The CARN/ARNA inaugural Study Day inquiry: what happens to action research after the master’s degree?

Abstract

The Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) held its first American study day on the east coast of the United States in conjunction with the Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA) 2014 conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. Study day participants visited three American secondary schools, one each in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, where graduates of Moravian College’s action-research based Master of Education program explained how action research continued to guide his or her professional practice after the awarding of the master’s degree credential. While continuing to embrace action research in different ways within their respective contexts, the host teachers continued the process of developing new insights from their inquiries, while the public dissemination of their research occurred within – rather than beyond – their respective secondary school communities. To exert influence beyond these local contexts, however, teacher researchers and their university-based tutors are encouraged to continue their collaboration after the master’s degree to work toward greater dissemination of ongoing teacher research contexts and findings.