Five Poster Awards

Symposium poster award winners, left to right: Margaret Lamont (Victoria University), Judy Williams, Gina Haynes and Elaine Mayo (University of Canterbury). Additional picture, award winner Claire Atkins (Nelson Malborough Institute of Technology) shows her interactive poster including her avatar in Second Life.

Preface to the Proceedings of the Inaugural Research Symposium for NZCARN

New Zealand Collaborative & Action Research Network

No rera, Nga mihi nui ki a koutou.

As co-chairs of this inaugural NZCARN research symposium we are proud to welcome you to the University of Canterbury. We would also like to introduce everyone to the vision and background for this inaugural NZCARN research symposium.

Over the two days of our symposium we invite you to join together in the spirit of collegiality with the goal of advancing educational research and practice in New Zealand and internationally. We ask you to join us and enjoy the intellectual, natural and cultural environment of the symposium and Christchurch in an atmosphere where knowledge is shared, peer networked and connections created among communities, practitioners, scholars and academic leaders.

Bridget has been a longstanding leader in the Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) and a founding editor of the prestigious international journal Educational Action Research. Importantly we note that, while CARN and its journal Educational Action Research appear to emphasize the term Action Research, this international network supports a broad community of approaches and Educational Action Research will be pleased to see submissions linked with Kaupapa Maori related research.

During Bridget’s visit to New Zealand, as the 2009 Visiting Canterbury Fellow at the University of Canterbury, she has stimulated a movement to establish a regional CARN network here, similar to the CARN networks recently established in Spain-Latin America, and the Netherlands. There is a lot of on-going action research in New Zealand. Bridget has made contacts with colleagues leading action research work at the Universities of Otago, Waikato, Victoria and the New Zealand Action Research and Review Centre (NZARRC) at Unitec. We hope that members of existing action research networks will join us in establishing CARN: New Zealand.

The New Zealand CARN Regional Network will develop a New Zealand ‘flavour’ including research approaches those influenced by our increasingly bicultural nation, such as Kaupapa Maori. We are particularly delighted that Lynne Te Aika and her school’s Maori teaching staff lead the opening Maori welcome to our research symposium. Our opening keynote by Angus Macfarlane entitled “Nau te rourou, naku te rourou. Your food-basket and my food-basket” will help us engage with the ‘braided rivers’ of Action Research and approaches of this flow of methodologies including Kaupapa Maori.

Given this nation’s strong scholarship and teaching of Action Research in the area of ICT and e-learning, we propose that digital technologies become a particular strength of New Zealand CARN. We have both been involved in researching innovations with digital technologies for decades. During the first project in the world to integrate ICT in preservice teacher education, Bridget introduced Niki and colleagues in five teacher education programmes in England to Action Research. Niki has refereed ICT-related papers for her journal ever since. This inaugural symposium has attracted leaders of ICT and e-learning in New Zealand, including Dr Clare Atkins, who leads New Zealand’s major educational project in Second Life: “Engaging with Second Life: Real Education in a Virtual World”. Others who have pledged their support include Dr Vince Ham of CORE Education and Professor Wing Lai, University of Otago.

Every conference takes a huge commitment and to that end we would like to than our sponsors, the University of Canterbury College of Education and its School of Literacies and Arts in Education without whose support the symposium would not have been possible. The University of Canterbury will become a sponsor of CARN with 10 individual memberships for three years. There are indications that other organizations will also become sponsors so that together we can establish this national network. We would also like to thank our fellow committee members for their time and effort, especially the proceedings editors and our LAED support staff Tracey and Louise who have gone above and beyond for us all. Our thanks also go to the New Zealand Video
Conferencing Centre for their support to bring Chris Bigum virtually to launch of the second edition of the Sage Handbook of Action Research edited by Bridget Somekh and Susan Noffke.

These proceedings contain a letter from the current CARN leaders in these proceedings. CARN is committed to supporting and improving the quality of professional practice, through systematic, critical, creative inquiry into the goals, processes and contexts of professional work. Bridget Somekh is a keynote speaker in this year’s annual CARN conference in November in Greece where she and some of our symposium participants will bring news of the formation of this regional network. CARN Networking works through: Sharing accounts of action research and related approaches, in the bulletins, on the CARN website, in the Educational Action Research Journal, and through other CARN publications; Attentive personal encouragement and critical feedback; and Engaging with CARN colleagues at steering group meetings, regional events (such as this) and at the CARN annual conference.

Enjoy your participation in our exciting inaugural symposium to launch and start to map NZCARN networking.

Heoi an?, mauri ora

Niki Davis and Bridget Somekh

Co-chairs of NZCARN Inaugural Research Symposium

Note: With apologies for the lack of macrons.

Opening Keynote by Angus Macfarlane, University of Canterbury Professor of Maori Research

Nau te rourou, naku te rourou. Your food-basket and my food-basket

Leading educators in the new millennium have identified key goals as being paramount for Maori development. Three such goals include: to live as Maori, to be participants in a global world, and to experience a good quality of life. These goals can be perceived as a vantage point to setting an agenda for planning and carrying out educational research, where the pursuit of knowledge and ways of progressing are strongly situated within a Maori worldview, Te ao Maori. Kaupapa Maori Research (KMR) and Action Research (AR) approaches, while different, are not incompatible. Within both approaches researchers are expected, by their communities and by the institutions that employ them, to have some form of critical and historical analysis of the role of research in a range of dynamic contexts and sites.

Action research is a particular approach to research that aims to improve practice or have a real world application. Individuals involved in the Action Research process are often part of a 'community of practice'. Referred to in Maoridom as a 'whanau of interest', this collaborative approach often employs a blend of Action Research (AR) and Kaupapa Maori Research (KMR) principles.

KMR and AR are often seen to be relating to enhancing the quality of life for selected individuals and groups. The outcomes of the research activities can be useful to a variety of constituents—general and special educators (teachers, administrators, related services personnel), whanau, policy makers, and certainly the students themselves. This presentation will seek to argue that KMR and AR can co-exist - by varying together in patterned ways.


Professor Angus Hikairo Macfarlane is of the Te Arawa waka and its confederate tribes. The thrust of his teaching and research activities is concerned with the exploration of culturally responsive concepts and strategies that affect positively on professional teaching practice. In 2003 he was awarded the inaugural Senior Research Fellowship by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research. In 2004 his landmark book Kia hiwa ra! Listen to culture – Māori students’ plea to educators was published. In 2009 he was appointed University of Canterbury Professor of Maori Research, and he continues to publish extensivly and influence practice within and byond New Zealand.

Keynote by Professor Susan Groundwater-Smith, University of Sydney

Action Research in Education: Considering Practice Architectures

Honorary Professor of Education, University of Sydney

Abstract for Keynote on 29 May 2009

This presentation will commence with an assertion that action research is not, in fact, a methodology but an orientation to inquiry with an obligation to action. As such it admits a number of methodological approaches but resists quasi-experimental ones of the grounds of the particularity of the context and the specificity of the purposes. It will draw upon the work of Kemmis and associates in reference to practice architectures.

The major purpose of action research is one that is practical, leading to the development and improvement of practice. It is participative and inclusive of practitioners and consequential stakeholders, such as students in schools and users of various social services. It uses evidence forensically, that is to understand particular phenomena; rather than adversarially, where the pressure is to prove one treatment may be better than another.

I shall argue that action research can make a powerful contribution to professional knowledge building beyond Modes 1 and 2 and towards what I shall characterise as Mode 3 knowledge. I shall claim that while formal knowledge (episteme) may be seen at one end of the continuum, action research is concerned with practical knowledge (phronesis) at the other. A task for the academy is to assist in the building and understanding of that continuum.

The presentation will attend to the ways in which Mode 3 knowledge building has been enhanced by the adopted of Web2 technologies that enable greater participation in discussion and debate. As well, new and different tools for inquiry are being developed in situ. This claim will be illuminated with examples.

I shall sound a word of caution regarding the recent trend, internationally and locally to appropriation and domestication of action research in the field of education and contrast this to practices in social work. This matter, as well as others, has implications for ethical practice and the quality of inquiry.


Susan Groundwater-Smith has published widely in the area of teacher professional education and specifically in relation to practitioner inquiry. Her most recent publications are:

• Campbell, A. & Groundwater-Smith, S. (Eds.) (2007) An Ethical Approach to Practitioner Research, London: Routledge;
• Groundwater-Smith, S. & Mockler, N. (2008) Ethics in Practitioner Research: An Issue of Quality. In J. Furlong & A. Oancea, A. (Eds.) Assessing Quality in Applied and Practice Based Research in Education. London: Routledge pp. 79 – 92;
• Groundwater-Smith, S. & Mockler, N. (2009) Teacher Professional Learning in an Age of Compliance: Mind the Gap. Rotterdam: Springer; and,
• Groundwater-Smith, S. (2009) Walking Tall: Changing Educational Practice in Challenging Circumstances: A Case Study in Co-operative Change Management through Practitioner Inquiry. In B. Somekh & S. Noffke (Eds.) (2009) Handbook of Educational Action Research. Sage Publications.

NZ CARN Update: Programme & Submissions

The confirmed dates of our Inaugural Research Symposium are Thursday and Friday immediately before the Queen’s Birthday at the University of Canterbury.

• Thursday 28th May, 2009, starting at 10 am
• Friday 29th May, finishing 1 pm

This New Zealand CARN network will link to CARN internationally and support a broad community of approaches to critical, evidence-based inquiry into learning and practice. NZCARN will have a New Zealand ‘flavour’ influenced by our bicultural nation, including Kaupapa Maori; also e-learning and ICT.

Blog postings below (and archive on right) provide details of:

1. The programme & keynotes Angus MacFarlane & Susan Groundwater-Smith
   
2. Travel information
3. Submission detials for the conference proceedings & optional posters
   

We will continue to update information on this NZ CARN Blog.

The NZ CARN Research Symposium Committee:

• Niki Davis, University of Canterbury Professor of E-Learning (co-chair)
• Bridget Somekh, Emeritus Porfessor, Manchester Metropolitan University (co-chair)
• Jo Fletcher, University of Canterbury
• Margaret Lamont, Victoria University
• Donna Morrow, University of Canterbury
• Anne McGrath, University of Canterbury
• Missy Morton, University of Canterbury
• Louise Clark (secretary), University of Canterbury

Comments & questions welcome!

NZCARN Symposium Travel Information

Maps: Various; Online campus map (using google technology)

Local travel:
A taxi from the airport to the motels close to the university will cost around NZ$20. Motels surrounding the campus are in easy walking distance. Motels on Riccarton Road are within walking distance, but there are also many university bound bus routes which service this area.

Airport:
Christchurch Airport.

Bus routes and timetables:
Metro Info.

Official Tourist Information:
http://www.christchurchnz.net/.

University Links:
Visitor information including a link to Christchurch street maps.

Accommodation near the University:

• Academy Motor Lodge
• Chateau on the Park

NZCARN Research Symposium Programme 28-29 May

Theme: Mapping the Territory; Venue: University of Canterbury Iilam campus

Thursday 28 May 2009

• 10.00 am Morning Tea
• 10.30 am Grand Opening and Welcome Professors Davis, Somekh & McFarlane
• 11.00 am Keynote: Angus Macfarlane, University of Canterbury Professor of Maori Research: Nau te rourou, naku te rourou. Your food-basket and my food-basket
• 12.00 Lunch
• 1.00 Mapping the Territory I: Papers & Posters
• 3.30 Afternoon Tea
• 4.00 Sage Book Launch led by Professor Bridget Somekh, Manchester Metropolitan University: Handbook of Educational Action Research (April, 2009). Author presentations by Professors Groundwater-Smith and Chris Bigum (video conference) in NZi3 Advanced Video Conference Centre
• 7.00 Dinner (optional, at own expense, resturants recommeded)

Friday 29 May 2009

• 9.00 Mapping the Territory – II
• 10.00 Expert Panel: Bridget Somekh (CARN) Niki Davis (Canterbury) Jenny Poskit (Massey) TBC (Waikato) Margaret Lamont (Victoria)
  
• 11.00 Open Steering Group Meeting (replaces AGM): How CARN works; Where to from here with NZCARN?
• 12.00 Keynote: Professor Susan Groundwater-Smith, University of Sydney
• 1.00 Close of conference
• 1.30 Lunch at University of Canterbury Staff Club (optional at own expense)

Venue detail at University of Canterbury

• Coppertop, 2nd Floor of the Commerce Building
• NZi3 seminar room supported by AVCC (28th 4-5 pm only)
  

Maps: Various; Online campus map (using google technology)

Guidance on Optional Poster Presentation NZCARN Inaugural Research Symposium

NZCARN posters will be the focus for informal discussion around tables and display boards in a session on Thursday 28 May, and will be available to participants for follow-up reference throughout the symposium.

Posters for display should be prepared on A3 paper (up to two posters per presenter).

Please include your Abstract at the top left hand corner of your first poster (reformatted if necessary). Use the remaining space to present examples of research work in progress for discussion with symposium participants. These might include examples from research data, data collection and analysis materials. A diagrammatic representation of your research process would help participants to get an overview of your work quickly. You may want to present a mix of text, diagram and images and to use colour where possible/ appropriate. If you choose to present a text-only poster, please use headings and sub-headings to break-up your text for easy reading.

There will be awards for the best poster within each symposium theme, which will be announced at the start of the symposium.

The symposium themes will result from an analysis of the abstracts of research produced by the review board as the first stage in the work to map the territory for NZCARN.


Jo Fletcher, Donna Morrow, Anne McGrath, Niki Davis & Bridget Somekh, NZCARN Research Symposium Proceedings Editors

Submission to NZCARN Inaugural Research Symposium Proceedings Proforma

Please write your extended Abstract of your Research (current and future) under the headings below as a Word file (compatible with Windows XP) in Times New Roman, 11 pt, to be printed on 1 page of A4. Please help us map research in New Zealand.

This extended abstract will be used in three ways:

1. Analysed by the review board to identify NZCARN themes (a start of the mapping)
2. Published at the symposium in the symposium proceedings
3. During mapping sessions I and II

Headings to use:

• Name:
• Organisational affiliation:
• Email address:
• These two lines are to assist symposium planning and will be edited out:
• Do you wish your submission to be peer reviewed? Yes or No
• Do you plan to present 1-2 poster(s) (optional)? Yes or No
  

• Title: Please indicate your current and possible future research activities

• Current work: Outline of current (and recent) research, including substantive focus,‘kind’ of research (e.g. ‘Action Research’, ‘Kaupapa Maori’, Practitioner Research, Evidence-based Inquiry etc.), research methods used, findings / outcomes to date, names of any individual or organisational partners, URLs for any on-going work or publications.
  

• Possible future work: A brief statement of your area of interest and up to three researchquestions likely to be addressed in your forthcoming work.

Up to 2 pages only please, emailed by 15 May 2009 to be confident of inclusion in the proceedings.
Please email your extended abstract to Louise.Clark@canterbury.ac.nz; and Donna.Morrow@canterbury.ac.nz.


Jo Fletcher, Donna Morrow, Anne McGrath, Niki Davis & Bridget Somekh, NZCARN Research Symposium Proceedings Editors