Action Learning and Action Research Journal

ALARj Vol 30 No 2 December 2024 Cover and Table of Contents

Yedida Bessemer — 2024-12-31

Cover and Table of Contents

ALARj Vol 30 No 2 December 2024 Editorial

Yedida Bessemer — 2024-12-31

Editorial for ALARj Vol 30 No 2

Leadership in Action Learning

Terrence Fernsler — 2024-12-31

Action Learning was developed in response to complex social environments to involve those most affected by change. It is especially well suited for the dynamic environment of the nonprofit sector which, based primarily in a relationship orientation more than a task orientation, is often dynamic and unpredictable. Shared leadership in Action Learning means operating in complex adaptive systems.

Complexity Leaderships Theory is a model of leading in organizations requiring adaptiveness, especially on an ongoing basis. It guides organizations that adopt complexity in their operating systems.

The two case studies of organizations presented in this article demonstrate the characteristics of Action Learning and how leadership was practiced during dramatic changes, using Complexity Leadership Theory as the basis. Many of the characteristics of Complexity Leadership Theory are applicable in Action Leaning settings, as demonstrated in this study.

Engendering customer care and complaints handling in Government real estate companies in the Caribbean: change from below through action research..

Dr. Erica Prentice — 2024-12-31

This paper examines why attempts to improve customer care and customer relationship management in a Caribbean Government real estate company continued to fail. The lead author undertook an action research study as an insider researcher. One macro action research cycle was completed using multiple data sources and with key customer facing employees as an action research group to engage in collaborative inquiry. The results showed that the transactional nature of the landlord-tenant relationship, the fetter of being a State Enterprise, executive inertia, and silo thinking and behaviour made implementing change an intractable problem. However, the study also reveals the potential for “bottom-up” change through collaboration and capacity building with staff. We contribute both to knowledge of customer care in the public sector and to management practice, by showing how change can be achieved without top management support.

“Hunchifactuality”: Identifying and Alleviating Bias with Pragmatic Action Research.

Jack Brady — 2024-12-31

This paper discusses how a pragmatic action research (AR) strategy assisted to identify researcher bias and positively influenced participant recruitment during my PhD project in Political Science. I started by recruiting participants through traditional text-based methods based on limited definitions of satire (see Condren, 2012; Phiddian, 2020) rather than more informal, practice based conversations at key annual festival events. My project aimed to locate and centre Australian comedians performing political and/or social justice inspired comedy as a potential form of political expression. I had both insider and outsider positionality (as both a comedian who did social justice inspired comedy and an anthropologist). In my recruitment practice I mistook my bias towards traditional knowledge production for rigour and dismissed hunches that would later prove to be valuable practice-led insights. This unconscious bias in my recruitment practice was revealed by initial recruitment failures, which were remedied by revisiting the core practice-led tenant of pragmatic AR.

Book Review - A 101 Action Research Guide for Beginners

Yedida Bessemer — 2024-12-31

A 101 Action Research Guide for Beginners (2024) by Saba Ahmed is a practical book for novice action researchers, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.

ALARA Membership Information

Yedida Bessemer — 2024-12-31

Information about ALARA membership and submissions to ALARj