The Action Research Podcast

In this episode, Adam and Joe get into a deep conversation with Dr. C. Darius Stonebanks, co-founder and co-director of Transformative Praxis Malawi; Professor of Education at Bishop’s University; and an Adjunct Professor at McGill University.In part 1, Christopher discusses his journey into action research and his work in Malawi. He shares how, when he first entered academia, an interview about Critical Pedagogy led to his decision to engage in action research- the “idea of being interviewed about critical pedagogy and then realizing I always envisioned myself being a professor in order to do good, but then realized, is that not what this is going to be about? That was a crisis for me, which led to transformative praxis Malawi.” Joe asks Christopher about Transformative Praxis Malawi (7:11) and Adam clarifies a couple of questions (20:18) he had after reading Christopher’s articles (Cited below).To learn more about Christopher’s work as an action researcher and the challenges facing those who decide to work in the academy and do action research, join us in part-2 of this series where Adam continues to ask about running an ethical non-profit and working in academia, while Joe asks some hard-hitting questions to dig deeper into the project in Malawi and being a professor. To learn more, tune-in to the episode!Here are the references:Bennett-Stonebanks, M., Stonebanks, C. D., & Mphande, T. (2019). Ethics and Action Research in Emancipation-Based Endeavours: Projects of Heart or Projects of Publication? The Canadian Journal of Action Research, 20(1), 71-85 https://journals.nipissingu.ca/index.php/cjar/article/download/447/210Stonebanks, C.D., Sheerin, F., Bennett-Stonebanks, M. and Nyirenda-Paradise, J. (2016), "Just Give the Money to the Women: Overly Simplified Advice that Works in International Education, Health, and Development Initiatives", Racially and Ethnically Diverse Women Leading Education: A Worldview (Advances in Educational Administration, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp. 255-277. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-366020160000025015To learn more about Transformative Praxis Malawi, you can find them at: http://www.transformativepraxis.com/ *Note: contains some explicit language

In this episode, Adam and Joe do a deep dive into Action Research processes with Dr Alfredo Ortiz Aragón, an Action-Researcher and Associate Professor in the PhD Program at the Dreeben School of Education at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, and co-author of Action Research (Fifth Edition) with Ernie Stringer. Here, Alfredo shares his journey from a pure practitioner to action researcher (2:00). and talks about his epiphany as to what constitutes meaningful work- “I realized that my whole career had been focused on producing outputs, matrices, reports, plans, not realizing that those are just props in the drama, those are just tools that may or may not be an indicator of deep meaningful conversation (5:40).” He then discusses how he entered the world of action research, how he got connected with Ernie Stringer, and how his collaboration developed to co-write "the book" on Action Research (7:20).  In the last segment, Adam and Joe talk about Ernie Stringer and Alfredo’s exciting new (5th) edition of the seminal book, Action Research. Adam pulls out some of the important concepts from the book to discuss with Alfredo: “it’s difficult to understand the concepts without having some sort of context behind it. So, it would be great if we could somehow interweave, not only talking about some of these ideas but perhaps incorporate what this looks like for you in the field as an Action Researcher”. (11:46) Alfredo contextualizes these concepts by sharing a few glimpses from his Action Research projects, such as an initiative developed with a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) grant to test out action research methods. “How can we, by introducing AR approaches, philosophy, and methods… increase participation of key community actors in their own health and wellbeing efforts in leveraging their own knowledge in coming up with solutions?” (24:40) He also shares his team's experience developing a digital storytelling project with people on the Autism spectrum. “...Asking people to share stories of their experiences and accessing services that are critical to the health and wellbeing of their kids. And what's worked what hasn't and what can we learn by a simply hearing people's stories?" (26:08) To learn more about these concepts, tune-in to the episode!  If you are interested in the book we discuss in the podcast the citation is below: Stringer, E. T., & Aragón, A. O. (2021). Action research (Fifth edition). Sage publications

In this episode, Adam and Joe speak with Adam’s close friend, professor, and mentor, Dr Alfredo Ortiz Aragón, an Action-Researcher and Associate Professor in the PhD Program at the Dreeben School of Education at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, and co-author of Action Research (Fifth Edition) with Ernie Stringer. During the discussion, Alfredo shares his journey into the Action Research field (4:05), and how he became an action researcher. He then discusses experiences in the then ‘Participation Power and Social Change team’ at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex in the UK, where he learned about the critical side of Action Research (6:35): “These experiences exposed me to a broader world of power and… the critical side of the work that we were doing.” The discussion then switches gears to analyze Action Research as a field, with Joe playing “hard ball” with Alfredo in a "lightning round" to address pressing questions and dig deeper into current issues about Action Research (7:49). To learn more about Alfredo’s journey as action researcher, join us in part-2 of this series where Adam and Joe talk about Ernie Stringer and Alfredo’s exciting new (5th) edition of the seminal book, Action Research. If you are interested in the book we discuss in the podcast the citation is below:  Stringer, E. T., & Aragón, A. O. (2021). Action research (Fifth edition). Sage publications 

In this episode, Adam and Joe have a conversation with Dr. Lisa Starr about the role of reflexivity in action research. To understand this complex topic, they discuss two chapters Lisa wrote using reflexive and autoethnographic methods. It just so happens (or was it more than a coincidence?) that Adam is working on the chapter in his dissertation in which he reflexively discusses his positionality, so he asks Lisa to share her expertise (12:34) on how to approach reflexivity in Action Research (15:51). Later in the episode, Joe asks Lisa about the frameworks to reflexively understand one's identity in her chapters (25:11). If you are interested in the chapters mentioned in our podcast citations are below:Starr, L.J. & Mitchell C. (2020, accepted for Publication). Traveling in Circles Along Roads Less Traveled in Awe of Open Spaces. In Mitchell, C, Giritli Nygren, K, Moletsane, R. (eds.) Where am I in the Picture? Researcher Positionality in Rural Studies. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto PressStarr, L.J. (2019). Locating who (I am) in what (I) do: An autoethnography encounter with relational curriculum. In T. Strong-Wilson, C. Ehret, D. Lewkowich & S. Chang Kredl (Eds.), Making/Unmaking Curriculum through Provoking Curriculum Encounters (pp. 103-115). William Pinar/Routledge for the Studies in Curriculum Theory series. New York, NY: Routledge.

In this episode Adam and Joe share excerpts from a talk by Dr. Blane Harvey, Assistant Professor and William Dawson Scholar at McGill University, about his experience of systemic action research in Ghana. We break down each of the phases of his project to identify the facets of quality action research processes.For further reading about Blane's project you can find references below:Burns, D., Chambers, R., Harvey, B., Aragon, A. O., Oswald, K., Pettit, J., ... & Wheeler, J. (2012). Action research for development and social change. IDS Bulletin, 43(3) https://bulletin.ids.ac.uk/index.php/idsbo/issue/view/31Harvey, B., Burns, D., & Oswald, K. (2012). Linking community, radio, and action research on climate change: Reflections on a systemic approach. IDS Bulletin, 43(3), 101-117.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2012.00326.x

In this episode, Adam and Joe discuss who action research is for. Tune in if you have ever wondered: "Is action research right for me?" We discuss the different positionalities of action researchers, from those who are primarily practitioners who want to engage in research to change their organizations, to those who are primarily researchers and engage in practices for change. We discuss a few key considerations to decide if action research is right for you.If you are interested in some of the texts mentioned in our podcast citations are below:Feldman, A (2007) Validity and quality in action research, Educational Action Research, 15:1, 21-32,DOI: 10.1080/09650790601150766Coghlan, D. (2019). Doing action research in your own organization. SAGE Publications Limited.McNiff, J. (2013) Action research: Principles and practice, New York, NY: Routledge.Mirra, N., Garcia, A., & Morrell, E. (2015). Doing youth participatory action research: Transforming inquiry with researchers, educators, and students. Routledge.Chitere, O. P., & Mutiso, R. (Eds.). (2015). Working with rural communities participatory action research in Kenya. University of Nairobi Press.

In the final segment discussing what action research is, Adam interviews Joe to learn about his research and experience as an action researcher. Tune in to hear about what led Joe down the path of action research, the role of ethics in action research, and what it is like being an action researcher on the tenure track.If you are interested in some of the articles mentioned in the podcast they are below:Levitan, J., & Johnson, K. M. (2020). Salir Adelante: Collaboratively developing culturally-grounded curriculum with marginalized communities. American Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1086/706921Levitan, J. (2018). The danger of a single theory: Understanding students’ voices and social justice in the Peruvian Andes. Teachers College Record, 120(2).Levitan, J., Carr-Chellman, D., Carr-Chellman, A. (2017). Accidental Ethnography (AccE): A method for practitioner-based education research. Action Research. doi/abs/10.1177/1476750317709078

In this episode, Joe interviews Adam about his story as an action researcher. Listen and hear about how Adam got involved with Action Research, his driving philosophies as an action researcher, and how he is using Action Research as a methodology for his dissertation research

In the podcast's prequel episode, Adam and Joe talk briefly about what The Action Research Podcast is, why they created it, and what you can expect to hear in the upcoming episodes.

In Episode 1 of The Action Research Podcast, Adam and Joe discuss and break down a couple of the most widely accepted definitions of action research. Through that discussion, they determine action research is: 1) Driven by social change; 2) Participatory and action-oriented; 3) Collaborative, and 4) Self-reflexive. Give a listen to learn more about what these characteristics mean in the context of of action research, both in theory and in practice.If you are curious about the articles we discuss in this episode here are the citations:Lonnie, R.L., Polush, E.U., Riel M., & Bruewer, A. (2015). Action researchers’ perspectives about the distinguishing characteristics of action research: a Delphi and learning circles mixed-methods study, Educational Action Research, 23(2), 243-270, DOI: 10.1080/09650792.2014.990987Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice. Sage