The Special Interest Groups (SIGs) at the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) are required to produce an Annual Report for the duration of their membership of the SIG. This is the report from the Educational Action Research SIG for 2024:
The aims outlined at the outset of this SIG were further developed at 3 meetings during 2024. Our aims are:
- ethical issues, in particular on how current ethical standards in educational institutions may impede the undertaking of practitioner action research.
- strengthening the rigour of action research for accreditation and enhancing institutional standards
- continuing the work of NEARI as a foundation for action research discourse
The Educational Action Research SIG is in the process of achieving these aims. This an outline of work undertaken in 2024:
- On 9th March 2024 Ethics in the current landscape of practitioner research attracted a global audience to an online meeting (available here). Professor Sarah Banks (UK) spoke on Negotiating the ethical space of participatory action research. Dr Mairead Holden and Dr Philip Poulton shared perspectives spanning between Ireland and Australia in school-based research in Developing ethical reflexivity through trialogic spaces. A panel discussion on ethics in action research and practitioner research (available Part 1 here and Part 2 here) followed.
- On 5th October Self-Study as a Movement and Methodology for Inside-Out Educational Change a hybrid meeting was held in Marino Institute of Education. Guest speaker was Professor Kathleen Pithouse-Morgan, (UK with University colleagues from South Africa). Tomás Aylward (MTU Kerry) spoke of his self-study and Helen Hallissey brought critical reflection and humour to the event. Both teachers and PhD candidates sparked conversations among the in-person and online attendees. See further details here.
- The SIG shared updates at meetings from colleagues in other action research groups, journal editors and the ESAI contributed to NEARI as a foundation for action research discourse.
- Dialogue also blossomed at the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) Conference 2024 when Dr Bernadette Wrynn (Educational Action Research SIG) summarised our work and shared our ideas with attendees.
- The Educational Action Research stand in the Expo area of the ESAI 2024 Conference attracted many new faces as well as long standing supporters of NEARI.
- Updates on the SIG are communicated at meetings (example here) and all our activities are disseminated freely (with appropriate ethical permissions) to members and others on eari.ie.
- The NEARI SIG engaged in social media activity/ online presence – eari.ie and X and established itself on BlueSky.
- NEARI work was presented at:
- an international roundtable at the Collaborative Action Research Network conference (CARN 2024 ) in Malmo, Sweden
- A Teacher Education Advancement Network (TEAN) webinar in October 2024
- The launch of the Student Teacher Educational Research (STER) 2024 journal in April 2024
- The Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA 2024) Conference in November
In 2025 we plan to deepen our work in promoting educational action research; further develop ideas on ethics for practitioner action researchers and how to enhance communication among members. We will present our work at the ESAI Conference 2025 and at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2025 annual meeting and at other events in 2025.
NEARI has also been invited to contribute a chapter in a forthcoming book on teacher education for democracy.
