Action Learning and Action Research Journal

ALARj Vol 29 No 1 October 2023 Cover and Table of Contents

Yedida Bessemer — 2023-10-31

Cover and Table of Contents

ALARj Vol 29 No 1 October 2023 Editorial

Yedida Bessemer — 2023-10-31

Editorial for ALARj Vol 29 No 1

‘Research makes me strong’: An Oriental perspective towards using an autoethnographic approach

Tamiko Kondo — 2023-10-31

Having received critical comments from academic journal reviewers, the Author reflects on herself and her practices, which led to her thinking back to the start of her career as an Action Researcher and exploring ways to study herself and hence what it means to write an autoethnography. The exploration included a relevant literature review, which suggested to her that its writing process may inevitably lead authors to be engaged in the negotiation of their own identity, and an interview with a former colleague who has attempted to use autoethnography in her Action Research (AR) practice. The Author claims writing an autoethnography could help us negotiate our own identities through shuttling between them and through a dialogic relationship with ourselves, which is why it may be worth incorporating autoethnography into an AR practice. Most notably, the colleague’s word, which is that research made her strong, may mean everything to the Author.

What conditions enable senior, white women to show up as anti-racist in their organisations?

Carolyn Parker — 2023-10-31

This study seeks to explore the conditions that enable senior, white women to show up as antiracist in their organisations by utilising an Action Research methodology, specifically Cooperative Inquiry.

Over the course of four inquiry cycles the author and her co-inquirers, five other senior, white women from different organisations, explored the inquiry question “What conditions enable senior, white women to show up as antiracist in their organisations?” in conversation and via shared journaling, reflecting on the actions that they were able to take and the conditions that enabled those actions or hindered them. In collaboration, we identified five conditions, namely:

Knowledge and confidence
Having a platform
Organisational context
Living with discomfort and personal risk appetite
Reflective space and support

This paper concludes with a discussion of the practical implications and recommendations derived from the research.

Participatory Action Learning and Action Research for inclusive Early Childhood Care and Education

Ashnie Mahadew — 2023-10-31

In South Africa, despite the abolishment of apartheid and a democratic dispensation, exclusion and incidences of discrimination based on numerous marginalised identity markers are widely reported at schools. This article is a segment of a study on a group of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) stakeholders comprising of a university ECCE researcher, six ECCE teachers and two ECCE teacher trainers who explored inclusion using a Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) design. The group formed an Action Learning set and engaged in mutual and collaborative learning to transform their learning environments to become more inclusive. Data were generated using narratives from reflective journals and purposeful conversations. Framed by the head, heart and hands model (Siphos, Battisti & Grimm, 2008; Singleton, 2015), the PALAR design necessitates praxis, an iterative process of collaborative reflection and action, where theoretical knowledge is translated into practice. Participants demonstrated this praxis by firstly reflecting on their thoughts and emotions in the first two themes. They then proceeded to institute change in their classrooms which provided a catalyst for deeper transformation of their personal selves. The study contributes both theoretically and methodologically as a PALAR design is utilised to create a more democratic and socially just research and learning platform, resulting in increasing teachers’ theoretical knowledge and practical application of inclusion. This study has the potential to contribute to an inclusive ECCE learning space with a positive impact on the lives of children, especially those from marginalised groups.

Thesis Research Note: Supporting the sustainable development of Mexico: an investigation into the reorientation of undergraduate industrial design curriculum

Martha Elena Núñez López — 2023-10-31

The purpose of this paper is to report on a doctoral thesis in which Action Research was central in its methodology. The focus of the research was on supporting sustainable development in an undergraduate curriculum in México. The outcomes of the study exemplify the ability of practitioner-led action research to address complex problems across national and global sustainability agendas, involving the motivation and commitment of others in contributing to improving education for sustainable development in México.

Thoughtlet: Linking theory and practice: Action science

Bob Dick — 2023-10-31

A simple question and a simple but surprising answer provide the foundation for the substantial theoretical and practical framework now known as action science. This brief paper sets out the framework, the question and answer, and some practical implications for action learning and action research. Later, I also suggest that it has even more relevance now than it did when it was first developed.

ALARj Vol 29 No 1 ALARA Membership Information and Submission Guidelines

Yedida Bessemer — 2023-10-31

ALARA Membership Information and Submission Guidelines