Teaching and learning action research

Abstract

This article describes our experience teaching action research (AR) in a Mexican graduate program. It emphasizes the challenges associated with teaching this kind of research in Mexico and illustrates ways we address those challenges. It also illustrates that a high level of personal growth often accompanies AR training and that such growth, as well as learning the `mechanics' of AR, is significantly enhanced when faculty become deeply engaged with students during the entire learning experience. The article contributes to what is known about teaching action research in graduate university settings, specifically, about how to teach it, reasons for teaching it, and unintended consequences of teaching it. It describes problems in teaching and mastering AR competence and uses experiences in Latin America's oldest masters program in organization development to illustrate solutions. Examples from student projects demonstrate how action research coursework translates to increased student skills and simultaneously to increased effectiveness of the social systems in which the students conduct research. Finally, the article describes work that led a university to include action research training in all of its graduate programs.