Nurturing Praxis

Nurturing Praxis offers a distinctive view of collaborative and action research in educational settings in four Nordic countries; Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland. Educational action research in Nordic countries is interpreted as being informed by the traditions of Bildung and (folk) enlightenment and thereby emphasizing the importance of collaboration, discussion and dialogue in knowledge creation. It explores the professional development of teachers, especially through school-university partnerships in which university researchers collaborate with teachers in a variety of educational settings in order to bring about change in and better understanding of practice. It presents case studies of professional development in the context educational reform and change, originating from both inside and outside schools, and tackled with or enhanced by collaborative and action research. By analysing the cases in the light of the Nordic traditions of Bildung and (folk) enlightenment, the authors have been able to identify a number of key features of professional development enhanced by collaborative and action research. These features are drawn together in the last chapter, in a comprehensive framework for Nurturing Praxis. The volume addresses teachers at all levels in the educational system, particularly those who are interested in understanding educational action and development as praxis, and interested in relating different approaches to understanding and changing praxis according to different intellectual traditions. The volume addresses cases concerning both students in initial teacher education and teachers engaged in in-service education.