ABSTRACT Teachers, at various stages and contexts in their careers, can harness inquiry and action research as tools to examine tensions in their practice and to create more equitable experiences for their students. In this study, teacher educators used second-order inquiry to examine tensions they experienced while supporting teacher candidates engaging in practitioner inquiry for the first time. Using arts-based methods of analysis, these teacher educators found that engaging in second-order inquiry provided a powerful way to acknowledge and address the tensions they encountered as they sought to foster community and connection with inquirers in a hybrid course. They also found equity pedagogy, the intersection of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Pedagogy (CLSP), served as a guiding framework to address these tensions. Through equity pedagogy, teacher educators created flexible pathways for teacher candidates to communicate and connect within an inquiry community in a hybrid course landscape.

ABSTRACT In this paper, the author argues that An Introduction to Curriculum Research and Development by Lawrence Stenhouse is an important, rather than a seminal, work, when viewed in the light of the socio-cultural curriculum theory he outlined earlier in Culture and Education. He urges the reader of Stenhouse’s 1975 text not to lose sight of the way in which Stenhouse links the activity of curriculum planning to the pedagogical practices of teachers in their classrooms. He contends that this linkage between curriculum planning and pedagogy, which is clearly and succinctly evidenced in Culture and Education, stems from Stenhouse’s concern to clarify the educational dimensions of knowledge content; cast in the form of procedural principles and standards that provide an alternative framework to the objectives model for curriculum planning and development. The author locates Stenhouse’s curriculum theory in the traditional German/Nordic Bildung-Didaktic approach to curriculum study, in contrast to the anglophone tradition that is marked by an instructional reductionism, which conceptually separates the epistemological analysis of knowledge content from pedagogical reflection (see Ungens 2025). Such reductionism is illustrated in the second half of this article by reference to the influential work of Michael F.D. Young and his associates around the concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ as a curriculum principle. The author concludes that, unlike Stenhouse, Young’s reductionist stance to knowledge blinkers him to the dialectical relationship between curriculum design and pedagogy.

ABSTRACT This is part of an ad hoc series of articles which we call ‘provocation papers’. These aim to provoke new ways of thinking and engaging with knowledge by questioning existing assumptions and practices. Provocations can draw on disciplines/theories beyond action research, but they must explain how these provoke us to reflect on action research and the ways it is used. In this paper, David Coghlan reflects on our learning and formation as action researchers as an integrative interweaving of first-, second- and third-person processes – a social science whereby we learn within the action research community and in second-person practice with co-researchers and through the third-person encounter with the literature (such as the writings of other scholars and accounts of previous research). Attention to single-, double- and triple-loop awareness and inquiry runs are at the heart of our first-person appropriation of what is to be an action researcher. David also relates examples of his development as an action research scholar and invites readers to attend to and appreciate the heritage of their scholarship of practice and how they frame their action research philosophy and practice.

ABSTRACT This invited review is part of a series called ‘The Book(s) That Changed My Life’ in which members of our action research community reflect on the seminal texts which have changed the way they think and work. Here, Andrew Townsend, our Coordinating Editor, reflects on his first reading of the book which changed his life … and how it felt to revisit it decades later. My chosen book, Learning From Experience by Richard Winter, was a text I first encountered as a masters student. It helped me think more about my understanding of action research and my role as an educational practitioner. In this article I reflect on my initial reading of Learning From Experience, and on what I believe I have learnt from revisiting a text which was so influential for me. This includes reflections on principles for action research, on reflexivity and on the connection between those topics and the practices of action researchers themselves. I argue that, although my relationship with the field has changed since I first read the book, these are enduring themes of interest to me and, potentially, others working in action research.

ABSTRACT This paper illustrates a collaborative action research approach for teachers to create new professional knowledge represented as praxis models that are rigorous and credible using their personal teaching theories. Using an expert elicitation method through an action research approach, we illustrate the development of a praxis model for student engagement. The student engagement praxis model employs self-determination theory and Baumrind’s parenting-child communication theory to show how teaching approaches can influence students’ feelings of success in activities. The student engagement praxis model suggests that different levels of structure and levels of autonomy-support provided by teachers can create different types of student engagement. The praxis model method development uses teachers who research their praxis both formally or informally and are engaged in the scholarship of learning and teaching. Traditional conceptual teaching models have limited consideration of the lived experience within a teacher’s context. These traditional models may not always apply or be adaptable to the variety of teachers’ contexts as developed praxis models. The paper invites teachers to follow the method to develop their own praxis models .

ABSTRACT This paper explores the ‘politics of positionality’ and its impact on Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) within the framework of risk-averse Research Ethics Committees (RECs). By examining the stringent requirements imposed by RECs, the study highlights how these constraints hinder the implementation of innovative participatory methodologies, stifling creativity and limiting research scope. The paper argues, positionality, a cornerstone of ethical and reflexive research, is influenced not only by the researcher’s stance but also by external perceptions and power dynamics. Through a collaborative case study on the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in enhancing the adaptive capacities of smallholder farmers in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal, this paper critiques the ethical clearance processes in higher education institutions. The findings underscore the need for more equitable and flexible ethical review processes that accommodate the unique demands of participatory methodologies. By fostering community collaboration and leveraging local knowledge, researchers can navigate the complexities of positionality and REC restrictions, ensuring meaningful community engagement and ethically sound research outcomes. This critique calls for a re-evaluation of REC practices to better support innovative and participatory research approaches, advancing the field of CBPAR.

ABSTRACT This study investigates how Critical Action Research (CAR) was applied in a project involving international cooperation to promote inclusive practices in schools. The ‘We Are All The Same’ Erasmus Project, which involved five schools in four countries and included teacher and student participation in planning and implementation, was evaluated as an example of how CAR enhanced inclusive thinking and practices. The effects of the CAR-based project on the inclusive thinking of the teachers and students were examined in particular. Thematic analysis of the data collected during the two-year project indicated that CAR promoted cooperation and participation for inclusive education in schools, learning about and tolerance for different cultures, and enhanced participating teachers’ reflections on their professional development. A significant emphasis of this study was on its international dimension, by which CAR supported learning about and having tolerance for different cultures in inclusive schools. International participant-oriented studies have been rare in the literature, and this study is expected to provide a model for carrying out projects involving cooperation among international participants to exchange ideas about and promote inclusive education.

ABSTRACT This article details and reflects on an action research project that explored the in-class wellbeing of children with autism within a mainstream primary school in Wales. It also sets out why reflective practice alone may be insufficient in the process of achieving positive change. Through the iterative reflective cycles of action research, drivers that promoted positive wellbeing in children with additional learning needs were identified, and barriers to these children’s happiness were confronted. Driven by a commitment to effective inclusion of all learners, the initial reconnaissance phase of the research recorded that episodes of in-class low wellbeing experienced by children with autism were higher than those of their fellow classmates in terms of their frequency and severity. This discovery inspired a collaborative process of pedagogic inquiry to find positive change. Teachers working across year groups developed, trialled, and reflected on interventions that aimed to improve the daily lived experiences of children with additional learning needs and enhance educational outcomes. The exponential growth of children identified as having autism makes research into the in-school positive wellbeing of this group both necessary and urgent. It is hoped that this study will inspire others, both in school and in wider contexts, to undertake action research to improve the lives of children with additional learning needs, such as autism.