The Democratising Potential of Dialogical Focus in an Action Enquiry

Abstract

This paper is concerned with showing how, as a university tutor, I have held onto my democratic principles in working with one student in an action enquiry as she has tried to answer the question, “How can I improve the quality of learning for the benefit of my own professional development and the pupils in my care?” Through a conversation with the student Sarah, I show how I facilitate the formulation of her action research question. Her concern is about improving her understanding and action with her pupils for the benefit of their learning. My emphasis is in setting a democratic framework within which she can realise her deepest educational values. This paper also seeks to make the point that it is in focusing on what constitutes an improvement in the quality of learning, and to what end, that educational knowledge is formed and developed. This paper makes a claim that it is the dialectical nature of attempting to act on democratic ideals in the search for educational improvement that can create an epistemology for educational practice. © 1994, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.