Educational Action Research: A Pathway to Decolonizing Education

Introduction

We live in a time where significant social, technological, and environmental changes are straining educational systems (Molla, 2021). Two of the most urgent challenges are the glaring socio-economic inequities that demand more inclusive educational practices, and the climate crisis which disrupts and disturbs school communities as environmental disasters become more frequent. In response, decolonizing practices are becoming important approaches for reshaping classrooms and curricula (Rodway et al., 2023). Decolonizing our educational spaces demands the centering of land and Indigeneity in our practice; however, before this can be done authentically, we must dismantle the colonial echoes that maintain spaces of Eurocentrisms, inequity, and discrimination. One powerful method for supporting these efforts is educational action research—an approach that centers educators and learners as active participants in the research process, rather than subjects of it. Educational action research moves away from traditional, control-driven methods of inquiry, offering a relational and responsive way to engage with education, echoing many principles of decolonization (Lenette, 2022). In this piece, we are inspired by the possibilities of educational action research to carve a pathway to decolonizing education that addresses several aims of contemporary educational systems.

Decolonizing Research through Action Research

The legacy of colonialism extends beyond social structures and history; it is embedded in how we think, work, and even how we conduct research. Traditional research methods, particularly those preoccupied with rigid hypotheses, replicability, and a desire for control, can mirror colonial mindsets that might prioritize the domination of a study topic over understanding. In educational research, this may manifest as research conducted “on” teachers or students. While this perspective is practical and even desirable in many scientific fields—and for a good reason, such methods have produced vaccines, space travel, and countless innovations—its implications on vulnerable communities, including Indigenous and racialized peoples, have had devastating effects. Such top-down research extraction not only harms but limits the depth and inclusivity needed to fully understand complex, fluid, and relational educational environments.

Educational action research, as a form of research for, by, and with people, offers an alternative to traditional methods. Allan Feldman (2007) describes educational action research as occurring when people research their own practice situation to improve and understand it better. It involves acting (i.e., action) to try to improve and understand and phases of planning, action, and reflection that are systematic, critical and made public (i.e., research). It shifts the research focus from control to collaboration, seeking to build the capacity for all involved to engage in action and research with one another.

Educational action research can be seen as an act of decolonization because it aims to de-center established Eurocentric research approaches by re-centering the knowledge, worldviews, and experiences of all those involved (i.e., teachers and students). It sees them as integral to the research process, offering valuable insights into how learning environments operate and subvert the hierarchical structures of traditional research methodologies. It allows those most affected by educational practices to control what is of research interest and how that research is conducted.

Educational action research can go further than attending to knowledge. It can attend to the community in which that knowledge is housed. For example, when speaking to decolonization and Indigenous knowledges, one must approach the landscape with attention to positionality. We write as Indigenous (Haudenosaunee, Kanyen’keha:ka Nation) and non-Indigenous (Canadian-born settler of English and German immigrants) educators and educational researchers. In the same vein, acknowledging that educational work often takes place on traditional, unceded territories is an important step toward grappling with this reality.

As we change reference points from self to community, it is equally important to recognize that the land we acknowledge is more than a physical space; it is Land—a living, breathing entity that sustains and is sustained by the communities who inhabit it. The soil is comprised of all living beings who existed before and will allow us to serve and nourish all life that will come after. For millennia, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples were, and still are, caretakers of this Land. In turn, the Land takes care of us, embodying a reciprocity that goes beyond mere stewardship (Wren et al., 1995).

Exploring this relationship of reciprocity and care extends how educational action research can embody decolonizing practices. By moving away from research that extracts and controls, educational action research, like the care for Land, can foster a reciprocal relationship that benefits all parties involved. Such a relationship demands an ebb-and-flow of responsibilities rather than a preoccupation with rights or privileges.

The Shift from Control to Relationality

Attending to reciprocal relationships underpins both decolonizing practices and educational action research. Traditional research paradigms often employ strict parameters to measure and obtain outcomes (e.g., mandated curricula measured by standardized assessments). First Nations knowledge is premised on the assumption that human and more-than-human entities (such as Land, animals, and ecosystems) exist in interconnected webs of reciprocity. The Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen (The words that come before all else) is a Haudenosaunee address spoken at the beginning of anything important. The assumption being that before any important matter can be tended to, we must first honour our responsibilities to all beings and life. All business that follows the Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen should uphold these responsibilities. This shift from control to intentional relationality holds insights for educational practices. On the one hand, it opens up more possibilities for genuine inquiry by inviting us to reimagine the ends of education and the means to achieve them as inherently relational (Elliott, 2015). On the other hand, it contributes to the decolonizing project by challenging dominant paradigms of control and becomes a tool for honouring the complexity of educational environments and the connections between teachers and students, schools and communities, and communities and the Land.

A Pathway to Decolonization

A powerful aspect of educational action research is that it positions teachers and students, not external authorities, as the caretakers of their classrooms through a researcher’s lens. We find the word caretaker here instructive. It mirrors the intentionality in many Land acknowledgments, where Indigenous communities are described as “caretakers” of the Land. In both cases, caretaking seeks to foster reciprocity, relationality, and respect, both figuratively and physically, between communities and the Land or members of a learning environment. This caretaking is not about control but nurturing and sustaining relationships for mutual benefit.

Educational action research invites teachers and students to assume the role of caretakers within their classrooms and educational systems. In our own work, this is often the case (Brant-Birioukov et al., 2023; Brant-Birioukov & Brant-Terry, 2022; Fuchs & Jellema, 2023). Rather than being passive recipients of external research or directives, educators engage actively with the dynamics of their classrooms, conducting inquiry with community members rather than on them. This approach opens different foci for research, allowing members of the learning environment to explore various collaborative and participatory methods depending on the needs of their school community. This, in turn, develops more holistic and contextually relevant practices. Teachers and students, as caretakers, can use educational action research to explore the specific needs of their classrooms, schools, communities, and Land. This process of coming-to-know challenges top-down models of research that often overlook the complexity and diversity of unique educational contexts.

In one of Travis’s educational settings, he and his students used action research to frame the tools of science class as personally relevant. They decided to privilege the lived experiences of their class by curating and presenting personal scientific artifacts which could be referenced and storied throughout the year (Fuchs, 2019)(Photo 1). Often, these artifacts included components of the Land, like animal bones, leaf pressings, and seeds. Their inclusion in class expanded the learning environment to the personally relevant, more-than-human entities typically outside the class’s reach.

^{Photo 1 – Skulls from Travis’ artifact project}

Kiera centered action research and decolonial perspectives in her teacher education class to certify emerging teacher candidates in social studies, by inviting learners to articulate how they will become good ancestors for their culminating assignment. The assumption being that an effective social studies teacher is an ethically engaged citizen, who will inspire their students to become ethically engaged citizens; and an ethically engaged citizen, is in fact one who is prepared to be a good ancestor. The learners centered their own learning journeys, inspired by leaving the legacy of a good ancestor, set four personal goals for themselves over the six-week course. Each of the four goals had to correspond with teachings from the tree: Roots (Deepening your understanding), Ground (Seeking more connection), Trunk (Holding onto what is precious) and New Life (Trying something new). Each learner engaged in a cyclical and reciprocal process of research, self-discovery, self-directed inquiry, and purposeful reflection.

^{Original tree teachings graphic designed for Kiera’s social studies syllabus (2024), outlining the culminating assignment expectations for Being a Good Ancestor Goal Setting.}

In another, Travis tried to cultivate a critical gaze toward the climate crisis by having students document the levels of particulate matter that accumulated on their bodies from pollution during their commute to school. In all, the experiences and knowledge of students and teachers were privileged from the view of reciprocity to improve or better understand a practice situation.

Conclusion 

Educational action research offers a pathway for educators to engage in decolonizing practices within their classrooms and educational communities. Teachers, students, and researchers alike can foster more inclusive and responsive learning environments by shifting away from control-driven research and embracing relational, reciprocal methods. Just as Land Acknowledgments remind us of the importance of caretaking, educational action research invites educators to become caretakers of their classrooms, conducting careful research with and for their communities.

One of our mentors, Dr. Anthony Clarke, used to say that educational action research, or more broadly ‘teacher inquiry’, is not just some of the best professional development but also the best way to develop the teaching profession (Clarke & Erickson, 2006). It not only improves the individual practice of educators but also elevates the teaching profession as a whole. In our present moment of teacher quality indexes, parent control movements, social inequities, climatic disasters, and questioning the teacher’s role in student learning, we must ask, what distinguishes a teacher from their students’ large language model tutor? The answer lies in the educational community’s unique capacity to be a caretaker of their educational environment and the Land of which that environment is part. By taking on the role of caretaker, educators contribute to the decolonizing of education.  They are not just refining their own practices but are actively participating in reshaping the very structures of learning to be more inclusive, responsive, and connected to the communities they serve.

_{Photos: Author submission}

References

Brant-Birioukov, K., & Brant-Terry, G. (2022). Embodying Ceremony as Pedagogy: The Role of school Administration in Reconceptualizing Indigenous Education in the Anthropocene. In A. J. Farrell, C. Skyhar, & Lam (Eds.), Teaching in the Anthropocene: Education in the face of environmental crisis (pp. 136–145). Canadian Scholars.

Brant-Birioukov, K., Pind, J., Karn, S., & McGregor, H. E. (2023). Toward Indigenous Place-based Metaphors for Environmental History Education. In M. H. Kress & K. Horne-Miller (Eds.), Land as Relation: Teaching and Learning through place, people, and practices (pp. 259–272). Canadian Scholars.

Clarke, A., & Erickson, G. (2006). Teacher Inquiry: What’s Old Is New Again! BC Educational Leadership Research, June, 1–8.

Elliott, J. (2015). Educational action research as the quest for virtue in teaching. Educational Action Research, 23(1), 4–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2014.994017

Feldman, A. (2007). Teachers, responsibility and action research. Educational Action Research, 15(2), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650790701314809

Fuchs, T. T. (2019). Dwelling between curriculum-as-planned and curriculum-as-lived in science class. Canadian Teacher Magazine, Winter, 18–19.

Fuchs, T. T., & Jellema, E. (2023). Socioscientific issues and COVID-19: Responding to curriculum reform through action research. The Canadian Journal of Action Research, 23(2), 41–68.

Lenette, C. (2022). Participatory action research: Ethics and decolonization. Oxford University Press.

Molla, T. (2021). Critical policy scholarship in education: An overview. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(2). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.5655

Omodan, B. I., & Dastile, N. P. (2023). Analysis of participatory action research as a Decolonial research methodology. Social Sciences, 12(9), 507.

Rodway, J., Campbell, C., Florence Davidson, S., Lopez, A., Moore, S., Ng-A-Fook, N., & Schnellert, L. (2023). Decolonizing Professional Learning: Gathering together for educational change. EdCan Network, Winter(2023). https://www.edcan.ca/articles/decolonizing-professional-learning/

Wren, L., Jackson, M., Morris, H., Gedds, C., Tlen, D., & Kassi, N. (1995). What is a good way to teach children and adults to respect the land? A panel discussion. In B. Jickling (Ed.), A colloquium on environment, ethics, and education. Yukon College.

Meet the Expert(s)

Dr. Travis T. Fuchs

Research Fellow, Brock University and University of Oxford

Travis Fuchs does research in teacher education and science education at Brock and Oxford universities.

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Dr. Kiera Brant-Birioukov

Co-Founder & Principal Consultant, Ridge Road Training and Consulting

Born and raised in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Dr. Kiera (Kaia’tano:ron) Brant-Birioukov is a Haudenosaunee educator, researcher, and writer.

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