Assuming no prior knowledge of research methods and techniques, this book is the perfect companion for teachers at all levels undergoing professional development who need to enhance their formal reflection skills. Providing a detailed explanation of what action research is and its importance in terms of whole school development, this book invites the teachers to try out educational research for themselves and adopt an investigative attitude that will help improve and evaluate practice. It includes: * Support and guidance that help you tackle key issues * "Real-life" practical case studies that underline what action research is and how it can be effectively used.

* A practical, living theory about valuing the acquisition of wisdom as much as the acquisition of knowledge * Contains numerous case studies and continuing professional development activities * The professional development programmes outlined within this resource include masters and doctorate inquiries * Activities and resources provided are also designed to support your mentoring of other living-educational-theory researchers. * An essential resource for any and all teachers interested in establishing a culture of research informed and values based professional development.

* A practical, living theory about valuing the acquisition of wisdom as much as the acquisition of knowledge * Contains numerous case studies and continuing professional development activities * The professional development programmes outlined within this resource include masters and doctorate inquiries * Activities and resources provided are also designed to support your mentoring of other living-educational-theory researchers. * An essential resource for any and all teachers interested in establishing a culture of research informed and values based professional development.

Assuming no prior knowledge of research methods and techniques, this book is the perfect companion for teachers at all levels undergoing professional development who need to enhance their formal reflection skills.

Providing a detailed explanation of what action research is and its importance in terms of whole school development, this book invites the teachers to try out educational research for themselves and adopt an investigative attitude that will help improve and evaluate practice. It includes:

* Support and guidance that help you tackle key issues

* "Real-life" practical case studies that underline what action research is and how it can be effectively used.

Series Information:
Routledge Studies in Human Resource Development

The current orthodoxy is that 'knowledge' is the most powerful resource for organisational success. So how can managers develop the appropriate knowledge base to make their organisations grow? The answer lies in action research. Action research is increasingly perceived and used as a powerful methodology to promote professional awareness and development. However, there are very few texts that demonstrate how this can be utilised to promote management and organisational improvement or that emphasise the reflective nature of improving professionalism. action Research in Organisations fills this gap. Aimed at both practising managers and university students alike, features of this title include:
* the location of management and organisational theory within a framework * examination of the principles and practice of action research
* real-world examples and case-studies of people attempting to improve their own situations through action research.

In Action Research: Living Theory, Jean McNiff and Jack Whitehead set out their vision for action research in the 21st Century. This is a passionate, and compelling book, that defines the philosophy behind action research and the process of doing action research for all those interested in this fast growing area. It sets in place the foundations of action research as a discipline, and roots action research as a compassionate , ethical and politically-engaged form of enquiry. McNiff and Whitehead's book will be essential reading for all those with an interest in Action Research.

This research collection includes practitioner-researchers accounts from a wide range of global, social, cultural and workplace contexts that discuss educational influences on the practitioners own learning, in the learning of others and in the learning of social formations. Contributors from China, Black Africa, Western and Central Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States discuss and clarify the meaning of their embedded values in the course of their emergence in practice and demonstrate their responsiveness to the diversity of learners' experience. Through a disciplined form of educational inquiry the educational knowledge of professional educators is distilled from a variety of workplace settings and challenges. Professor Farren and her colleagues argue that there is an emergent view within education regarding the need of educators to provide evidence-based accounts of how they are improving workplace practices within their organizations and generating new research knowledge. The research community realizes that there are different kinds of excellence in research and that there is a need to show diversity, hybridization and versatility in educational research. The research accounts in this book explain educational influences in learning in terms of values, skills and understandings that the researchers believe carry great hope. In terms of action research this work is unique as it contains practitioner researcher accounts from a range of cultural and workplace setting