Systemic pedagogy: A design for Action Researcher collective self-development

Abstract

How do Action Researchers, who often work alone, develop their practice? The Conference Intensive (CI) was designed to enable participants to inquire into their own practice, and observe and learn with a team of Action Researchers negotiating practice preferences within a real-world scenario. Developed by CultureShift delivered in partnership with the Action Learning Action Research Association, the Conference Intensive creates conditions for Action Researcher self-development that are secure and ambiguous, enabling practitioners to grow in their awareness and capacity to act and provoke change in the systems in which they work. This paper maps the conceptual terrain of the Intensive, and describes six practices of a praxis of Systemic Pedagogy which we see as intrinsic to Action Research praxis.