Phenomenologically grounded action research: suggestions for broadening the scope of educational action research

In this paper, we argue that the tripartite account of action research as either technical, practical, or critical-emancipatory does not exhaust the possibilities for conducting educational action research. To broaden the scope, we present an outline for a new action research approach within the field of education: Phenomenologically Grounded Action Research (PGAR). With inspiration from recent developments within the fields of action research and phenomenological approaches to qualitative research, our aim is twofold: Firstly, we seek to expand existing action research orientations so that they cover educational aspects that we find to be missing in contemporary action research approaches, especially the pre-reflective and embodied realm of being. Secondly, we aim to bring phenomenological concepts into action research, while ensuring they remain distinctive and practically relevant within the field of education. This presents an opportunity for educators and researchers to enhance their understanding and guidance of students’ pre-reflective experiences, embodied knowledge, and modes of being-in-the-world. Thus, the PGAR approach enables a shift in focus from educational change grounded in socio-critical structures to existential and experiential change grounded in lived and pre-reflective experience.