Ethical Relationship building in Action Research with Joe Levitan (Part 1)

Welcome to our last episode of season two where the host becomes the guest!

For this season finale, we put Joe on the hot seat to discuss his amazing article published in 2019 on Ethical Relationship Building in Action Research. Vanessa, Shikha, and Cory, the production team of the podcast (and Joe’s supervisees), take this opportunity to ask Joe some hard-hitting questions. The discussion opens with the lightning round (2:14): What is ethical relationship building? Why is ethical relationship building in action research important? What’s the number one thing researchers can do to support ethical relationship building in their work? What’s theoretical orthodoxy? Why is interrogating theoretical orthodoxy important in Action Research?

Later in the episode, we start to dig deeper into Joe’s responses to the lightning round questions. We ask: what are the major turns in the relationship building in the AR process? (5:22), how might Action Researchers build an ethical relationship with the diversity within a community? (15:10) how might an Action Researcher create a meaningful space for communicating difficult emotions? (20:29)? Tune in to listen more!

Then, stay tuned for Season 3 of the Action Research Podcast coming out in September 2022! You will hear more about building ethical relationships in action research (Part 2 of this series), and hear more voices from the field!

References

Levitan, J. (2019). Ethical Relationship Building in Action Research: Getting Out of Western Norms to Foster Equitable Collaboration. The Canadian Journal of Action Research. 21 (1), 11-29.

Levitan, J., & Johnson, K. M. (2020). Salir adelante: Collaboratively developing culturally grounded curriculum with marginalized communities. American Journal of Education, 126(2), 195-230.

Levitan, J. (2018). The danger of a single theory: Understanding students’ voices and social justice in the Peruvian Andes. Teachers College Record, 120(2), 1-36.

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