(En)action research: practice transformation through processes of participatory sense-making in educational action research

Scholars regard educational action research as contributing to change and developing sustainable teaching practices. The theoretical framework revolves around the idea that changes stem from human actions and draws inspiration from several philosophical traditions. However, the dynamo of transformation in the different approaches is generally a systematic self-reflective inquiry (Cassell & Johnson, 2006). In this presentation, we examine how changes of practice through educational action research emerge when the process is understood through the enactive theory of participatory sense-making (De Jaegher & Di Paolo, 2007). The point of departure for our methodological examination is an action research project on Movement Integration in Danish primary and secondary schools (Madsen et al., 2020). Our analysis underscores that the process of dialogue and participation in action research gains impact by embracing joint movement-based actions. Our study highlights that pre-reflective and movement-based inquiries may be a significant dynamo in the action research project’s effort to become deeply meaningful for the participants, to empower their participation and to make sustainable practice transformations possible (Madsen et al., 2023). Applying the enactive framework in action research brings forward a methodological awareness about unnoticed dimensions of how participants make sense of action research processes, and the significance of being attentive to and working actively with 1) relation-making, i.e. how participants participate in each other’s sense-making by how they move in relation to each other; 2) time-making, i.e. how participants’ past experiences and future possibilities interblend with how they grasp a given matter; and 3) space-making, i.e. how sense-making is extended into space through the body’s location and actions in a given environment.
The presentation is based on a published article (Madsen et al., 2023) and central points will be exemplified during the presentation by inviting the audience to participate in a practical and interactive activity.