The authors of "Research as Social Change" argue in clear and accessible language that teaching, learning and research are essentially social and deeply personal activities. This is not a conventional text, for although it is about ways in which research can be used by those in various areas of professional practice, it does not simply catalog or describe conventional research methods. The book's main concerns are qualitative research, research in action (rather than in abstraction) and case study methods. Rob Walker and Michael Schratz give examples of research that are concerned with the nature of personal memories and discuss what is worth doing in reviewing research literature. Other topics covered include the social nature of perception, the uses that research can make of drawings and photographs, the emotional relationships implicit in research and research in the context of the contemporary workplace.
Walker and Schratz develop new directions and new possibilities for research and find ways of bringing together theory and practice, the personal and the social as well as organizations and their clients. It is an important resource and means of support for all who are interested in doing research but are critical of most studies that are currently available.

By neglecting the 'human' factor in the process of research analysis, much has been lost and researchers are now looking for new ways to broaden the social reality in their research. In this volume, originally published in 1993, the research perspective adopted shows new methods of dealing with the world of education, including ethnographic studies and action research. The 'voices' offer a critical insight into both the scientific rationale and the methodological application of their individual approaches. This book provides a rich source of material for students and researchers doing qualitative analysis.

By neglecting the 'human' factor in the process of research analysis, much has been lost and researchers are now looking for new ways to broaden the social reality in their research. In this volume, originally published in 1993, the research perspective adopted shows new methods of dealing with the world of education, including ethnographic studies and action research. The 'voices' offer a critical insight into both the scientific rationale and the methodological application of their individual approaches. This book provides a rich source of material for students and researchers doing qualitative analysis.

In a political and economic climate in which school performance is made public, performance tables and inspectors' reports can only tell a partial story.
This is a unique book. It tells the story of one school seen through the eyes of a pupil, a parent, a teacher, a headteacher and a critical friend. The story is a compelling journey through the process of school improvement; theories of school effectiveness and school improvement are progressively clarified.
This book is based on a well-known and well-documented research project that represents eighteen European countries, which clearly sets it in a European Policy context. It includes a wealth of practical tools for raising standards for teachers and school managers to refer to, and guidance on how to use them.
This eagerly awaited follow-up to Schools Must Speak for Themselves by John MacBeath (RoutledgeFalmer 1999) is a vital and useful source of good ideas, challenging insights and practical strategies for real schools.


eBook available with sample pages: 0203165853

In a political and economic climate in which school performance is made public, performance tables and inspectors' reports can only tell a partial story.This is a unique book. It tells the story of one school seen through the eyes of a pupil, a parent, a teacher, a headteacher and a critical friend. The story is a compelling journey through the process of school improvement; theories of school effectiveness and school improvement are progressively clarified.This book is based on a well-known and well-documented research project that represents eighteen European countries, which clearly sets it in a European Policy context. It includes a wealth of practical tools for raising standards for teachers and school managers to refer to, and guidance on how to use them.This eagerly awaited follow-up to Schools Must Speak for Themselves by John MacBeath (RoutledgeFalmer 1999) is a vital and useful source of good ideas, challenging insights and practical strategies for real schools.

This open access book introduces vignette research to new and experienced researchers by guiding them through its history, theory and underlying principles before delving into step-by-step practical guidance on how to do vignette research. Vignette research is an innovative qualitative, narrative and phenomenological research methodology that has gained international recognition, sparking interest from a wide range of individuals and institutions in global contexts. Vignettes are concise narratives, which capture human experiences in real life settings. They reveal surprising or intriguing facets and intangible moments. The experiential narratives resonate with readers and reduce the distance between the researcher and the researched. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

Have you ever thought research is boring? "Research" writes Umberto Eco "should be fun". It seems unlikely that Umberto Eco has read many of the standard social science or education research texts. But social research does offer the possibility of involvement in projects that are informative, sometimes revealing, and fun to do. This book shows us that teaching, learning and research are essentially social and deeply personal activities and that fun needs to be an integral part of this.

This is not a conventional text, although it is about ways in which research can be used by those in various areas of professional practice. Its main concerns are with qualitative research, action research and case study methods, and it goes back to first principles arguing for research that is concerned with the nature of personal memories and of perception, the use of drawings and photographs, the emotional relationships implicit in any kind of research and the context of the contemporary workplace. The authors develop new directions and new possibilities for research and find ways of bringing together theory and practice, the personal and the social, organisations and their clients. It is an important resource for all who are interested in doing research but are sceptical or critical of most studies that are currently available.

This open access book introduces vignette research to new and experienced researchers by guiding them through its history, theory and underlying principles before delving into step-by-step practical guidance on how to do vignette research. Vignette research is an innovative qualitative, narrative and phenomenological research methodology that has gained international recognition, sparking interest from a wide range of individuals and institutions in global contexts. Vignettes are concise narratives, which capture human experiences in real life settings. They reveal surprising or intriguing facets and intangible moments. The experiential narratives resonate with readers and reduce the distance between the researcher and the researched. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

Selten haben wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse solche Bewegungen in Gang gesetzt wie die Ver ffentlichungen von PISA. Sie reichen vom Aufschrei der scheinbar Ewig-Gestrigen" f r eine testfreie Zone ber das Anpasslertum der Hier-und-Jetzt"-Pragmatiker, die genau zu wissen scheinen, was jetzt sofort wie zu tun sei - bis hin zum Aufw rmen altbekannter Konzepte, endlich wieder Ordnung" in die Schule zu bringen. Das ist nichts Neues in den bildungspolitischen und schulpraktischen Debatten und k nnte somit wie gehabt ad acta gelegt werden. Neu hingegen ist, dass die Debatten differenzierter geworden sind. Die fr here Schwarz-Wei -Malerei ist durch eine neue Diskursrichtung abgel st worden: Viele Menschen in Verantwortung und an Schl sselstellen suchen nach Wegen, Aufbruch zu bewirken, Wandel zu gestalten. Um die Desillusionierung, die PISA f r viele bedeutete, konstruktiv zu wenden und nicht im Lamentieren stecken zu bleiben, lud die Fakult t f r Bildungswissenschaften der Leopold-Franzens-Universit t Innsbruck unter dem Rahmenthema Schule im Umbruch" zu den zweiten Innsbrucker Bildungstagen. Eine wichtige Aufgabe von Bildungswissenschaft besteht darin, die Herausforderungen der Wissensgesellschaft als m gliche Lebens- und Arbeitsform der Zukunft kritisch zu hinterfragen und mit dem Lernen, der Auseinandersetzung von Menschen und ihren Aneignungsprozessen in der entstehenden Zukunft, auf eine w nschenswerte Entwicklung hin zu bewerten. Die Beitr ge laden ein, die an den Innsbrucker Bildungstagen begonnene Auseinandersetzung u ber die Entwicklung von Schule und Unterricht weiter zu tragen.