Is action research a contradiction in terms? Do communities of practice mean the end of educational research as we know it? Some remarks based on one recent example of religious education research

Abstract

This article’s point of departure is that the nature and merits of both action research and communities of practice are contested: for example, Martyn Hammersley has argued that action research may be a contradiction in terms and that communities of practice may mean the end of educational research as a discrete discipline. In response to his claims, the epistemology and methodology of a religious education action research community of practice – the Warwick Religious Education, Dialogue and Conflict (REDCo) community of practice – are discussed. There are three strands of argument. Firstly, action research is not necessarily a contradiction in terms. Secondly, communities of practice are not necessarily the end of educational research as a discipline in its own right. Thirdly, however, Hammersley’s critique raises important issues about professional knowledge development, inviting interaction between propositional and workplace knowledge. The experience of the Warwick REDCo community of practice – including, importantly, its meta‐research – may be aligned to this invitation as an illustrative example.

Keywords:

• action research
• community of practice
• professional knowledge
• interpretive approach to religious education

Acknowledgements

The financial support provided by the European Commission (for the REDCo project as a whole) and the Westhill Trust (for the Warwick REDCo community of practice specifically) is gratefully acknowledged.

Notes

1. See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wie/research/wreru/.

2. See http://www.redco.uni-hamburg.de/.