The struggle to redefine the relationship between «knowledge» and «action» in the academy: some reflections on action research

Abstract

This paper attempts to redefine the relationship between theory and practice in terms of the idea of action research. Action research is not only aimed at the improvement of practice, and research is not only aimed at the production of knowledge; practical knowledge, which stems from action research, can also be valued as theoretical. In other words, the account of action research includes theoretical activity as an aspect of the practical. Action research is viewed as a systematic form of action. In today’s postmodern discourses, such understanding of action research can not be excluded from the domain of
public knowledge. Action research involves the study of teachers as agents of change and the way their intentions to effect changes can be done by gathering multiple perspectives on the situation in question. Such representations can be also used as resources to inform their understanding of particular aspects of the situation they face as educational agents, together with educational researchers. In sum, action research resolves the theory-practice
problem by theorising from the standpoint of the educational agent as an active agent in changing educational situations.