Action Research, Cooperative and Collaborative Inquiry Groups

Put simply, action research is “learning by doing” - a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again. While this is the essence of the approach, there are other key attributes of action research that differentiate it from common problem-solving activities that we all engage in every day. Primary is its focus on turning the people involved into researchers, too - people learn best, and more willingly apply what they have learned, when they do it themselves.  It also has a social dimension - the research takes place in real-world situations, and aims to solve real problems. Finally, the initiating researcher, unlike in other disciplines, makes no attempt to remain objective, but openly acknowledges their bias to the other participants [link to militant research].

In the form of informal gatherings with other people involved in a similar field of work and organising, co-operative inquiry groups also known as collaborative inquiry groups. These are simply an effective way of working with other people who have similar concerns and interests to yourself and change ourselves and society for the greater common good and to understand our world. The cycle of understanding gathers knowledge in four areas of knowledge, from the scientific world and knowledge generated from what we do on a daily basis, living in the larger world and when we engage in new practices. "Conscientization" (conscience - action) is a critical concept in relation to action-research, referring to a critical positioning (action) in face of a reality understood from a continuous process of reflection and questioning (conscience).

This workshop will build an understanding of setting up and carrying out effective and empowering cooperative inquiry groups in practice and the theories behind them. Cooperative inquiry groups are a popular education method in themselves as it provides a structure whereby everyone, not just academies and institutions, can generate expertise and take action on the issues important to them and their communities. The major idea of a cooperative inquiry, is to organise ‘with’ rather than ‘on’ people, where people are treated as passive subjects rather than as active agents [delete last sentence?].

Co-operative inquiry thus embraces what is called action research, where people work together to build a cycle of 'action' and 'reflection' in becoming more effective in understanding tools and techniques for positive change.