the International Handbook of Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices (Loughran, J. J., Hamilton, M. L., LaBoskey, V. K., Russell, T., 2004). In my own contribution to this Handbook (Whitehead, 2004b) I analyse the evidence that shows the contributions of the s-step researchers to the growth of educational knowledge.  I hope that the answers I give in the Handbook to the five questions below may be a useful resources for you as you take your enquiries forward and share your own contributions to the growth of educational knowledge.

 

The chapter is organised in terms of the five questions that have emerged from my desire to contribute to educational knowledge through educational research. They are questions about evidence in relation to the nature of knowledge and theory, of values-based standards of judgement, of educational research methodology, of a logic of educational enquiry and of educational influence:

 

·             Is there evidence of the generation and testing of educational theories from the embodied knowledge of s-step researchers?

·             Is there evidence of the transformation of the embodied values of the s-step researcher into the standards of judgement that can be used to test the validity of s-step accounts?

·             Is there evidence of the emergence of educational research methodologies as distinct from a social science methodology in s-step enquiries?

·             Is there evidence of a logic of educational enquiry?

·             Is there evidence of educational influence in educating oneself, in the learning of others and in the education of social formations. (Whitehead, 2004, p. 872)

 

4) Resources for Learning at http://www,actionresearch.net

 

We are living at a time of unprecedented opportunities for sharing information, values, skills and knowledge through the internet. The interconnecting and branching networks of communication opened up by this technology enables thoughts from Guyuan and Bath not only to be shared but to be co-created. Ideas from Kevin Eames (1996) on how to form and sustain a teacher-researcher group for a number of years in a secondary school near Bath were shared with Jackie Delong (2002) in Canada who, through her own generative and transformatory approach to action research showed how to create a culture of inquiry for action researchers in the Grand Erie District School Board in Ontario, Canada. These ideas are now being studied by Professor Kei Sawamoto from Japan where there is much interest in the development of action research with Japanese characteristics. Professor Ikuta from Niigata University and Associate Professor Asada are at the forefront of this development in Japan and are being supported by Sarah Fletcher (Fletcher, 2004) in their mentoring of action researchers. You can access the details of the work of Jackie Delong and her colleague Cheryl Black from the living theory section of actionresearch.net and the other homepages section. I do urge you to access the other homepages section because of the links to other sites from international contexts where action research is being supported. For example, the Southern Cross University site for action research managed by Bob Dick in Australia is one of the most influential in the world. The link to the web-site of the Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice (CARPP), Directed by Professor Peter Reason, gives you access to a range of his most influential writings, including his inaugural address on Justice, Sustainability and Participation (Reason 2002) as well as to those of our colleague Professor Judi Marshall. Two of the papers from Marshall I particularly recommend are Living Life as Inquiry (1999) and Living Systemic Thinking (Marshall, 2004).

 

( OHP with details of the CARPP centre)

 

I am suggesting that the influences of action research in the internationalisation of educational development rest in our commitment to share the accounts of our learning as widely as possible. I am thinking of the accounts of our learning as we seek to live our values as fully as we can. Of equal importance to producing our own accounts is our commitment to respond to each others’ accounts or learning with the intention of moving forward each others’ life of enquiry in a way that carries hope for the future of humanity.  For example, Paulus Murray (2004a), a postcolonial educator at the Royal Agricultural College near Bath, has been most helpful in stimulating my interest in a quality of relationship in which I exist in We or in ‘we-i’ relationships (Whitehead, 2004a). His resources for learning on the web (Murray, 2004b) focus on the values of  holding that a person is a person because of other people. Alan Rayner (2004), another colleague at Bath has developed an understanding of similar values that could have far reaching implications for the internationalisation of educational development. Such qualities of human relationship, shared in action research accounts of learning with Chinese characteristics could contribute to the revitalisation and transformation of other cultures through the recognition of the loving and compassionate values in families and workplaces. As we share images and video-clips as well as words through the internet I think we will get closer to the meanings of the embodied values that carry hope for the future of humanity in the living standards of judgement developed by Moira Laidlaw. Perhaps three values above all others would repay our attention in terms of the influence of action research in the internationalisation of educational development. These are love, compassion and respect. At a reading of his book Arcadia, I heard Ben Okri say: 

 

“…..living is the place of secular miracles. It is where amazing things can be done in consciousness and history. Living ought to be the unfolding masterpiece of the loving spirit. And dying ought to set this masterpiece free. Set it free to enrich the world. A good life is the masterwork of the magic intelligence that dwells in us.” (Okri, 2002),

 

and at my daughter’s wedding on the 4th September this year, I felt that I was part of a gathering that embodied such an unfolding masterpiece of the loving spirit. Yet, that evening as I was reflecting on the pleasure, love and laughter of the wedding I also found myself thinking of the grieving parents in Breslan where their children had been held hostage in their school, and killed. We know we live in a world where both experiences are possible and that both are, to a large degree, under human responsibility and control.

 

In advocating that we tell the stories of our own learning, I am seeking to enhance the flow of values that carries hope for the future of humanity. I am also aware that our stories may also have to show how we are stemming the flow of values that do not carry this hope. Being here today makes me feel hopeful for the future. Joan Walton is an action researcher who is just finishing her doctoral research at the University of Bath and who also embodies this hope in her identification with the imagination of a loving and compassionate intelligence:

 

"If I know that I reside in the imagination of a loving compassionate intelligence, who desires me to live my story out to the full, and will give me full reign to do so if I can handle it, then I can respond to that, with no fear of consequences.  I need not fear being adversely judged or condemned for what I do.  Given the knowledge I have developed during the course of this enquiry, there is one criterion that I can reliably use to guide me; and that is that, in everything I think and do, I do it in the consciousness that I am interconnected to everything that is." (Walton, 2004)

 

(OHP of this quote)

 

I believe that the development of action research with Chinese characteristics could enhance the quality of our interconnections beyond measure. I am thinking of the Chinese characteristics of loving compassionate intelligence that are expressed especially in love for family and the desire to live a good and productive life with the life affirming energy of Qi.

 

References

 

Delong, J. (2002) How can I improve my practice as a superintendent of schools and create my own living educational theory? Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bath. Retrieved 9 September 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/delong.shtml

Fletcher, S. J. (2004) In this site you can find out how mentoring and action research can be integrated to initiate and sustain educational research by teachers.   http://www.teacherresearch.net/mainframeset.html

Kilpatrick, W. H. (1951)  Crucial Issues in Current Educational Theory. Educational Theory, Vol. 1, No. 1. p.8.

Laidlaw, M. (1996) How can I create my own living educational theory as I offer you an account of my educational development? Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bath. Retrieved on 9th September from http://www.actionresearch.net/moira2.shtml

Laidlaw, M. (2004) How can I help to enable sustainable educational development in our AR Centre at Guyuan Teachers College? A paper prepared at China's Experimental Centre for Educational Action Research at Guyuan Teachers College - (75600), Ningxia, P.R of China, for a seminar presentation on the 12th July 2004 in the Department of Education of the University of Bath.

Leong, P. (1991) The Art of an Educational Inquirer. MA dissertation, University of Bath. Retrieved on 9 September 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/peggy.shtml

Leong, P. (2004) Embarking on a Learning Journey: Developing the PEPP&ER Framework for Action Research. Paper presented to the international research conference on vocational education and training, jointly organized by the Office of the Vocational Education Commission Ministry of Education, Thailand, The Federation of Private Vocational Schools of Thailand & UNESCO, 13 - 14 Aug 2004. Retrieved on 9 September from http://www.actionresearch.net/values/plThai0804.pdf

Li Peidong, (2004), ‘How can I help my students to become more self-confident in their classroom learning?’ at www.actionresearch.net/moira.shtml

Liu Xia, (2004), ‘How can I help my students to learn through respect and encouragement?’ at www.actionresearch.net/moira.shtml

Loughran, J. J., Hamilton, M.L., LaBoskey, V.K. & Russell, T. (2004) The International Handbook of Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices. Dordrecht; Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Marshall, J. (1999) Living Life as Inquiry. Systematic Practice and Action Research 12(2): 155-171. Retrieved 9 September 2004 from http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/carpp/judimarshall/LivingLifeasInquiry.pdf

Marshall, J. (2004) Living systemic thinking: Exploring quality in first-person action research. Action Research Vol 2 (3)  2004 pp 309-329. Retrieved 9 September 2004 from http://www.bath.ac.uk/carpp/judimarshall/LivingSystemicThinking.pdf

Martin, M. (2004) Critical Friendship; Stimulating Enquiry and Reflection. Paper presented to the British Educational Research Association Annual Conference, UMIST, Manchester, 15-18 September 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/values/melindamartin.htm

McNiff, J. (2003a) Creating a good social order through education: Notes for a series of meetings in Israel, February 7-19, 2003. Retrieved on 27 August 2004 from http://www.jeanmcniff.com/israelintro.html

McNiff, J. (2003b) How do we develop a twenty-first Century knowledge base for the teaching profession in South Africa? How do we communicate our passion for learning? Presented at an invitational seminar at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, on 10th November 2003. Retrieved 27 August 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/values/jmstellsa.htm

McNiff, J. (2004a) Every Which Way. Presentation to the AERA 04 Symposium: The transformative potential of individuals' collaborative self-studies for sustainable global educational networks of communication, in San Diego on the 16th April, 2004. Retrieved 27th August 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net//multimedia/jmaera04.htm

McNiff, J. (2004b) Citizenship Education and its transformative potentials for Peace Education. A paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Peace Education SIG ‘Peace Education: Transforming Conflict and Citizenship in Divided Communities’ San Diego, April 2004

McNiff, J. (2004c) Peace Education. Presentation to BERA 04, Manchester 15-18 September 2004

McNiff, J., Lomax, P. & Whitehead, J. (2004) You and Your Action Research Project, 2nd Edition, London; RoutledgeFalmer.

McNiff, J., McNamara, G & Leonard, D. (Ed.) (2000) Action Research in Ireland, Dorset, September Books.

Reason, P. (2002) Justice, Sustainability and Participation. Retrieved on 9 September 2004 from http://www.bath.ac.uk/~mnspwr/Papers/InauguralLecture.pdf

Murray, P. (2004) Speaking in a Chain of Voices ~ crafting a story of how I am contributing to the creation of my postcolonial living educational theory through a self study of my practice as a scholar-educator. Paper Presented at a Symposium on How are we contributing to a new scholarship of educational enquiry through our pedagogisation of postcolonial living educational theories in the Academy? At BERA 04, UMIST, Manchester, 15-18 September, 2004.

Murray, P. (2004b) Welcome to my multiracial and inclusive Postcolonial Living Education Theory - practice, research and becoming. By visiting, I hope to share with you some of my passion and spirit in Ubuntu - "Umuntu ngumuntu nagabantu" ~ 'A person is a person because of other people'http://www.royagcol.ac.uk/~paul_murray/Sub_Pages/FurtherInformation.htm

Okri, B. (2002) In Arcadia. London; Weidenfeld & Nicholson.

Rayner, P. (2004) Essays and Talks about Inclusionality. Retrieved 9 September 2004 from http://www.bath.ac.uk/~bssadmr/inclusionality/

 Schon, D. (1995) The New Scholarship Requires a New Epistemology. Change, Nov./Dec. 1995 27 (6) pp. 27-34.

Walton, J. (2004) Draft Ph.D. University of Bath, September, 2004.

Wang Qiang, (2002), ‘Action Research for English Teachers’, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing.

Whitehead, J. (1976) Improving Learning for 11-14 year olds in Mixed Ability Science Groups. Swindon; Wiltshire Curriculum Development Centre. Retrieved 9 Sepember 2004 from http://www.actionresearch.net/writings/ilmagall.pdf

Whitehead, J. (2004a) Do the values and living logics I express in my educational relationships carry the hope of Ubuntu for the future of humanity? Paper presented to the Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, 16 September 2004, UMIST, Manchester.

Whitehead, J. (2004b) What counts as evidence in self-studies of teacher education practices. Chapter in

Loughran, J. J., Hamilton, M.L., LaBoskey, V.K. & Russell, T. (2004) The International Handbook of Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices. Dordrecht; Kluwer Academic Publishers.