Action Research at the Interface: Personal-Professional Reflections on the First 20 Years

This is a personal-professional reflection on 20 years of doing Action Research (AR), based on whichAR is positioned as being at three different interfaces: the personal-professional; the theory-practice;and the quantitative-qualitative interface. In addition to AR being at those three interfaces, a numberof additional key questions are contemplated in this article; questions which appear to have beenlargely overlooked – or at least under-researched – in spite of their importance. For example, ratherthan simply assuming that research is an inherently ‘good thing’ to be doing, the question of whywe do research is considered, as a valid research question in its own right. Following on from thatquestion, the question of why teachers should become action researchers is also considered. Anotherkey question that is rarely asked but which is explored here relates to time, specifically how muchtime research requires, and how much time a busy classroom teacher can give to their research. Inrelation to the collaborative nature of AR, the question of trust is highlighted, as well as the questionof who will benefit from the research and how.