Passionate Enqui y and School Development:

A Sto y About Teacher Action Research, by

Marion Dadds, The Falmer Press, 1995,192 pp.

Book Reviews

Reviewed by: SUSAN AUSTIN

The challenges of doing teacher action research in Britain are very similar to those in the

United States. Dadds’ description of one teacher’s experience with action research in British

schools will be familiar to anyone who has had a similar experience in any country, and pro- vides a rare in-depth view of the process. In her book Passionate Enquiry and School Devel- opment: A Story About Teacher Action Research, Dadds tells how as part of a certificate

program, one teacher conducted three school-based assignments that were designed to

improve her teaching and to develop herself as a person and a professional. Dadds views this

teacher’s experience as an archetype: “In her story lies the landscape of untold others.” Based

on this single case study, Dadds then provides the reader with highly generalizable insights into the potential of action research as a means to combine theory and practice into a form that

can significantly impact teaching and learning.

In Dadds’ story we see how a teacher constructs her own practical theories about situa-

tions she confronts in her classrooms and schools, theories that are loaded with personal

meaning for herself and her colleagues. Each of her action research projects illuminate how

she begins to develop her own unique methodology of insider educational inquiry that repre-

sents a fascinating contrast to the traditional academic approach to research. For example, the

teacher’s attempts to apply objective methods to her inquiry are continually influenced by her

deeply held values. She designs research methods that enhance rather than constrain the prac-

tical usefulness of her research. She hopes to learn something about the school and classroom

that will have immediate and practical use to her colleagues. And she begins to redefine the notion of validity in a more practical and appropriate manner for action research.

In chapter 7, Dadds makes the transition from the case story into a theoretical analysis.

Here is where the author takes us underneath the practical and complex issues of conducting action research to its theoretical underpinnings. She introduces validity and valuing as the key

analytical concepts, with the idea of “democratic validation” (matching the validation process

Dr. Susan Austin l Evaluation Consultant, 39 Avila Street, San Francisco, California, 94123.

Evaluation Practice, Vol. 18, No. 3, 1997, pp. 281-282. Copyright 0 1997 by JAI Press Inc.

ISSN: 0886- I633 All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.

281

282 EVALUATION PRACTICE, 18(3), 1997

to the multiple perspectives of self, colleagues, and researchers) as a core principle in action research. And she proposes five areas through which the issue of validity of teacher action research can be discussed. These include: a teacher’s epistemological knowledge and under- standing of a situation; the communication of the research via text (is research worth its name if it is not made public?); the moral basis of the action embedded in the research; how teacher development is affected by the research; and the role of collegial collaboration in the advance- ment of teacher action research. Each of these areas is discussed in its own chapter; according to the author, together they imply a need to seek criteria standards and validation processes that are more congruent with the nature and purposes of teacher action research than are tra- ditionally practiced.

Teachers who are undertaking their own action research projects will be fascinated with the details of the teacher’s experiences. Three different projects are described in depth, each with a unique set of questions, dilemmas, politics, and results. The teacher grows and develops with each successive experience, developing increased confidence and skill along the way.

Teacher educators/researchers will be interested in how Dadds describes her approach to conducting her own action research project, based on the work of the teacher’s case. Dadds asks herself early in the book, “If action research was such an eminently valuable way of improving one’s work and if I was persuading my in-service teachers that this was so, why was I not doing anything substantial myself?” A fair question, that is eloquently explored in her book. Her descriptions of her thought processes and dilemmas will intrigue and delight. As she notes, “I had a daily urge to lift the flaps and comers of the action research arrows, spi- rals, and boxes; to take a closer look at the embroiled under worlds below the clean theoretical diagrams.” The end result is a book that greatly broadens our understanding of the complexi- ties and potential of teacher action research.

The intended audience for this book is broadly defined: practitioners, teacher educators, academics (especially education policy researchers), politicians, administrators, and even par- ents. Although evaluators are not the book’s target audience, those evaluators whose primary work is in school settings will benefit from this intimate look at how some teachers think and the factors that influence their daily decisions. Additionally, evaluators interested in exploring action-based research as a vehicle for expanding and enhancing the involvement of the pro- gram participants should find many good ideas here.

Practically speaking, the book seems most suited for teachers interested in conducting action research and those teacher educators/researchers interested in promoting and support- ing the use of teacher action research. Beautifully written and highly readable, the story is told in such extensive detail that parents, politicians, and administrators may not have the patience to stay with the writer for the duration of the book. (For example, nearly 30 pages of text are devoted to how the teacher planned and conducted a staff development workshop for her col- leagues, based on her research of gender issues in their school, including the political implica- tions of her planning decisions.) However, for practitioners and researchers interested in knowing the myriad challenges and issues that teachers confront in using this methodology, the book represents a unique and important contribution to the fieid.