• Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

    Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research


For those concerned with issues of equity and social justice in schools, differences in achievement and participation rates amongst students from different socio-economic groups pose a significant challenge. These differences persist despite having been a major focus for educational researchers over several decades. Conventional approaches to research appear to have had little impact. This feature aims to explore the potential of action research to challenge the exploitative nature of education and address the perceived de-professionalization of teachers (Ball, 2013) through involving them as collaborative partners rather than as the objects of research.

Action research involves practitioners carrying out a systematic and rigorous investigation of their own practice. It aims to develop a deeper understanding of theory-in-practice and to bring about positive social change for those involved in the research process. Action research methodologies have been under-utilized in formal school educational settings and have tended to be carried out in informal settings or in under-developed countries where the exploitative nature of practice is more overt. A 2018 BERA report highlighted the renewed interest in ‘close to practice’ research, including action research, for bringing about changes in classroom practice, while at the same time highlighting concerns over its quality. Practitioner research often lacks robustness in research design and transferability to contexts beyond those in which the practitioners are working. 

Publication date: 13 November 2020. Volume 18, Issue 3.



Guest Editor

Dr Pete WrightUCL Institute of Education, UCL, UK.



Article list 


Research article


Developing an empowering school curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Pete Wright

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 323–338

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Is there hope for action research in a ‘directed profession’?

Caroline Daly, Linda Davidge-Smith, Chris Williams and Catherine Jones

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 339–355

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Maintaining an empowered school community: Introducing digital technologies by building digital literacies at Beehive Montessori School

Samantha Owen and Sharon Davies

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 356–372

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

From peer review to collaborative peer enquiry: Action research for school improvement and leadership development

David Godfrey

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 373–389

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Cross-school ‘close-to-practice’ action research, system leadership and local civic partnership re-engineering an inner-city learning community

Peter Dudley, Martin Pratt, Christine Gilbert, Jon Abbey, Jean Lang and Helen Bruckdorfer

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 390–407

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Exploring teachers’ experiences of action research

Sinéad Vaughan

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 408–422

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Teachers as researchers: Reflecting on the challenges of research–practice partnerships between school and university in Chile

Gonzalo R. Guerrero-Hernández and Rocío A. Fernández-Ugalde

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 423–438

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Certainty abandoned and some implications for curriculum research

Jean McNiff

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 439–450

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Dialoguing with teacher-educators, valorizing teacher innovations

Vijaya Sherry Chand, Samvet Kuril and Anurag Shukla

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 451–466

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Close-to-practice research: The need for student voice and the strange case of Academy x

Simon Edwards and Chris Brown

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 480–494

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Curriculum design through lesson study

Geoff Wake and Sarah Seleznyov

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 467–479

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research

Developing motivated adolescent readers and enhancing student voice, using action research in disadvantaged contexts

Tara McMullan and Julia Sutherland

2020-11-13 Volume 18 • Issue 3 • 2020 • 495–510

Also a part of:

Special feature: Developing an Empowering School Curriculum: A renewed focus on action research