Utilising an educational action research approach: Facilitating more democratic actions in the classroom

Abstract

Burke (1992, p.79) notes Shulman's (1987a) assertion that the knowledge base of teaching has multiple sources far deeper, richer and more extensive than that provided by empirical research alone and that the Wisdom of Practice is one enormously rich source of knowledge about teaching which has remained largely untapped by educational researchers. However, Shulman (1987a and 1987b), whilst communicating a deep respect for teachers, fails to see teachers in the role of educational researchers writing the final report (a paper or thesis) of some of their own wisdom of practice. Similar, perhaps inadvertent, downplay of teachers' capacities to create/articulate a significant part of their own knowledge base in teaching can be discerned in other literature (e.g. Socket, 1987; Hoyle and John, 1995; Hargreaves, 1996 and 1997; Hammersley, 1997).