“Near the end of class, Heather asked, ‘Why don’t we keep research journals?’
I had no answer. Although we only had five minutes left, we did five minutes
of sustained writing. Another student teased, ‘We didn’t really mean it.’
But I think they were pleased that I’d listened.” (Maguire journal, 2001).
So began the implementation of action research journals.
The Western New Mexico University - Gallup Graduate Studies Center (GGSC) was my academic home for nearly 25 years. In this section you can access resources for teaching action research with a feminist and social justice stance. Over the years I taught other graduate courses in the Counseling and Education programs, including Theories of Personality, Life Themes and Stages, Psychology of Learning, and History and Philosophy of U.S. Education. As you can see, I was the go‐to‐person for putting theory into action. My philosophy and practice of teaching was informed in part by bell hooks (Teaching to Transgress), Paulo Freire (Education for Critical Consciousness; Teachers as Cultural Workers), David Kolb (Experiential Learning); and Herbert Benally (Diné or Navajo Philosophy of Learning and Pedagogy).
Below you can download the syllabus from the last action research course I taught. The materials accessed in this section were developed over the years I taught or co-taught a feminist-informed teacher action research graduate course. The course evolved as I learned from students’ feedback and reflection. When complete, this section will include many of the materials I used to teach a two-semester action research course. Now, it is a work in progress. Please check back for additions.
A side note: our Masters of Elementary, Secondary, and Special Education programs were framed by the Adams, Blumenfeld, Castañeda, Hackman, Peters, and Zuñiga text, Readings for Diversity and Social Justice.
Laboring in the field of possibility: Teachers doing action research (2005) is a collection of teacher action research projects produced by graduate students who took the action research course.