Sustaining Action Research: A Practical Guide for Institutional Engagement by Anne Burns, Emily Edwards and Neville John Ellis

Abstract

The volume Sustaining Action Research: A Practical Guide for Institutional Engagement by Burns, Edwards and Ellis looks at Action Research (AR) and similar participant-oriented approaches from a new perspective. Rather than adding to the growing literature of AR research reports and accounts provided by individual teachers or small groups of teachers, the volume looks at how, beyond the micro level, educational leaders can initiate, support, and sustain AR at their institutions and influence educational developments at meso and macro levels. The book provides teachers, teacher educators, mentors, and educational leaders with a wealth of activities that, in themselves, create an AR cycle, moving from the local context of the microcosm of a classroom up to the institutional and, ultimately, the national and even international level. The volume looks at education from a socioecological perspective and convincingly establishes a solid link between theory and practice, where the individual experiences of classroom practitioners are scaffolded by relevant research and the AR process is both reflected on and celebrated at key stages. The presentation is user-friendly, the information is up-to-date, and the resources are both varied and easily accessible.