5.00-7.00 1WN 3.8 Monday 14^th February 2005.

Let’s begin with catching up with our news from the week and introductions to new faces. Moira will be joining us for one of her twice yearly visits from China’s Experimental Centre for Educational Action Research. Moira is interested in exploring ‘Developing Collaborative Enquiries: Ways Forward?’ with the group. Dean Tian Fengjun, the Director of the Centre, and Moira have provided a brief paper giving their context for the discussion at:

http://www.actionresearch.net/monday/ml140205.htm

Do please have a read before Monday.

Mary has sent me a beautifully bound copy of her Ph.D. Thesis on A SELF STUDY OF A HIGHER EDUCATION TUTOR: HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY PRACTICE? I’ll bring this along for stroking on Monday. You can access the whole thesis at http://www.actionresearch.net/hartog.shtml

Harry Daniels also hopes to join in the conversation. Harry is our new Professor of Education: Culture and Pedagogy and you can access his profile at:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/profiles/hrjdaniels.htm

you will see his research interests are:

• Socio-cultural and Activity Theory

• Innovatory Learning in the Work Place

• Special Needs and Social Exclusion

• Social Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty including Exclusion from School

• Patient and Carer Information Seeking

A couple of Mondays ago James made a video clip of me working with Paulus on a Progressive Islamic text and we’d like to show some three minutes from the clip. It contains explosive laughter, irony, Paulus bashing on with passion and not allowing Jack a word! Jack’s dulcet tones and one liners. We are sitting together huddled over the text, Jack in the outer courtyard of his spiritual being and Paulus in the inner courtyard, and US so very much together. We think the multi-media text shows that it is our passion for enquiry/learning/understanding together that holds us together? We’d like to hear your responses…..

I’m hoping that Cathy Aymer from Brunel University will be able to join us and share ideas on Black Cultural Renewal from her doctoral enquiries.

Marie is continuing with her enquiries into the development of an action research approach to professional development in BANES. Branko Bognar is continuing with his inspirational work in supporting action research approaches to professional learning in Croatia and you can see his latest action plan of February 2005 by clicking here. You can see Branko's introductions to his co-workers and friends by clicking here

Jean is in South Africa this week and next organising AR workshops. Marian is in New York. Jackie’s new book on AR with Ron Wideman and Cheryl Black is with the publishers. Everything is looking OK for the publication of Dean Tian Fengjun’s & Moira’s AR book in China. The fliers for Jean and Jack’s Action Research for Teachers book, to be published by David Fulton publishers in April, have arrived. Jane’s delightful encouragement for us to share stories of our learning and teaching has now been published by English Language Gazette. You can read the text of Jane’s contribution at:

http://www.actionresearch.net/monday/jsTeacherStories.htm

While Margarida is away on Monday, I’m sure we will continue to feel the flow of her pleasure in learning. Joao, I hope you can make it. Nemrata hopes to be here. Nemrata’s session at the Royal Agricultural College is now fixed for the 23^rd Feb. I said to Ken that I’d explore booking UBSA for an evening of dance in the Summer. Will check how many of us would like to participate. We could combine it with a celebration of this year’s successful completions of AR studies. Last Monday I didn’t have time to show how Mark had used, in his master’s dissertation, Robyn’s ideas on alongsideness from her doctorate, and I’d like to bring a couple of pages from Mark’s writings to the group. Peggy and Dean Tian have sent their Chinese New Year Greetings and Peggy has set up her new web-log at http://yourcriticalfriend.blogspot.com/

Je Kan has recovered from his ‘wobble’ around his spiritual values and the gender bias in Buddhism – see the excellent correspondence on this in the living-action-research forum. You can join this from the What’s New section of actionresearch.net . Alon is continuing with his writings for his thesis on a heuristics of human existence. Do keep popping in to his web-space at http://www.bath.ac.uk/~pspas/ .

At the top of the What’s New section (http://www.actionresearch.net ) you can click on the latest issue of the newsletter of the Action Research SIG of AERA. I like the way Cher Hendricks, the President-elect, has included the live url to actionresearch.net. On the first page of the newsletter, if you have opened it in Adobe Reader 7.0 (a free download), you can open the live url to Action Research Expeditions. I reckon this forum is going to become very significant over the next couple of years with Cher as President.

Invitations to submit proposals for BERA 05 at Glamorgan – 14-17 September are now out at:

http://www.beraconference.com/2005/conference-formats.html

Do let’s chat about getting proposals in. BERA can be a most enjoyable conference and the more of us that go with presentations to the Practitioner-Researcher SIG the better.

Any news I’ve missed just e-mail it in.

Looking forward to Monday

Love Jack.